Some of you will know that last week I completed a series of Live Broadcasts on social media. The aim was to try and teach the 10 basic steps of Tai Chi without using words: Gestures, demonstrations and repetitions. Each session was filmed in portrait mode (narrow) for Facebook and Instagram and lasts just 5-8 minutes. For anyone that missed the experimental series and would like to catch it, then I have saved all the videos and uploaded them to a short course from my site. Although it asks for a payment, with this code you can get FREE access to the course and accompanying PDFs. 

Originally the idea behind staying quiet, was to try and address the needs of both English and Spanish students, using gestures only. I had run one short course in Spanish and the other in English, and quickly go tired of switching back and forth. So I proceeded without words at all.  Feedback so far, has shown that by not using words, students could better focus on the moves and not get distracted by explanations whilst learning. So at the end of each session, I recorded brief explanations for each of the moves -  what they mean and how best to learn them - as a separate series of endings that are optional to watch or download. You'll find links with the first set for anyone who wishes to go further with their Tai Chi practice. 

See how you get on, use the button below or this link here to get access to the mini course for free. Challenge yourself to learn in silence, and  - if you want more, after that, well, there are 2 more levels to work through. Enjoy, stay safe and keep practising a little each day. 

For the last 2 weeks I've been going live on Facebook for 10 minutes (Mondays to Fridays) to practice a little and share the experience with anyone who wishes to join in. Now I'm going to take this up a notch and invite everyone, intermediate students, teachers or absolute beginners to join me from Monday 30th March 2020 for a new 2 week live session. If you'd like to join me, then read on...

Previous sessions include 10 minute introductions to Flow, Balance, Coordinations, Foot work and Arm Work . You can catch up with those on: 
Facebook : These Sessions go out live in the UK at 17.30 (GMT) and in Spain at 18.30 (CET) 13.30 (New York) 10.30 (Los Angeles). You can ask questions, leave comments and connect or share with other users. 
Instagram TV: Uploaded the following day or day after.  
Youtube: Uploaded the following day or day after. . 

For the next 2 weeks I’m going to be teaching you the Short 10 Step Form.  You can see it in the video above. (in the video I repeat the Form twice - did you notice?) In these Free Online Sessions - I'm going to be showing you a new posture each day - mostly in silence - few words, so you can concentrate on the moves, not the explanations. 
I'll be demonstrating each move from every angle and showing you how one flows together. One move a day  - for 10 days.
To get all the written instructions and well as photos of each move  - you'll need to acquire a copy of the book in the link below. But don't fret! The book is free too! See, it is all easier than you think.

To get a copy all you need to do is out a '0' in the box to get the book for free.
I know that in these moments, many of us are struggling and uncertain as to our economic future. If, like me, you have lost a lot of business and clients, these last weeks, then I understand. Honestly, I do. I'm in a similar position. But you can download the book for free. And you can do the Live course with me for 2 weeks for free. Right now we have to adapt to a new economic order, and I want to do what I can for others, and no-one should have a financial barrier put in the way of their health. 
Having said that, if you have something to spare, your income is still secure, or you want to support this project, then please Pay What You Can. Everything helps to keep these sessions alive and running. To everyone that joins, I’ll create a student list. Those people on this list will additionally get copies of all the live video sessions for the next 2 weeks (to back up their training and to support the instructions in the book.) ​

In the months ahead we are all going to face the prospect of training alone as the Coronavirus spreads across the globe. I'm in Spain and here we cannot leave our houses unless to buy food or medicine. We cannot socialise in person, we cannot go out for exercise and we obviously cannot attend our Tai Chi Classes. But there is still a lot we can do at home.
I’ve compiled a list of resources and ideas for working from home, that includes reading matter, audiobooks and practical courses. I've added a combination of free books/audio/classes for those that find themselves out of work or having had to close their businesses. If this is you, then fear not, there are still a lot of things here to do. 
Let me know if you have other suggestions and I’ll add them to the list.. Stay at home. Stay safe, and keep practising.

One way to fill your time is to broaden your knowledge of a subject. Here is a link to a post I wrote about the best books on Tai Chi. available from all online books stores and in some cases even digital libraries too (check your local library website for access details).
Additionally, I have some links to free PDF’s that I give away for something to read. You can download:them all here:

• A Beginners Guide to Tai Chi
• Sample Tai Chi Workbooks
• Learning the Tai Chi Sword
• The Best Tai Chi Books PDF

If your classes have been suspended (and if they haven’t, believe me they will soon) then talk to your teacher about running online classes. He/she can use a Youtube private channel or more openly, a Facebook Live stream for a free quick solution.

