question from a newbie

[Maestromap]

I have recently taken an interest in martial arts and decided that taiji would be a good place to start. I bought 'Tai Chi Chuan 24 and 48 postures' by master liang, Shou-Yu and Wu, Wen-Ching and have started reading it and doing some of the exercises. My intention is not to use this book as my sole learning guide but more of a way to decide whether or not I like it. I have two questions:

Am I off to a good start this way?

and

How should I practice the stances?

I hope You all understand what I'm after here.

Thanks,
Michael

[Josh Young]

Am I off to a good start this way?
In my opinion, yes.


How should I practice the stances?
Like a tree.
They are relaxed, rooted and sturdy for long periods of time.

[Maestromap]

thanks for the quick reply. Should I start working on Qigong as well?

[Josh Young]

With taiji qigong is not needed, though many do use it.

Taiji has qigong built into the forms itself, thus is a form of qi-gong and jin-gong combined.

However what is needed is Push Hands at some point, when you feel what the energies feel like it will help a great deal.

Proceed with caution though, changing a habit is nearly impossible, just work one step at a time and take it easy. Good things come to those who practice and those who wait.

[Maestromap]

Thanks for the advice.

[Dvivid]

Maestro, think of it this way.

Once you learn the form, relax and practice it very slowly and breathe deeply. After a while, Qigong and meditation will come to find you.