Earthing Tai Chi Course Three
If you prefer a quick overview, the first few sections of this page are all you need. The rest is optional and meant for students who enjoy reading more deeply.
Tai Chi Comprehensive
Conditioning & Development
From Foundation to Deeper Exploration
For students who feel ready to continue exploring Tai Chi beyond foundational practice.
Course Three is an ongoing learning environment for students who already have some Tai Chi experience and would like to develop a broader and more connected practice.
Rather than moving through a fixed sequence simply because a student has completed earlier courses, I encourage each student to consider whether Course Three is the right next step for their own interests, experience, and willingness to continue practicing.
Not everyone needs to continue to Course Three.
There is no need to decide today how far you may eventually go.
This is simply another door that may be appropriate when you feel ready to open it.
Quick Overview (Everything You Need to Know)
At a Glance
Course Three may be a good next step if you:
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already have some Tai Chi experience;
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want to continue beyond foundational practice;
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are interested in both solo and partner practice;
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are willing to learn through repetition and gradual development;
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want to better understand how different aspects of Tai Chi connect;
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are interested in body mechanics, basic applications, and Yang Style Tai Chi;
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would like to develop a sustainable, long-term practice.
Typical group size: 3–6 students
Training may include:
Solo Practice · Partner Practice · Stepping · Body Mechanics · Qi Gong · Basic Applications · Yang Style Tai Chi
You do not need to decide how far you will eventually go.
You only need to consider whether one realistic 12-hour commitment is the right next step for you now.
Training Framework
Begin with One 12-Hour Stage
Course Three is organized in 12-hour training stages.
You do not need to commit to all 24 hours.
The first decision is simply whether you are ready to make one realistic 12-hour commitment and give yourself enough time to practice consistently.
A Longer-Term Direction: 24 Hours
For students who find Course Three meaningful, the longer-term direction is to build toward 24 hours of in-person training over approximately one year to one and a half years.
The 24-hour goal is a direction, not a requirement or the end of the program.
One 12-hour stage → Practice → Review → Decide whether to continue
Course Three is an ongoing program. The 12-hour and 24-hour frameworks provide structure for practice; they do not define the length or limit of your study.
Current Training Time
September–October 2026 and February–March 2027
Tuesdays · 8:30–9:30 AM
Classes generally meet during the first three weeks of each designated training month.
This is the current Course Three group training time.
Course Three is an ongoing small-group program, and the training schedule may be adjusted as the group develops and students’ circumstances change.
Looking Ahead
May–August 2027
Tuesdays · 8:30–9:30 AM
If you are considering joining or continuing Course Three, please plan ahead and consider your training schedule for the coming period.
For each new training stage, registration is generally completed about one month before training begins. This gives us time to confirm continuing students, make any necessary adjustments, and welcome new students when space is available.
Course Three is intentionally kept small, generally 3–6 students, to support partner practice, individual attention, and a compatible learning environment.
Planned Training Path
The current group is currently planned around a seasonal training rhythm:
September–October 2026 → 6 hours
February–March 2027 → 6 hours
Together, these two periods form the first planned 12-hour stage.
Additional training stages may continue as the group develops.
The training calendar provides a rhythm for the group. Your 12-hour commitment provides a practical structure for your own practice.
You do not need to predict the entire future of your Tai Chi practice today.
Understand → Decide → Begin → Practice → Review → Continue when appropriate
Your First 12-Hour Commitment
$200 total
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$50 non-refundable commitment fee when you confirm your commitment
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$150 due before training begins
You are not committing to the full 24 hours.
You are simply deciding whether you are ready to begin the first 12-hour stage.
After completing or substantially completing that stage, you can decide whether another 12-hour commitment is right for you.
For students who make and follow through with two planned 12-hour commitments, the total is $400, compared with the standard 24-hour value of $480.
This tuition support is intended to encourage thoughtful planning and follow-through, rather than to create pressure to commit beyond what is realistic.
Flexible Participation
$25/hour
I suggest planning for at least four classes so that you have enough continuity to experience the nature of the training.
The flexible option is not intended to encourage irregular attendance.
A Short Note Before You Continue
Tai Chi is a practice of attention, patience, and steady development.
There is no need to rush into a commitment simply because an opportunity is available.
At the same time, when you have taken the time to understand the practice, the commitment is realistic, and the timing is right, it can be meaningful to make a clear decision and begin.
