We've heard many different ways that taiji stealthily sneaks into daily life and improves function and movement of many practitioners in a surprising way.  Swimming, golf swings and ballroom dancing all manage to improve a bit with some applied taiji principles!  Now we can add paddling a canoe to this list!  Lynn Wright, a weapons student and long time student in the Magic Tortoise School, has brought this article to our attention.  

When you apply to waist as the driving force to movements, the arms have to work less and the movements become more powerful!  Where do you see and feel your taiji in your daily life?

T'ai Chi for Paddling

Paddling is all about putting that paddle, single- or double-bladed, into the water and touring, surfing, playing, and having a good time. T’ai Chi is a Chinese martial art performed very slowly on land. So what could one have to do with the other?

That was my reaction in the mid-1980s, when I started studying T’ai Chi. To my way of thinking then, my whitewater paddling and T’ai Chi were separate. As the years have passed, I have redefined each and at times wonder whether I am doing T’ai Chi in my boat while paddling or paddling while doing T’ai Chi on land.

Read more at http://www.canoekayak.com/canoe/taichi/#AIqeGwx2EQGmmMf9.99