Stages of Tai Chi development (Tabby Cat version)
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1. You'll feel some generic warmth, tingling, flow, prickly heat, mostly on skin, maybe some inside too.
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2. Your ki will sink and concentrate in the tanden.
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You'll learn to re-project your ki outward from tanden through your arms and fingers.
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Your ki will permate your whole body, soles of feet through tiptop of hyakue.
Listed below are all the reasons why you will probably fail to complete all (or any) of the stages beyond the first (NOTE BENE: Only one of the items listed below is actually a valid point and a serious concern. Can you spot it?)
1. You aren't relaxed and don't even know or care that you aren't.
2. You are not working hard at the 5 Principles of ZMQ37 Tai Chi as taught by Ben Lo thus you are doing Slow Shaolin rather than Tai Chi.
3. You feel an irresistible urge to redefine relaxation in terms of "proper structure" or "appropriately timed application of force" or "correct alignment" or any other modern weasel phrases like that.
4. You care too much how you look while doing the form
5. You don't care enough how you look while doing the form
6. You don't practice push hands
7. You practice too much push hands
8. You scoff at notion of ki or admit it but scoff that it could never be functional for anything
9. You are a New Age bunny who is blissed out on meditative ki but you aren't relaxed so you are useless
10. You believe what Feldenkrais said about the tanden: A point a few inches there, a few inches here, if you go there, you will find that it is full of shit, literally. (Laughter) That point is full of shit. And this is the point of chi.
11. You have your doubts whether some asshole bipolar internet feline could possibly teach you anything useful about your august and revered art of Tai Chi Chuan.
