What I teach

Chen style Taiji Quan (tai chi)

Health exercise, meditation, and martial art: Taiji Quan, or “Supreme Polarity Boxing”, is the quintessence of taoist arts, an ideal means to train your body and mind into old age.

In Chen style Taiji Quan – the oldest style – slow and elegant movements alternate with sudden bursts of power. The opposites are harmonised: hard and soft, fast and slow, light and heavy. The characteristic spiral movements massage and strengthen the body, the energy flows freely.

Nei Gong / Qi Gong (internal alchemy)

Exercises that work at the same time on skeleton, muscles, tendons and ligaments. These exercises are a fundamental component of the study of internal martial arts, that are otherwise reduced to a practice devoid of any martial effectiveness.

Xinyi Liuhe Quan

Xinyi Liuhe Quan, “Heart, Intention and Six Harmonies Boxing”, is a very old martial arts style, well known for its effectiveness and lack of frills: the forms are few, and the focus of the practice is on single techniques and short combinations.

The style is based on the imitation of 10 animals, with the goal of internalising their spirit rather than their external movements. The animals are: bear, eagle, rooster, tiger, dragon, monkey, swallow, horse, snake, hawk.

BENEFITS

  • Health. A correctly aligned, stronger, more “intelligent” and elastic body.

  • Self-knowledge. Knowledge of the body, but also, to varying degrees, of the mental, emotional and spiritual dimension.

  • Peace of mind. Practicing the slow movements of Taiji Quan has a soothing effect.

  • Culture. Chinese internal martial arts are a way to explore and embody through movement the most important philosophical aspects of an ancient and fascinating culture.

  • Beauty. There’s something extremely poetic in training a form (a sequence of movements) of any martial art. The forms of Taji Quan, in particular, express a harmony that is apparent to the layman too.

  • Martial effectiveness. Internal martial arts are martial arts, and must be treated and trained as such. It is important to remember, though, that to make them truly effective one must develop qualities attainable only through years of specific training. This is especially true in the case of Taiji Quan.

MY METHOD: THE NEI DAN METHOD

The Nei Dan method has been devised by my master, Flavio Daniele, over more than fifty years of teaching.

The main aspect of this approach is a “Copernican Revolution” in teaching: it places the artist and not the art itself at its centre.

To know more visit the website neidanschool.com. Here you can find my instructor profile.

Some exercises

SPINNING THE GOLDEN TRAYS

This Nei Gong exercise aims to develop spiral force, which is a distinguishing trait of Chen style Taiji Quan. Every sing part of the body participates in the movement.

ISSUING INTERNAL FORCE (FA JING)

This exercise trains the ability to issue the so-called “internal force”. The relaxed body allows the force to move through the arms and reach the target.

Would you like to train with me?

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