The Wang Zhi Ping Tai Chi School offers a personalised instruction from insightful and patient teacher with years of teaching experience of people from different countries and continents in a quiet, peaceful and beautiful environment that provides enough personal space to relax and free your mind. ![]() ![]()
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Master Wang Zhi Ping | Standing Pole Meditation on the Main Outdoor Practice Area |
Li River | The Amazing Li River between Guilin and Yangshuo | Enjoying the view near Yangshuo | Planting Rice near to Yangshuo in April | Li River near Yangshuo |
The Wang Zhi Ping Taiji Quan Health Centre was opened in March 2004 and is the first, and largest, facility in Yangshuo, China. The School site is more than 5000 sq.m of beautiful landscaped training grounds, with its tall bamboo sprays, singing birds, hovering old trees, fruit orchards, and large grassy areas.
The School includes a large main practise area with a Yin-Yang symbol in the centre and a very extensive covered practise area for all-weather training. As such, the staff is very comfortable and experienced with teaching and assisting students of all levels. Learning Tai Chi outside in a beautiful place is a great joy and an essential part of the learning experience as the natural energy and good air helps us to rediscover the natural self within us.
The Health Centre is located in one of the most beautiful Areas of Yangshuo town. It is just adjacent to Yangshuo Park and nestled between picturesque mountains and a mystical lotus lake, allowing for complete privacy and seclusion while still being a short walking distance to Yangshuo centre. The morning walk to the school is a daily pleasure.
Master Wang Zhi Ping with student |
The School’s large covered training area |
Master Wang Zhi Ping with students | Master Wang Zhi Ping with student | Wang Zhi Ping teaching Yang Style |
To learn Tai Chi you will need patience, motivation, time, discipline and dedication to work hard towards your goals. You also need a level of physical health which allows Tai Chi to be practised without personal danger, but remember that all things are possible with time and effort.
As a new student what you learn will depend on your own background and starting point. You may learn Yang Style for the entire period of you stay or a combination of Yang, Chen and Qigong. Master Wang Zhi Ping will advise you where best to start.
THE VIDEO LIBRARY | |
YANG STYLE TAI CHI | |
Wang Zhi Ping – Simplified Yang Style 24 | Chang Chang – 42 Form |
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Click here to open the movie… | Click here to open the movie... |
CHEN STYLE TAI CHI | |
Wang Zhi Ping – Chen 18 | Wang Zhi Ping – Chen 32 |
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Wang Zhi Ping – Chan Si Gong | Wang Zhi Ping – Fah Jing |
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Tian Gan – Chen Lao Jia Er Lu | Tian Gan – Chen Xin Jia |
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CHEN STYLE TAI CHI WEAPONS | |
Chang Chang – Chen Sword | Chang Chang – Chen Double Sword |
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Tian Gan – Chen Sabre | Tiam Gan – Chen Double Sabre |
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PUSHING HANDS | |
Wang Zhi Ping & Chang Chang | Chang Chang & Tian Gan |
Pushing Hands | Martial Pushing Hands |
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Hundreds of years ago, those who searched for a way to elevate the human body and spirit to their ultimate level developed an ingenious system known as Tai Chi Excercise. This system, which was inspired by the Tai Chi outlook, has since proved to be the most advanced system of body excercise and mind conditioning ever created. Tai Chi encourages the fulfilment of the individual person, it can be used for health, longevity, self defence, mental freshness and spiritual development, irrespective of culture or religion.
Tai Chi (T'ai Chi) means "the ultimate". It means improving, and progressing toward the unlimited; it means the immense existence and the great eternal. All of the various directions in which Tai chi influence was felt were guided by the theory of opposites: Ying and the Yang, the negative and the positive. This is sometimes called the original principle. It was also believed that that all the of the various influences of Tai Chi point in one direction: toward the ultimate. The Chinese long realised that the two Tai Chi elemental powers must interact, and the harmonious result could bring progress and unlimited development.