LIVE SESSIONS FREE ON FACEBOOK (AND OTHER PLATFORMS) 
I've been running a free daily Live session on Facebook Live. In the Uk at 5.30 (GMT) and in Spain at 6.30 (CET)
The day after I'm uploading edited versions of the videos to Instagram TV, and the day after that to Youtube. But it's important to try and connect and do it Live with me. Not only do you get longer and more complete sessions, but you get to share and connect with others at the same time. Setting up a routine is important when you self-isolate. Want to join in for 10 minutes a day? Just come over, to Facebook (use a relatives account if you don't have one) find me on Facebook here (Paul Read). 
The classes are building up towards learning the 10 Step Form. If you'd like to learn this over the next few weeks, then join me Live on Facebook for the details, extra notes and links to special videos. 

FREE INTRO STARTERS PACK
If Facebook is not your thing (and who can blame you?), then you can download this free course of mine: that comes with extra reading matter too. Don't want to learn with me - why should you? Ask your teacher to organise something the same or look out for notifications from other teachers, as I’m sure we will see an explosion of online instructors over the next few weeks.

If it's rhythm that moves you, then you might like this 2 part series on Music and the martial arts  Or Rest your eyes and switch off for a while by tuning in to the world of podcasts.
There are some great podcasts to entertain and educate out there -  for example

• Fight for a Happy Life
• Martial Arts Radio Whistlekick
• Water margin podcast
• Hurry Slowly 
• Internal Fighting Arts
• The Bruce Lee Podcast
• Kung Fu podcasts
• Martial Journeys 

If you are curious why my 3 series of podcasts are not listed, it's because they are difficult to come by now, though I have compiled the final series in this audiobook - 10 Ways Podcast Series 
There is also this additional free  PDF on Audio Resources 

AUDIO BOOKS
If you prefer a longer listen then I am not sure how many Tai Chi books are in audio form. I have 2 that you can listen to samples of:

• The Manual of Bean Curd Boxing
• This is Tai Chi 50 Questions and Answers 

Probably the most important factor is staying positive and nurturing your spirit. Contact your fellow students and create a WhatsApp group. Share videos of your practice, insights, reading matter films suggestions, share a Netflix doc.
My Tai Chi class here in Spain keep in contact and share resources through a WhatsApp group. I can throw resources, videos and links as well as check on what they are doing. At times like this, when all other means of contact are strictly limited, it can be an important thread. that binds us together.
It is also possible to do the same with groups on FaceBook or other messenger apps - the important thing is to maintain a dialogue and keep the channels open during the months ahead.
​Finally, the Free Ranger Taoist Facebook group is sharing other peoples live sessions too, so come over and join that. 
So thats' it! I hope it's be useful. Keep well, join me on Facebook for the free sessions if you wish, otherwise - keep practising and do connect with people. Keep your spirit strong and let me (and others) know how you are doing.

Stockpiling food isn't the way to go. Building you energy and immune system is. So here you go...if you know someone who is diagnosed and is positive? Give them a link and let them learn something useful at home. Know someone who is in self-isolation? Send a link. My heart is with you. Together we can overcome this. This course It isn't going to cure anyone, but it might just help. And that is what we all should be dong right now. Helping. ​

The mOnk (who is not a mOnk) talks about Tai Chi, Sword Play and Early Training with international journalist Gerald Greene (co-author of One Last Thing). ​This article also features in a new free Sword PDF you can download here.  

