Hi, I’m the Jade Turtle*, a dedicated Sun family style Tai chi practitioner. This blog is a way for me to share a journey as I become my own Tai chi instructor because there are no suitable instructors in my area. It is a space for articulating the trials of practising in solitude, and forging our own path in the absence of guidance from a local or online instructor. The Lone Goose Collective takes it’s name from the Sun style Tai chi sword movements of ‘Lone Goose leads the Flock,’ and ‘Lone Goose emerges from the Flock.’
After more than 12 years immersed in various Yang styles, my practice has now evolved into daily Sun Family style. This beautiful and unique form, which blends quiet strength and fluidity, is a constant source of peace, resilience, presence and connection for me. The only concern with this practice is the absence of a suitable instructor in my area. In my 5 years working on Cheng Man Ching’s form I found that failing to consciously act as my own instructor did lead to a deterioration in my form even as I practised everyday.
Why Sun Family Style
Sun Family style is known for its fluid movements, upright postures and unique stepping, setting it apart from other Tai chi styles. For me, Sun Family style isn’t just another form, it has been and continues to be a deeply personal journey of transformation and connection. The distinctive flowing movements and the emphasis on powerful, integrated steps has bought a new dimension to my practice. A dimension that is now energising and grounding.
While I loved the depth and tradition of Yang styles – and the peerless instruction of Yang Jun – Sun Family style has enabled me to explore a more meditative and connecting approach to Tai chi. In a way it’s a blend of everything I need to keep practising with my distinct physical impediments – energy, tranquillity, and a mindful connection between each movement and the cosmos.
I learnt this form by starting with an instructional video of a short form. Then thanks to covid, I was able to do a year long course over zoom in that short form. The following year I was able to do another year long course over zoom in the long form. This was of course nowhere near as effective as the instruction I had been getting in person as covid broke down our familiar ways of doing things together. However, it was, by no small margin, for more effective than the instructional video. Once those courses finished I continued practising and soon appreciated I would need to develop my own method and become my own instructor if I was going to make progress and develop my form.
My Journey as an Instructor
For me, the shift from Yang Styles to Sun Family style has been transformative, inviting an appreciation of the depth that flows from the simplicity and mindfulness of daily practice. The absence of external guidance, despite being an actual impediment to learning, is also a gift in disguise. My physical capabilities have been profoundly restricted since my teens, sometimes in the extreme after a damaging viral infection in the 1990’s. So not attending classes enables me to always be going at my own pace. Which in turn has made it possible to practise everyday, and to learn from the practise itself – observing the nuances and insight that emerge naturally within time and practise.
Which is not to say it has been easy or even very successful. I would not think my Tai chi form rates well in the eyes of practitioners in the various academies and schools doing other styles. But daily Tai chi is so rewarding in and of itself. In the absence of regular feedback and correction I’ve relied on being able to ponder the parts of the set that don’t seem to be working, or are creating actual problems for me, to improve and deepen my understanding of Sun family style. The resources at my disposal include various books and the video lessons I first learned from.
I practise daily and after a longer period of time than would ever have occurred to me, have started to work my way into each movement, refining and exploring the intricacies of the form. Cultivating the internal stillness that is a mark of true Tai chi, and a daily sense of connection that makes it all worthwhile.
A Process Approach to Self Instructing Tai chi
The way forward to effective self-instruction has been drawn from the processes used to learn many skills. The various skills that I’ve drawn on to generate my own instructor process include drawing, walking for fitness, flotation therapy, guitar playing, jogging programs, and of course the many methods I’ve been exposed to in person or online since my first Tai chi class in 1988.
The connection with nature facilitated by Sun Family style has also brought me closer to the Western poetry that concerns itself with nature and the place of human life within it. As I journey through Sun Family style, I’ve found it closely aligns with the cultivation of the poetic principles of mindfulness, simplicity, presence and a deeply felt sense of connection to nature and the Cosmos. From time to time there will be posts that explore how these ideas can enrich our form, when we practice alone.
I know the journey can feel long and lonely when circumstances distance us from suitable local instructors, but one thing I have learnt from teachers and years of practice in Yang Family style and Cheng Man Ching’s form, is that at some point, the community of Tai chi practitioners is just there for us. Even if we are not together in space, we are together in time. So, together let’s find meaning in the small moments, patience in the challenges, and inspiration in our shared commitment to instructing ourselves to a higher level in this beautiful and enchanting art.
The Jade Turtle
*Whilst not a keen advocate for the gamification of life, McGonagal’s book Superbetter makes a good case for adopting a pseudonym in some of our activities to help foster wellbeing. A practice Cheng Man Ching also mastered in his writing.