According to Tai Chi theory, the abilities of the human body are capable of being developed beyond their commonly conceived potential. Creativity has no boundaries whatsoever, and the human mind should have no restrictions or barriers placed upon its capabilities.
Tai Chi is the practical act of cultivating, purifying, and circulating Qi (life force energy) for healing and healthy life that is deeply rooted in the very nature of the earth and the immense universe in which spreads. Tai Chi is connected meditation with the mind quiet and still yet the eyes are open and the body is active; it is perfection in movement - poetry in motion; it is internal strength and power manifest.
Tai Chi is an internal martial art system which places emphasis on the development and control of Chi (Consciousness) energy within the body. This is achieved with the aid of forms/sequences of movements which are practised in a meditative state of mind. The practitioner aspires to develop a state of ‘fang sung’ within his/her body and mind. For Tai Chi, this state can best be described as a combination of relaxation, alertness, poise and balance. A state of being totally in the ‘Now’ in body and mind. Master Wang Zhi Ping sometimes describes it by holding a glass. The tension in your body should be such that the slightest relaxation of your tension level will cause the glass to drop.
Tai Chi constantly brings up the challenges of polarities, of hardness and softness, of power and subtlety of Ying and Yang. Master Wang Zhi Ping calls this - natural movement, it is spontaneous and unaffected without conceptual ‘faking’. It is a spiritual perfection path of the highest order for those who wish to reach for the Ultimate in their life.
THE HEALTH BENEFITS
Mind
Good practice requires a flowing, detached, conscious, meditational state of mind. This state works to free the mind from static negative mental patterns and leads to greater consciousness. This is very helpful with anxiety, depression and anger patterns. Generally one develops greater stillness of mind in every day life and greater mental energy. It is also normal to finish a session feeling happy!
Body
During practise Chi / consciousness energy circulates throughout all of the energy meridians of the body. Old physical tensions in the body and trapped energy are opened up allowing the practitioner to recover their vitality. Performance of the forms requires a high level of relaxation which teaches relaxation in every day life with all of its benefits. The exercise develops strength in the legs and so is very good for developing grounding in a persons energy and rebuilding physical health. The body gets exercised without straining the heart or anything else and so it is ideal for people with weak health. In fact it is of all round benefit to the circulatory and digestive systems strenghtening the internal organs including the heart and liver and nourishing the whole body. Chen Tai Chi as oppose to Yang works to develop massive relaxed strength in the legs and is a path to a state well beyond ‘good health’. Generally Tai Chi will assist in many conditions of disease because it helps the mind and body learn to be at ease together.
BENEFITS OF TAI CHI FOR BODYWORKERS/THERAPISTS
General Health
One of the most obvious issues for therapists is the importance of maintaining ones own health and energy. This ability to recharge and clean your energy is essential if you are spending much time round people who by their very nature are ‘low on energy’ and you’ve been opening yourself to them. As your Tai Chi progresses, the time required to recharge becomes less and less. Possibly this can reach a state of free flow in which one rarely gets tired while allowing the energy to flow through you.
Flexibility, Posture and Coordinated Use of the Whole Body
Its interesting to watch different people doing similar physical things because you’re then able to see how well they use their body and how well it works together as a single coordinated organism. Good Tai Chi practice develops skillful body use. For table based massage, the whole body needs to be involved in each stroke, and ones coordinated shifting body weight can provide the power rather than just the arm and shoulder muscles. This also involves a lowered posture which requires strength in the thighs.
Tai Chi naturally develops all of these skills, legs build strength gradually as one performs the forms time and time again. Natural coordination just comes with time – this is a primary focus with Tai Chi. Posture improves gradually as your body learns to relax and let go more deeply. The Tai chi forms are made up of many individual stances which really challenge bad posture (with a good teacher and plenty of self–effort).
Shiatsu with its kneeling emphasis really requires flexibility to relax and be comfortable. Tai Chi works well to get Chi flowing better and this turns into flexibility eventually. Natural conscious movement using Chi seems to produce stillness and meditation inside, stillness produces movement inside. Both seem to develop together and without one noticing.
