Why do people begin a class of Tai Chi? Over the last 25 years I've had people come to my classes for all sorts of reasons: wanting to learn to fight like Donnie Yen, wanting to learn to walk over rice-paper like Kwai Chang Caine, wanting to be able to hum 'Give Peace a Chance' whilst cooking an omelette, wanting to levitate, gravitate or salivate in front of relatives... the list goes on and on. But most people, if I'm honest, amble in through the hallowed doors of the teapot-temple in search of useful ways to help them find better health and to deal with stress. They may not call the issue stress, they may refer to it as insomnia, nerves, lack of confidence, poor balance, an absence of coordination or a sense that life is passing them by and they are watching from the sidelines.  So they begin a class and thats when they discover the true power of  Tai Chi. 

Is stress something new that requires modern tools, or is it something that has been around awhile and that were we to look back over time, we would find a whole series of interesting answers there? In Michael Puett's excellent book: The Path, he explores many of these questions regarding the applicability of Chinese ideas and thoughts to the 21st century and concludes that, surprisingly,  a lot of our modern day aliments have have actually been circling around for centuries. 

It was after reading his book that I thought how useful it would be to organise a short course dealing with something we think of as a new phenomena, but in truth has been part of work pressure and home life for as long as we can remember (and as long as our antecedents can remember too). Hence, I set out to create a new short on how we can use Tai Chi to find better health and to deal with stress.  Because the answers were already out there, centuries ago.
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The course is structured over 5 Sections:

1. Posture, Alignment and the forgotten skill of Learning to Listen
2.  Focus, Concentration and Relaxation
3. How to find energy at work, home, in our breath and in our food
4. Why Slowing Down, Standing Up and Learning to Play are essential for the 21st century
5. Finally a Tai Chi mini Sequence to practice each day.

Unlike many practices that focus exclusively on re-thinking or changing our attitude, Tai Chi backs up it's ideas and philosophy with practical exercises that have been used for centuries. These exercises, like many of the practices in Tai Chi, have been gradually developed for dealing with all types of conflict, and it is the conflict we find each day in our work or home environment that places such demands on our mind and body. 
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THE COURSE
Each of the 5 sessions consist of 2 approaches. The first is an emergency first aid kit: A series of exercises and approaches to dealing with stress  - as and when it arises. Something useful for the moment that can be drawn upon immediately. 
The second approach works by selecting a few of the postures from the Tai Chi Form that incorporate measures for balance, co-ordination, posture, rooting and yielding and all serve to build our capacity to deal with stress over the long-term. 

​Or check out all the teapotmonk courses over at Tai Chi Online.

Sometimes people say behind my back - "that teapotmOnk - he's all words and no action". Am I bothered? Not really, because in a way they have a point. I write, I podcast and I do lots of video work. But, when I say something I like to back it up.

Last week I released a new podcast on the Way of Laughter. (Not heard it yet? Listen here). It was an introduction to the role of humour in the teaching and practicing of Tai Chi.

I recommended reading One Last Thing to grasp the essence of what I was saying. Today I want to go a step further and give you a copy of One Last Thing (ebook version) for free  - for 48 hours on Amazon. If you prefer a paperback, I'm afraid you'll still have to pay for that, but the ebook is yours. All this weekend: 17th and 18th of March 2018. 

There is a second book too. The Accompanying Book of Images from One Last Thing - with quotes, links to videos and excerpts. Its another ebook - a PDF - and you can download it here and now for free. 
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Just my small way of going a bit further than just talking about things. Enjoy. 

Let’s just get one thing straight from the beginning. I don’t mean comical in the  Frankie Howard, Carry On up the Kyber, Bennie Hill, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python sense. Well, maybe a bit of Monty Python

Nor do I mean in the "2 Taoists and a giraffe walk into a bar and one says to the other…" No, not that sort of humour either.
What I mean is a style of humour that enables or liberates. Humour that dispels tension, breaks down stuffy and artificial boundaries between people and ideologies, a humour that dislodges stances and unbalances staged postures. Thats what I mean. Thats the humour I’m referring to. Thats the subversive power of comedy.

