What Watching My Tai Qi Teacher Taught Me About Dedicated Practice

In this reflective essay, I describe a quiet moment during practice when watching my teacher move shifted how I understood my own progress. What first appeared as ease in my body revealed a deeper lesson about lineage, responsibility, and what mature practice begins to demand. By observing how the art travels through different stages of a teacher’s life, I explore how practice evolves from effort into care—and how, at a certain point, the work no longer asks us to improve alone, but to carry something forward with intention.

SATURDAY SELF CARE: The One Secret for Mental Wellness.

Ever feel like you hit a wall right when you aim to elevate? I stepped into one of those moments in my martial arts practice today, and it reminded me—growth doesn’t come from staying in comfort zones. Growth comes from facing what challenges us, and sometimes, like this morning, that challenge lies not in the body but in the mind.