Healing Energy / Consciousness and Emptiness
The difference between Chi Kung and Tai Chi is the greater opportunity for emptiness and surrender that Tai Chi gives. Both cultivate Qi, but there’s just something else there to be discovered in the movement which is very interesting. It has similarities to long meditation sittings yet allows involvement with nature at the same time. In fact it feels very Shamanic. The capacity for emptiness and space is probably the most subtle, yet significant aspect of therapeutic contact and relationship. It seems to give ones Chi a more refined quality and is not necessarily the same as abundance of Chi. Both would be nice.
Concentration
One of the hardest skills for the therapist is to be present with the client 100%. As a form of meditation, with an awful lot to concentrate on Tai Chi really does develop concentration skills and the ability to relax in the now. You really can’t do it if you don’t start to pick this up. At the same time, the concentration isn’t just single pointed focus as in some meditations, but a continuous flowing concentration that you just have to surrender into and let go. This is particular useful for intuitive bodywork.
Qigong (also know as chi kung or chi gung) is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation. With roots in Chinese medicine, martial arts, and philosophy, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi) or what has been translated as "intrinsic life energy". Typically a qigong practice involves rhythmic breathing coordinated with slow stylized repetition of fluid movement, a calm mindful state, and visualization of guiding qi through the body. Qigong is now practiced throughout China and worldwide, and is considered by some to be exercise, and by others to be a type of alternative medicine or meditative practice. From a philosophical perspective qigong is believed to help develop human potential, allow access to higher realms of awareness, and awaken one's "true nature"
Health
As a form of gentle exercise, qigong is composed of movements that are typically repeated, strengthening and stretching the body, increasing fluid movement (blood, synovial, and lymph), enhancing balance and proprioception, and building awareness of how the body moves through space. In recent years a large number of books and videos have been published that focus primarily on qigong as exercise and associated health benefits. Practitioners range from athletes to the physically challenged. Because it is low impact and can be done lying, sitting, or standing, qigong is accessible for disabled persons, seniors, and people recovering from injuries.
As a healing art, qigong practitioners focus on prevention and self-healing, traditionally viewed as balancing the body's energy meridians and enhancing the intrinsic capacity of the body to heal. Qigong has been used extensively in China as part of traditional Chinese medicine, and is included in the curriculum of Chinese Universities. Throughout the world qigong is now recognized as a form of complementary and alternative medicine, with significant results for a number of health benefits.
Qigong can be adapted to suit virtually every body type and fitness. This allows people who are unable to participate in vigorous strength- or aerobic training to train regularly in qigong. The cumulative effects of diligent qigong practice may gain these people a physical strength, energetic vitality and mental calm that allows them to engage in their lives in a way they may long have forgotten. Once learned and practiced qigong is a resource for every aspect of life. Allowing better health, better balance (physically and mentally), increased energy and an improved ability to cope with day-to-day stresses.
Meditation and self-cultivation
Qigong is practiced for meditation and self-cultivation as part of various philosophical and spiritual traditions. As meditation, qigong is a means to still the mind and enter a state of consciousness that brings serenity, clarity, and bliss. Many practitioners find qigong, with its gentle focused movement, to be more accessible than seated meditation.
Martial arts training
The practice of qigong is an important component in both internal and external style Chinese martial arts. Focus on qi is considered to be a source of power as well as the foundation of the internal style of martial arts. Tai Chi, Xing yi, and Baguazhang are representative of the types of Chinese martial arts that rely on the concept of qi as the foundation. Extraordinary feats of martial arts prowess, such as the ability to withstand heavy strikes and the ability to break hard objects are abilities attributed to qigong training.
Yangshuo is in Southern China, not too far above Hong Kong, near to the city of Guilin.
It is the one of the top tourist destinations in China, famous for its beautiful scenery – the inspiration for much of China’s art work.