Because a world without humour is a world without lightness of being, a world without self-effacement, a world dry and barren occupied by a zombie race with a serious face, a serious expression, a serious stance, a serious shirt collar. And what happens when people and places take themselves too seriously? What happens when the shirt collars of the world are in charge? Well, I’m glad you asked. You get people like Boris, Donald or that M Rajoy  in control of your life. You get the Dead Walking. You get stagnation of movement, stagnant waters beneath your feet and ideologies that have become far too starched to do anything with. Thats what you get (so thanks for asking).

It doesn’t help if all you read is the Tao Te Ching. You see, everyone and their dog can insert Lao Tzu into their manifesto or class curriculum - thats the attraction of the book -  but you don’t chuckle much when you read it.  It’s not a page turner. For that you need to  visit the comical genius of Chuang Tzu
When I say “comic genius”, bear in mind everything is relative and when you are chatting to a Taoist, you have to have a pretty broad range of reference points.
Now I do know what you are thinking  - Taoism and Tai Chi are serious, subjects, so it isn’t fair to treat them in this superfluous manner. I hear you, honestly I do. I recognise that some of you probably went to China and studied with a grandmaster in some monastery or hermits cave for 15 years and survived on just donkey-pooh and panda air. At home these days, you wear white robes (and not after having just stepped out the bath). You proudly sport a pony tail and are growing your eyebrows as long as you can, just so everyone knows how radical, yet reliable, light-hearted yet wise you are when you teach. I get it I really do.
But, and heres the thing: This eyebrow thing - and calling yourself master this, sifu that- it's not doing a lot for the future of the art, and, well, to be frank, it's a bit comical. .

For those of you suffering from unwanted bouts of seriousness, I’d suggest going to live in Andalusia and try teaching Tai Chi there.
For 8 years, thats what I did. The people there embody noise, disruption, and chaos in all its glory.  There is an absence of respect for hierarchy and hair styles - all very sound qualities for a people with long anarchic roots.  As a teacher you must learn to adapt.
For example, you may try to explain the concept of sticking or the duality principle behind yin and yang, and whilst you are pondering over a simple translation of wu wei into Andalou’ you become aware that most people have wondered off to the loo, broken open a packet of choccy-biscuits and are handing them around whilst someone else is showing the rest of the class a YouTube video of their 3 week old kitten. Worse still they are not even looking at you. You - the enlightened one! You up there on your stage, you, with your pony tail neatly tied back and your satin suit ironed just that afternoon.
Under such very un-northern cultural conditions, you must learn to yield, and you must learn, above all else, to laugh with people and to step off your pedestal -  for they are there to teach and well as to be taught. Stepping off your pedestal is greatly advised. Get down there amongst everyone and get your hands dirty. Embrace the fact that it doesn't make much sense, but then again, it doesn't have to. 

Comedy is far a greater tool to demonstrate in a class than a lethal front kick. Comedy is a disruptive force. For Comedy says: ‘hold on a moment, just listen to yourself -  none of this is real, it’s all just one way, one perspective, one stance. As much as you might think what you are teaching or learning is of global importance, it isn’t. Most people in the world will never try a class of tai ch, especially with you - no disrespect - but statistically it ain’t gonna happen.
And, you know what. they’ll get by just fine as they are.
But comedy is not just a means to lighten an atmosphere. Embracing Comedy enables you to commentate from another angle - Comics see the tragedy of their times. Shakespeare used comedy to critique the establishment. Think Jon Stewart. Think Russell Brand. Think Monty Python.

Think One Last Thing - that classic philosophical parody by the teapotmonk (in all good ebook stores). A comical look at the martial arts - a book that takes our cherished Tai Chi history and blows it up into small ludicrous pieces so we may reinterpret personal histories, distorted timelines, and regurgitated words.
One Last Thing was my attempt to debunk the frowns and scowls from certain quarters of the Tai Chi community. Debunk the movement of serious internet memes and slogans  because only though comedy  can you do this. Only though comedy can you show it’s ok to let up, to relax. And If you’ve lucky enough to have enough hair on your bonce, to let it down a little.
So learn to laugh with your class, its a precious tool to pass on to others, they will love you for it. It shows that they don’t have to always be right, always be correct, always be on time, always  be in attendance, always be attentive to your every word,
And neither do you.