Empty Your Cup with the mOnk: Recent Episodes
Paul Read
Tai chi never tasted so good! It's all new, its all shiny, 100% guru free, freshly brewed and served in an empty cup
Who studies what style and why? What brings people to taichi and what do they like and dislike in a class? Find out in this episode AND Take Your Skills Online - the new ebook this year from the mOnk.
Part 3 in the series of how to run an online course on Tai chi for 1 year. See previous episodes for parts 1&2 or visit teapotmonk.com for more details
A multi-part series on setting up and running an online TAI CHI school. In this first episode I explore the traditional objections to teaching online. Part 2 to be released next week.
Should Taichi be always about you? What lessons can we extract from World TaiChi day and what's all this about a Taichi survey? Plus competition results and more news from the monk.
What's in a beginners mind? Check out this handy list for anyone new to the art, or not-so-new, and discover how best to embrace those brace enough to venture into your class.
Yup. Back for a new series of 10 short episodes starting next month. Subscribe for notifications and a chance to win a years tuition.
Golden Rooster, Kings, flapjacks and the new taoist EP from Pearl Viper all make an appearance on this hot September episode.
How can a student of the martial arts seriously expect to find anything remotely contemporary or original when teachers have been programmed to only reproduce, replicate and restore? What can a teacher do to break down the history of reproduction within their style and would that be a good or bad thing? Find out in this podcast or red the whole article on Medium by Paul Read.
A sneak preview into this months Tai Chi workshop on the posture called Repulse The Monkey and a short story on its related theme of stepping back to become invisible. Enjoy the story put the music. Find out more on teapotmOnk.com.
Hold on to your seat, for in this episode the mOnk explores the link between the Tao te Ching and our political world. Surely not, you may ask. Well Lao Tzu devoted considerable pages towards running a country, so it would hardly be fair on the old man were we to ignore his advice.
In today's podcast the mOnk interviews Jason Newton of Pearl Viper and asks about the relationship between music, simplicity and the Tao. Google Pearl Viper music to hear songs from the first and second EP'S and discover how easy it is to wiggle your hips to Eastern Philosophy
Should we study, investigate, examine or simply learn to play this creative art? Find out in this new episode about the benefits of play over study.
What reasons do you have to begin or stop practising Tai chi? Is it about you or is it something greater? Find out (or not) as the mOnk explores reasons to be simple Part 1. Featuring backing music by Pearl Viper from the new EP.
Tai Chi teaches us to interpret the world with all our senses, to balance the dominance of thought with the wiggliness of our hips. To that end, Pear Viper Music and the teapotmOnk have combined creative forces to produce the first Taoist toe-tapping EP in history. For the price of a muffin and a coffee, 4 immortal Taoist tracks can be yours. Listen on iTunes or drop by teapotmonk.com for links.
Tired of watching your neighbourhood guru doggie-paddle in stagnant waters? Tired of conversing with a Pot Noodle? Make 2016 the year of change. Watch the video, try a session and learn to laugh at the 21st century. Come and find out more about the new 2016 online course at Teapotmonk.com.
The ancient Taoist sages (the usual suspects) lived in perpetual hope of attaining immortality, using tools like tai chi to help them reach their goal. But what does immortality mean for a 21st century dust dweller? Is it about longevity and long eyebrows or something else, more subtle and perhaps, even more interesting? Find out in this episode of Empty Your Cup with the mOnk and discover how to sign up for the first free workshops on Immortality from Jan 2016.
Can stillness be found if you suffer from restless legs? What did the Taoist sages mean when they sought to cultivate the art of stillness throughout their lives? And how is stillness compatible with motion? Confused? You should be...listen to this weeks jerky ramblings from the mOnk and learn how to find a more tranquil pace of life as the mOnk explores the different facets of Taoist immortality.
In any other discipline, jargon is frowned upon, even banished where it's use obscures or mystifies. Not so in tai chi and the martial arts where language has barely moved on from the ice age. Is it true that our words are responsible for maintaining an exclusive and mystical practice in tai chi?
What makes Tai chi so relevant a practice in the 21st century? Is it its martial prowess, it's smart and shiny uniforms, it's deference to hierarchical practices. Or is it something far more juicy and tasty? Something that fuses mind and body, thought and action? Empty your cup, and Tate this weeks freshly brewed episode.
Sifu Simon attempts to install some respect for history and lineage into the teapotmonk, but ... The mOnk appears to have an altogether other agenda....
Ever wondered why there is such a big drop out in students each year. Find out why in this Handy Pocket sized Report by the mOnk on the top 5 Reason your students have dropped out - AND what you can do to bring them back. More nonsense can be found on www.teapotmonk.
How long does it take to learn the Form? Why is there a Long version and a Short Version? How important is "time" in any learning curve, and what have radio-active apples and lickable Phablets to do with anything at all? Find out as the mOnk encourages you to Empty Your Cup.
History has pushed this humble art in a lot of different directions over the years, but still it too often feels chained to its martial past. Does Tai Chi have what it takes to transcend the limitations of the martial arts and become a relevant tool for change in the 21st century?
Make yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up and listen to the mOnk's proposals for tai chi forging its own destiny.
How useful is a sword against a tank? How often have you defended yourself against a Mouseketeer? So why do we learn weapons in the 21st century? Find out from the mOnk in this episode.
Freshly Brewed And 100% Guru free, the teapotmOnk returns with a new 5 minute podcast series on life, movement, and the universe as we know it. Subscribe for unexpected episodes coming your way, with all the accuracy and effect of a hastily thrown blunt shuriken. Catch more of the mOnk- at www.teapotmonk.com