Greene: It is said that the Sword is the Mother of all Arms and that it takes: ​
“100 days to dominate the Sabre
1000 days to dominate the Lance
10.000 days to dominate the Sword”
Yet you offer tuition to the uninitiated, when others say it should only be learnt after the empty hand Forms. 
mOnksy: It’s true that some instructors do like to repeat these time scales. But once again, I and others believe that the sword has too much to offer to be left to advanced students only, and, I believe this advice on time scales and training order derives from times in which learning sword was a matter of life and death. Additionally, swords back then were sharp, not like the ones we train with now.  Today, sword teaches other skills, in a way that the empty hand cannot. In my experience, students quickly gain confidence and are more motivated to finish. They feel less naked in the classroom and more equal with others of different skill levels. The sword is a great leveller. It matters less if your balance is not so great or your swirls are not so big. But it isn’t just me that thinks it is a good idea to teach all everyone irrespective of level…
Greene: Who else?
mOnksy: Well, Wen Lin Jun. He didn’t insist on me having done years of Tai Chi training before taking up sword, nor did he enrol me on a course of 10.000 days. Then there are people like Petra Kobayashi author of Classical Tai Chi Sword who said: 
“It is not only the advanced Tai Chi student who can learn sword. Tai Chi sword is known in China as an independent path of exercise that doesn't necessarily require knowledge of the other forms of Tai Chi.”
And the encyclopaedic Michael P. Garofalo. We discussed by email a decade back about teaching sword. He was another that offered training to anyone interested. 
Greene: But you can see why some other instructors may be worried that you offer to teach the uninitiated?
mOnksy: Not really. As I said before, we don't train with sharp blades. These are practice swords. They are blunt and harmless. A kitchen knife is far more lethal and easier to conceal. Anyway, I’m not offering a weekend teacher training certificate, nor Sifu-Status workshops. I’m offering a basis in sword handling that has little to do with stabbing or duelling, but more to do with tackling the strains and obstacles that arise in our daily life. It matters little if what you wield is a mop or a samurai sword, it's what lies  beneath the lessons that are important: principles such as yielding and sticking, rooting and softness, that are understood and tested with greater clarity when using the Sword. ​

Greene: You said you were teaching Tai Chi before introducing Sword. How did you finally introduce the Sword into your classes?
mOnksy: I did it progressively. I had been teaching empty hand Tai Chi Forms in the UK and Spain for many years, when one week I brought into class 20 bamboo poles I had cut down from the rivers-edge that morning. This was a cheap way to introduce the use of weapon training and a bamboo staff is, at the beginning, more user-friendly than a sword. 
Greene: How did they react?
mOnksy: Initially they looked bemused, but curious. Then, within a few weeks, they grew to love it. Over time, we exchanged the bamboo poles for wooden tai chi practice swords.
Greene: Young people do like to play with weapons
mOnksy: These were not youngsters. The average age in my Sword class was 55- 75 plus. 
Greene: Well, some men do get excited about such things. It is the age group that buy fast motorbikes as a way of handling their middle aged crisis. 
mOnksy: Possibly. I couldn’t say. My class was 99% women. 
Greene: Oh. 
mOnksy: Anyway, to my surprise they all embraced the Sword. Even those students who had just begun their Tai Chi training. Attendance and class satisfaction remained higher in the sword classes than in the empty hand classes. The exercises and the partner work seemed to encourage greater participation, energy levels and enthusiasm to attend. Either that or people just liked walking down the street with a sword on their backs, like an Urban Ninja Turtle. 
Greene: Are you saying the Sword Form doesn’t take 10.000 days to learn? 
mOnksy: For beginners, the sword form has more exaggerated and less subtle postures, so in a way the moves are easier to identify and remember. It is a shorter form too, and if you relax, the momentum and swing of the moves can show you what to do. It’s as if the sword is directing you and not the other way round. Additionally, I have to say, that sword is just more fun. It’s promise (if not its practice) of danger makes it thrilling too, and people love to talk about it in the class, joke, laugh and in doing so relax more. Personally, I believe this is the secret to effectively learning - encourage a greater sense of play in the class. ​

Greene: Other than a local class, you are now teaching sword as an online course. What convinced you that the sword, with its complexities and classroom challenges, could be taught in this way?
mOnksy: After having offered a number of other courses online these last few years, I was asked by a number of students to consider offering sword. So that’s what I have done. Yes, of course there are some limitations to online learning, but there are also advantages too.
Greene: What advantages are there to learning sword online? 
mOnksy: The same pros and cons that exist for all online courses. Although you don’t get to train with a partner or a group (you can of course do the course with one or more friends) the classes are much cheaper and more convenient. You can study when, where and how often you like. You get to see the form and techniques from all angles without people standing in front of you and blocking your view, and you get to repeat classes as often as you like. You get back-up materials, step-by-step photographic, audio, visual and written instructions. From the feedback so far, this course has turned out to the most popular to date. ​

Since the online Sword course launched earlier this year, many people have issued me with the usual whatsapp challenges - blades at sunset sort of thing. This not only amuses me, but reminds me of the number of people that still believe traditional martial arts are about ferocity, notions of winning or superiority of technique or style. As many teachers far more capable than I have said: The idea behind all martial arts is not to defeat an opponent, but to challenge your own abilities. 