This has meant that the local infrastructure has developed and is suitable and enjoyable for Western tourism. It is a beautiful place to stay for a while and have a holiday at the same time as learning Tai Chi.
Yangshuo has always been an interesting town. Because of the beauty of its surrounding countryside, it found itself part of a fascinating Chinese experiment in early tourism and benefited from a relaxation of the control that existed elsewhere in China.
The rest of China has taken almost twenty years to receive the same sense of freedom, but Yangshuo still has a different feel.
Most visitors to China feel more comfortable in the Yangshuo area than in any other region of China.
The town itself has been tastefully developed to provide a more beautiful ambience than the early Communist grey buildings, blending the older wooden buildings with newer ones.
The town is famous all over China for its ‘West Street’ which has had shops and restaurants catering to Western tastes for thirty years.
Shopping has always been a major Yangshuo occupation for the foreign visitors and there is a very wide range of craft goods available here, mostly have made in ethnic minority villages in Guangxi and Guizhou Provinces.
Yangshuo is attracting high quality artists to itself and there are now several galleries with high quality Chinese art for viewing and purchase along with other shops displaying Chinese silver work, silk weaving many other goods.
The restaurants in Yangshuo are certainly different to the Chinese norm, though there are also many high quality traditional Chinese restaurants as well. Menus are in English and Chinese. Chinese dishes have been adapted to suit Western preferences. Western dishes and deserts are available everywhere and the bars and restaurants are fitted out to provide an ambience that is unusual still in China.
There has always been a wide variety of tea, coffee and alcohol available here to cater for Western tourists as well as breakfast favourites like orange juice, banana porridge, fried eggs and bacon and maple syrup pancakes etc.
The quality of Western food is very high here with good steaks, oven made pizzas and tasty pasta dishes and there is a famous French restaurant Le Votre in the main square run by a Frenchman.
There are also high quality Chinese fish restaurants serving the local delicacy of river fish cooked in beer along with a host of other dishes. A real treat for special occasions.
Finally, the town now has an amazing Chinese vegetarian restaurant which has really added to the diversity of choice available in the town. Complete with traditional style furnishings, its ideal for a unique dinner out.
Ironically West Street has now become a genuine tourist attraction in its own right for Chinese tourists who come to savour the unique atmosphere here. It has become famous all over China.
The Countryside around Yangshuo
Most visitors to Yangshuo come to see the surrounding countryside. Yangshuo is situated next to the beautiful Li River (LIJiang) in the centre of the most stunning Karsk Limestone mountain area in China.
It really has to be seen to be believed, an artist or photographers paradise.
If you climb one of the hills the mountains go on and on into the distance, but it is easy to reach exceptional places from Yangshuo either by taxi or by bicycle which are easily rented in Yangshuo town. Cycle trips out to Moon Hill are part of the Yangshuo experience.
The Dragon Bone Rice Terraces at Longsheng
Longsheng is a mountain area approximately 3 – 4 hours North of Yangshuo and is easily reached via tours from Yangshuo. Again this area is simply one of those amazing places on Earth. The local minority Zhaung and Yao tribes have carved the landscape here for over 800 years to make a subsistance living in this mountainous area. This is a great place to visit for a day or preferably a couply of days with time to walk among the hills and enjoy this quiet place.
Contact the School Direct
Email: taichischoolchina@gmail.com
Telephone: +8613517865736
The Yangshuo(West Street)Taiji Quan Health Centre,
Bao Quan Road,
Yangshuo,
Guangxi Guilin,
China
We recommend email as the main method of communication with the school.
Finding the School once you are in Yangshuo
Once your have reached Yangshuo, It is relatively straightforward to find the school.
Please phone the school on: 13517865736 or send an email and arrange to meet in a local cafe or hotel which you are familiar with.
Otherwise you can make your way to the school itself which is behind the park on Bao quan Road.
*Note: As a tourist town Yangshuo has an active tout / commission business. It is better to make contact with the school direct.