I went in to The Studio to help out with the T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qigong class.
I started with Bagua circle walking before class started. I made some suggestions about the degree of 'twist' and where the twist comes from. At least one student that attended the Bagua for Health seminar over twisted at his low back and lo and behold the over twisting aggravated his back.
The twisting in Bagua starts at the bottom and the legs, Kua and hips rotate in towards the center of the circle and then the upper body and head rotate inward in a fashion that is designed to OPEN and release, thus increasing (slightly) the space between the vertebrae. One must go slowly and gradually over time to achieve this result. Going to quickly will ruin it! Be patient, start with minimal rotation and gradually increase the rotation looking at it as a progression a transformation of the body, mind and spirit.
Once class formed Jeff and I led through Sifu Ray's Warm Ups with some 'building the qi ball' qigong at the end.
After a little two person work to compare moving with Jin to moving simple with muscular (Li) force.
Seeking to move from release expand as opposed to shortening and contracting muscle.
Very subtle partner work.
Next we finished with a Round (right side) with no particular focus.