In the field of Tai Chi, this ideology has been keenly embraced by those wishing to focus on the softer, gentler and more harmonious practices of the art. When the time comes to begin sword study, these people physically recoil as though they were attendees at the Court of Transylvania and had been presented with  tray of roasted garlic (yum, yum) or someone had opened a curtain and a ray of sunlight had struck their anaemic faces. To these people, just the thought of wielding a metal blade in the air is tantamount to publicly declaring violence as a principle to live by.
But there are others: The whatsapp duelists. Those that salivate over the use of any weapons and see them as essential tools in their arsenal for 21st century living. They collect things like exotic instruments of torture, stuffed wombats and hoard such nonsense on shelves in their underground bunkers, just next to their cans of long-life beans, survivalist manuals, camouflage pyjamas and maps for which countries they will rule the world once democracy has been finally reversed.. 
But for the rest of us, is there a saner perspective that nestles somewhere between the passive deferrers and the gnashing long-life milk reactionaries? ​

If we put turn down the arguments of those obsessed with invincibility and superiority, and instead listen to our humble inner voice, we will hear a quiet breath and little else. As the Taoists state: Once the rage has gone, the edges blunted from overuse, then the instruments become useless. 
In sword classes, we start with blunt edges. We make no mistake that what we do will not count on the battlefield. Those delusions are for others to dream. We don't learn how to wield the weapon in order to slice flesh, study means of amputation, or develop a skill in stabbing. These are not only anachronistic goals,, but dubious ones in which to invest our precious time. So for what purpose do we practice the art of pointy objects?

We may only be using our swords for slicing hard cheese or, in the case of my blunt practice swords - dancing under the night sky as I perform Rhinoceros Gazes at the Moon or Green Dragon Emerges from the Lake. But these activities still have value. For this light-weight nimble sword was always a metaphor for cutting away the veil of illusion that hangs before our eyes. And what better time than right now, to be able to wield such a weapon? A weapon that teaches a coordination of mind and body, a balance of weight and purpose, a focus on breath and harmony that many of the empty hand Tai Chi forms lack. I believe this is related to the concept of "Swing and Momentum" that is seen in certain Yang styles. ​

This notion of swing and momentum refers to a way in which energy is employed in the body. Now, before you get carried away with notions of golden beams of light projected from the Dan Tien down into the blade (please keep such images for the movies) I'm referring to the bone, muscle and ligament structure that impels us forward and back or from side to side in an efficient a way as possible.
Obviously this structural lesson is used in empty hand Tai Chi Forms, but in the Sword, the extra weight and .size of the weapon we wield brings this concept alive.. We very quickly learn that by relaxing and listening to our body, we feel the turn, the transfer of weight, as the shoulder relaxes and the hips move back and forth. It is much more difficult to teach these concepts of feeling and sensation with empty hand stances. It is far easier for students to physically hold and then engage with the ideas when wielding an object in front of them. And that ever-evasive notion of RELAX (Watch the video) in Tai Chi is even easier to accomplish with the sword, for if not, our arms tire quickly, our shoulders ache and and body grows weary. 
Practice with a light sword, not a heavy two-handed weighty blade. We practice not as a strength building exercise, but one of muscle memory, focus, attention and accuracy,
Want to develop strength? Go do some push.ups. Want to learn about grace, harmony and learn to cut rhough the veil of nonsense washing over the world? Pick up a Sword. 

Discover how to join the teapotmonk and start Learning Sword here - or browse the videos below or download the guide here. 

How do you start your own business, how do you start your car on a cold morning or even, how do you start each and every day?
In Tai Chi we are taught to start  - as we mean to go on. But what does that mean? We obviously gather ourselves, check out weight, our position. But is there something else we are overlooking?
So today I want to ask you, before you begin your Tai Chi Form - irrespective of style or school, tradition or trouser length - what is it that you do?
I’m not talking about checking if your show is on correctly, your audience has quieted down, or your dinner has gone down. I’m not talking about ensuring that the crease in your satin suit is in the right place or that your eyebrows have been neatly combed into position.
I’m talking about before that very first posture, that initial move. Before the weight shifts. Before the limbs race ahead
Before the mind moves ahead, rehearsing what you are about to play out.