Take time to understand.
When the time is right, take the next step.
The purpose of Course Three is not to create pressure to continue. It is to provide a structure in which committed students can practice, learn, and develop over time.
Everything above is enough to help you decide whether Course Three may be right for you.
The sections below explain more about how I designed the program, why I use this training structure, and how the different aspects of Tai Chi connect.
You do not need to read all of this before beginning.
If you already have enough information to know that this feels like the right next step, you can simply use the form above to share your availability.
If you are someone who enjoys understanding the larger picture, you are welcome to continue reading.
What Is Course Three?
Course Three brings together many of the fundamental elements of Tai Chi that students may have encountered separately in earlier practice.
Instead of treating each element as an isolated subject, we gradually explore how they support one another.
We may move between:
Solo Practice → Partner Practice → Body Understanding → Application → Connected Form
A movement that first appears simple may be explored through stepping, weight shifting, body mechanics, breathing, partner interaction, and application.
The purpose is not simply to learn more movements.
It is to develop a deeper understanding of how Tai Chi works through the body.
Once you understand the general direction of Course Three, you do not need to read the entire page. You can move on whenever you feel ready.
- Jing Shuai
For Students Who Enjoy Reading More
What We Will Explore
1. Solo Practice
We will continue developing:
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balance;
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weight shifting;
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stepping;
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alignment;
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relaxation;
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coordination;
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body awareness;
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breathing;
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whole-body movement.
The goal is not simply to make a movement look correct.
It is to gradually understand what the body is doing, how different parts relate to one another, and how the principles of Tai Chi can become part of regular practice.
Repetition is an important part of this process.
The same movement may reveal something different as your understanding develops.
2. Partner Practice
Partner work introduces information that solo practice cannot provide by itself.
Depending on the development of the group, we may explore:
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sensitivity;
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listening through contact;
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timing;
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balance;
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direction;
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distance;
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coordination;
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responsiveness;
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basic applications.
Partner practice is not intended to create competition between students.
At Tao Tai Chi Studio, these exercises are primarily used as opportunities to develop awareness, listening, coordination, balance, and responsiveness.
Because partner practice involves physical contact and requires mutual trust, the quality of the learning environment is especially important.
Students need to have a basic understanding of the purpose of the exercises and a willingness to practice with respect and support for one another.
Partner-Based Study and Learning Conditions
Some areas of Tai Chi require a particularly suitable learning environment.
This includes practices involving closer physical contact, more detailed martial applications, or greater interaction between students.
For these practices, I consider:
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the students’ experience;
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their interests and intentions;
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the similarity of their training backgrounds;
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their ability to work cooperatively;
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and the overall learning environment.
When the conditions are appropriate, these practices may be offered through individual training, a privately organized small group, or a small group of students with sufficiently similar experience and intentions.
The goal is not to create an environment in which students compare their abilities with one another.
The goal is to create a setting in which everyone can learn.
Push Hands
Push Hands may be one of the ways we continue to explore the principles of Tai Chi through partner practice.
Rather than approaching Push Hands primarily as competition or fighting preparation, I use it as a way to explore:
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listening;
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sensitivity;
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balance;
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timing;
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coordination;
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responsiveness;
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and the relationship between movement and contact.
For students who have completed foundational Tai Chi training, a carefully structured Push Hands experience can provide another way to understand principles that are difficult to discover through solo practice alone.
When Push Hands is offered, I want the students involved to have sufficiently compatible experience, intentions, and learning conditions.
For this reason, Push Hands is not automatically included as a separate course for everyone.
It is an area of practice that may develop when the right conditions come together.
3. Qi Gong
Qi Gong may be integrated into the training when it helps us understand:
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breathing;
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relaxation;
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posture;
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awareness;
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internal coordination;
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movement and stillness.
The emphasis is not on collecting a large number of exercises.
Instead, we use appropriate practices to help students experience and understand principles that can support their Tai Chi practice.
4. Stepping and Body Mechanics
Tai Chi is not only the movement of the hands.
We will gradually explore how the feet, legs, pelvis, spine, shoulders, arms, and hands participate in whole-body movement.
Stepping and weight shifting provide an important foundation for understanding:
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balance;
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stability;
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direction;
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coordination;
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transferring weight;
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maintaining connection;
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and changing movement without unnecessary tension.
