Understanding Taoist Alchemy


Interpreting the Ancient Codes

Interpreting the ancient codes shrouding the esoteric Chinese arts is one of the great challenges facing any serious student of Taoist Nei Dan. Download the free paper now.

Bai Wenxiang Xingyiquan 形意拳, 白文祥大师

Grandmaster Bai Wenxiang (白文祥大师) demonstrates Xinqyiquan (形意拳, Hsing-I Chuan). Living testimony to the health benefits of Chinese internal martial arts, Grandmaster Bai is 70 in this video. He is trained in both traditional Kung Fu and modern Wushu.

Tai Chi Peng Lu Ji An

Tai Chi Peng Lu Ji An 陈氏太极拳 四正手

Demonstration of Peng, Lu, Ji, An by Chen Xili, 20th Generation, Son of Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong in Xian, China. Peng, Lu, Ji and An are the four major directions in Taijiquan. They are often translated as Push, Rollback, Wardoff and Press, but this translation obscures their original [...]

Chen Taijiquan Yi Lu, First Form 36 Postures

This video is a demonstration of Chen Taijiquan’s first form or Yi Lu in 36 postures (陈氏太极拳老驾一路 (三十六式)). This form comes from my teacher, Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong, 19th generation Grandmaster from the Chen Tai Chi (Taijiquan) family. I am a 20th generation indoor student of Grandmaster Chen.

Grandmaster Chen preserves the sequence and essence of [...]

Chen Tai Chi Chuan: Original Forms and Exercises DVD

Our new Chen Tai Chi Chuan DVD is now available. We’ve worked hard to bring you a DVD that is usable for beginners and interesting for more advanced practitioners. This DVD contains eight complete Tai Chi practice sets based on the original style of Chen Tai Chi as taught to us by Grandmaster Chen Quanzhong, [...]

Crazy People

I recently got a question from someone asking advice on “How to deal with crazy people?”

There are all kinds of people in this world. Some people are angels, others are assholes. Most people are somewhere in between. But this spectrum (should we call it the A-A spectrum?) is not all there is to defining [...]

Good Enough for Rock and Roll

Most people want to be perfect. Not everyone, but most.

I recently took my 4 year old son to get pizza at one of the local re-developed town centers around Washington DC. These places, though very commercial, are often great fun for the young ones. That evening they happened to feature a local band which [...]

Qigong State and Five Animal Frolics Presentation at AHNA Convention

The Qigong State and Five Animal Frolics medical Qigong were part of the Qigong credit courses that we taught to holistic nurses at their annual convention this year. All forms of higher cultivation including meditation and Qigong benefit from the Qigong state.

This video introduces you to the Qigong state and the Five Animal Frolics [...]

Dragon and Tiger Kung Fu

The Dragon and Tiger have long been totems of internal Kung Fu and symbols of Taoist internal cultivation. The highest levels of internal Kung Fu provide an entry point to Internal Alchemy (Nei Dan) cultivation. Here is a video of Dragon and Tiger free movement performed by Mr. Shawn Cartwright, TCCII Executive Director. It was [...]

Chen Tai Chi Yi Lu Form by Shawn Cartwright

For every Yin there is a Yang. In this case, the Yang is the Chen Tai Chi Form performed by Mr. Shawn Cartwright, Executive Director of TCCII. This form shows the obvious hard and soft, fast and slow movement of the original style of Tai Chi Chuan. Mr. Cartwright is a 20th generation Chen Tai [...]

Ba Gua and Xing Yi on a Sacred Taoist Mountain in China

Bagua and Xingyi (Pa Kua and Hsing I) are two of the most famous Chinese internal Kung Fu systems (after Tai Chi Chuan.) Bagua is generally based upon the eight trigrams of the Yi Jing (I Ching) while Xingyi is based upon the Wuxing (Wu Hsing) five element theory. Here is a demonstration of Xingyi’s [...]