Hopefully s/he did. But if not - as it was for many, overlooked, skipped or simply left out of your shaolin training schedule - fear not. The teapotmonk is here to help with this handy check list for all those in search of the Perfect Form.

• On your  Dojo door
• Stuck to the bottom of your shoe
• Inside your Black belt/sash
• Next to where the incense is stored
• Alongside where all those Andean Pipe music CD’s are kept
• Where Sifu keeps his/her iron to add those smart creases to his/her uniform.

Better still, remember the 5 points and pass them on to someone else.
If you get this right, you can leave behind the nonsense of geometry and angular precision taught incessantly and instead float above  the noise, seamlessly fusing one move into another, navigating the twist and turns of the sinews as they propel you forward. The wind behind you, the sun on your face and you, merely watching and riding the breath.

1. Peripheral: Look, but keep your focus soft.
2. Sensual: Feel the weight of the feet on the floor, the arms hanging form the shoulders, the hilt of the sword (if appropriate) in the palm of your hand.
3. Structural: Have you bent the knee? (To Daenerys Targaryen). Loose hips. Soft Chest, Shoulders relaxed, Head up?
4. Respiratory: Is that a breeze between your fingers? Around your ears? Coming into your lungs? Do you feel it rising and sinking? Can you sense what was out there is now in here?
5. Finally, Why are you here? Out of curiosity or habit? For martial or health purposes? For a spiritual or philosophical  direction. Be clear.

Then go!
​Watch the video below and for more details about starting and finishing - check out the mOnks online training

This weekend - for just 48 hours - you can pick up something for nothing, for next to nothing or for whatever you think it is worth. Why this weekend? 

Well, this weekend I'm traditionally out and about promoting the art to coincide with  World Tai Chi Day. 
However, this year it´s not been possible, but I'd still like to contribute something - so I've reduced the price of a number of my items on Gumroad down to 0.00 or token payments.

Some are pay what you want (Just add 0 in the pay box) and others are just reduced to the price of the cheapest item in the bundle - such as this collection of 10 Tai Chi books I've reduced from 20 pounds to just 2.95 - that the cost of just one book of the entire 10. Grab it before the weekend is out!

Why do we fear nothingness? Why do we avoid the hollow man, the dark and unknown places where non-doing and stillness reside? Why do we crave distraction from the emptiness outside and the emptiness within?

Some would argue that is more EFFICIENT to fill every moment, to be always occupied. It is an oft heard mantra: Better to be Busy, than be Bored. Yet, there exist cycles and rhythms in the world that show us another way. Rhythms that tell us another story of productivity, efficiency, balance and fulfilment. Because, though the odd choccy biscuit has its place on the dinner table of life, an exclusive serving of such sweets would challenge even the Board of the Sugar Industry  (then again, maybe not).
But for those of us not dependant on the price of sugar stocks, only moments of nothingness can fulfil. For only in emptiness can we see the cycle of giving and taking.

Whilst nature takes out time to rest, to incubate, to absorb, to reconnect with its own nature; we the wise ones, resist. Resistance, we tell ourselves, defines us, enables us, and reminds us that we, Homo Sapiens have the divine permission to rise up and challenge the rules nature dictates.
But in moments of silence, when the dark descends , when the battery-light fades, we are reminded once more of our our cosmic size and vulnerability. Only then, in the dark and the quiet, can we take out a moment to embrace the Yin.

Olive trees do not fruit thought the year. An olive tree spends most of its life being quiet, resting, absorbing and then when ready, it flowers, fruits deliciously and then in an act of incredible generosity, gives everything it has away. Once it has achieved this, it returns to a state of rest once more. Perhaps that is why Olive trees live so long?
In this state of rest, the world is perceived afresh. Over time, new seeds are created and new dreams are born. Though an Olive tree may be within view of the sprinting Pine, it is never tempted to compete, instead it surrenders to the process and dictates of its own rhythm.

If we do not surrender to our own rhythms of stopping, of non-doing, then we live eternally craving distraction and we forget what and who we are. We imagine we are Pines when we are Olives. We forget our purpose. We forget our relationship with our own self as we are carried away, bobbing up and down helplessly on the stream of data that follows us into our thoughts. We lose the strength to turn down the eternal light, the notification hungry for our attention, even during our most intimate of conversations , even during our darkest of dreams.
Resist not this dark and quiet place when it comes knocking at your door, for it is what we have been looking for. It is our rhythm of breath and creativity, and with it, the breeding ground for new life.