Four-Season Tai Chi II - Summer This is part of a series of Tai Chi forms following the change of seasons for a healthy life.  According to the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (Huangdi Neijing), the essence of the summer season is flourishing and growth.  Therefore, Tai Chi practice should be active and release the abundance of yang energy, exercising the cardiovascular system and preparing for harvesting energy in the autumn. Chen Style Tai Chi is the favored practice among young people and martial artists.  It is characterized by spiraling and coiling, occasional powerful strikes, stamping, and jumping.  All of these motions from the core, driven by internal power, and will train you to develop inner strength.  This short form is a combination of Master Tsao's studies from recent years with Grandmasters Chen Zhenglei and Zhu Tiancai.  He teaches in English with front and back views.  Suggested 25 class hours. (Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate Levels)

 According to the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (Huangdi Neijing), the essence of the autumn season is gathering and harvesting.  Therefore, Tai Chi practice refrain from excess emotion, remaining calm and gathering energy through breathing exercise to enhance lung function.  This will prevent lung illness and benefit the conservation process of the winter season.  Suggest for beginners and middle-age people.  Master Tsao teaches in English with front and back views.  Suggested 25 class hours. (Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate Levels)

Four-Season Tai Chi I - Spring This is part of a series of Tai Chi forms following the change of seasons for a healthy life. According to the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (Huangdi Neijing), the essence of spring is birth and spread. Therefore, tai chi practice in springtime should be like young deer prancing in the meadow, vivid and agile. This routine is flavored with Wu style fast form. It exercises the tendons and stimulate bone growth, and will also release stress to prevent liver problems. Master Tsao teaches in English with front and back views. It is a good reference for home study, or a resource for instructor's teaching preparation. Suggested 30 class hours. (Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate Levels)  (Difficulty: Beginner Level)

Four-Season Tai Chi IV - Winter This is part of a series of Tai Chi forms following the change of seasons for a healthy life.  According to the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (Huangdi Neijing), the essence of the winter season is conservation and storage.  Therefore, Tai Chi practice should refrain from overusing the yang energy, keeping moves quiet and subdued in the winter months.  This will prevent kidney illness and benefit revitalization in spring.  Suggest for beginners and senior people.  Master Tsao teaches in English with front and back views.  Suggested 25 class hours. (Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate Levels). DVD, (63 minutes)

Tai Chi staff in Yang Style Form 24 is totally based on the popular Simplified Tai Chi in Form 24.  It is easy to learn for people who know the barehand form.  The purpose is to use the staff to train your neigong and neijing, your internal power.  Strike with the staff to create vibration force, kicking back to your body to improve your structural alignment and balance.  This is created for Tai Chi Healthways' instructor program and continuing training curriculum, and is also made to honor Professor Li Deyin who is the icon of Tai Chi Form 24.  Dr. Tsao trained under him for 10 years in Beijing, China. Demonstrations are given in front and back views, and Master Tsao gives a detailed description of each posture's martial application, and showed where it comes from the original barehand form.   (Difficulty: Beginner through advanced Levels).  (60 minutes).

Tai Chi Neigong Shibashi in Chen Style Compact 18 Forms is created strictly based on the Chen family traditional postures.  Posture is only a tool to cultivate inner energy, the neigong is your goal. Repetitive drill on each posture is easy for a beginner to learn, it also provides the opportunity for advanced students to ascertain the feeling of inner work layer by layer.  It is designed for Zoom teaching to fit limited space for home or corporate onsite practice. This is also a perfect short form to lead beginners into a long form routine.  Demonstrations are given in front and back views, and Master Tsao gives a detailed description of each posture's main neigong concept.  (Difficulty: Beginner through advanced Levels). DVD, (68 minutes).

Weighted-ball training with Tai Chi Silk Reeling (chan-si) and Self-massage, created by Dr. Jesse Tsao of Tai Chi Healthways, is one of the most effective ways to enhance your energy circulation and improve your balance, endurance, bone density, and core strength. Moving the ball around your torso massages your inner organs and reflects the inner dan-tian rotation. The weight helps develop your rooting and leg strength. Momentarily extending the ball away from the torso will improve your arm strength It can help build and maintain muscle mass and strength. Strong muscles lead to strong bones, and strong bones can help minimize the risk of fracture due to osteoporosis. It can also protect vitality, make everyday tasks more manageable, and help you maintain a healthy weight. Harvard Health Publications remarks that “a combination of age-related changes, inactivity, and inadequate nutrition conspire to gradually steal bone mass, at the rate of 1% per year after age 40.” As bones grow more fragile and susceptible to fracture, they are more likely to break after a minor fall or even a simple everyday activity such as bending over to tie a shoelace. Six out of 10 people who break a hip never fully regain their former level of independence. Even walking across a room without help may become impossible. Numerous studies have shown that strength training can play a role in slowing bone loss, and several studies show it can even build bone, offsetting age-related declines in bone mass. Practicing tai chi with a weighted ball puts healthy stress on the bones and can promote the activity of bone-forming cells. The result is stronger and denser bones.