Snake Style Tai Chi and Core Bodywork

The sweet feel of a “sore core.”

I grew up suffering from childhood asthma, never engaging in any athletics or exercise until I began studying karate when I was eighteen. Soon I grew stronger and healthier.

I used to enjoy the “day after karate practice” because of the good and “new” feeling of having sore muscles. This soreness was addictive and drove me to practice even harder the next day.

In my early thirties, after deciding to follow my karate teacher into tai chi, I began to lose that “day after” sore feeling.  I certainly enjoyed the relaxation and release of tension from tai chi practice, but the muscular effort used in practicing tai chi was focused solely on my legs. Eventually, the core muscles of my body grew stiff from bad postural concepts and “so called” dynamic push hands practice, and this led to injuries to my low back and shoulders.

After becoming Grandmaster Ip’s disciple in 2001, I began my training in snake style tai chi. The first requirement was to gain flexibility in the very muscles that had become stiff from my tiger style training!

Snake style practice has given me the gift of flexibility, suppleness and core strength as well as the return of that old feeling of sore muscles. Now, in my early sixties, I wake up the day after practice feeling the effects of a good core workout. My body, from my hips to my shoulders, feels like a coiled spring -- evidence of the core strength developed in the practice of snake style tai chi chuan. The feeling is as addictive as it was in my karate days, and it drives me to practice harder every day!