As these principles become clearer, they can be experienced both in solo practice and in partner exercises.
5. Basic Applications
Martial applications can help us understand why a Tai Chi movement has a particular structure.
The purpose of studying basic applications in this program is not to turn the practice into combat training.
Instead, applications can provide another way to investigate:
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direction;
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distance;
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timing;
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body mechanics;
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balance;
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leverage;
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and responsiveness.
Understanding an application can sometimes change the way we experience the original movement.
In this way, martial knowledge becomes another tool for understanding Tai Chi.
Yang Style Tai Chi
Yang Style Tai Chi is expected to be an important focus of Course Three during the coming years.
Students will progressively study a Yang Style Tai Chi form.
I do not want to rush through a long sequence simply so everyone can say that they have “learned the form.”
Instead, we will take time to explore individual movements and their underlying principles.
A movement may be approached through:
Movement → Breakdown → Body Understanding → Application → Partner Practice → Connected Form
This gives us an opportunity to understand the relationship between the external movement and the principles behind it.
The emphasis is on learning through the body, rather than simply memorizing choreography.
If you have already found the level of detail you need, you can stop here.
The remaining sections are for students who are interested in understanding the longer-term structure and philosophy behind the program.
A Continuing Program -
Not a Fixed 24-Hour Course
One important thing to understand before joining is that Course Three is an ongoing program.
The 12-hour and 24-hour numbers are not the length or limit of the course.
They are a practical framework for developing a sustained training habit.
I use 12-hour stages because committing to the next several months is often more realistic than trying to decide today how long you will study Tai Chi in the future.
The 24-hour goal provides a larger horizon:
Can I stay with this long enough to experience what develops through consistent practice?
After 24 hours, the learning does not end.
The program continues as long as there is a meaningful learning environment for it to continue.
Why 12 Hours?
A training framework can make a long-term intention more practical.
For example, some of my regular weekly classes use a four-class framework.
Four classes may be planned as a small training unit to be completed over approximately four to six weeks.
The four classes are not the “end” of the practice.
They simply provide enough structure to help establish a regular rhythm.
Course Three uses the same principle on a larger scale.
Instead of trying to decide on several years of training at once, we begin with:
One 12-hour commitment → Practice → Review → Decide whether to continue
Two 12-hour stages create a longer-term 24-hour goal.
This allows students to make a meaningful commitment without having to predict the entire future.
2026–2027 Training Rhythm
September–October 2026
6 hours
February–March 2027
6 hours
May–June 2027
6 hours
July–August 2027
6 hours
Total: 24 hours of planned in-person training
During each training period, classes will generally take place during the first three weeks of the designated training month, with the final week available as a break or for schedule adjustments.
November, December, and January are intentionally outside the regular training cycle. This seasonal pause allows space for holidays, family, work, travel, and winter life.
The training calendar provides a rhythm for the group. Your 12-hour commitment provides a personal structure for your own practice.
A 12-hour commitment does not need to be completed within a single training period. You may begin, pause when the seasonal rhythm changes, and continue when regular training resumes.
You Can Join When the Time Is Right
Course Three is intentionally designed as an ongoing program.
There is no fixed semester that everyone must enter at the same time.
If you join later, you do not need to “catch up” with everything that happened before you arrived.
Rather than teaching one long routine from beginning to end and expecting everyone to progress through exactly the same sequence, I progressively introduce and break down movements, exercises, and principles.
This makes it possible for students to enter an ongoing practice when the timing is appropriate.
The exact learning sequence may vary according to the development of the group.
The Training Environment
For this program, I generally look for a small group of approximately 3–6 students.
The number is not simply about enrollment.
A small group can provide enough variety for partner practice, different physical responses, interaction, and group learning while still allowing me to give each student individual attention.
The right group is therefore not simply a certain number of people.
It is a group whose interests, experience, schedules, and willingness to practice together create a healthy learning environment.
If the conditions are not right, there is no need to force the program to begin.
Sometimes waiting is the appropriate part of the process.
Training Commitment and Tuition
One 12-Hour Commitment
$50 non-refundable commitment fee
plus
$150 before training begins
Total: $200
After completing or substantially completing the stage, you can decide whether another 12-hour commitment is appropriate for you.
Two 12-Hour Commitments
$200 + $200 = $400
The standard value of 24 hours of training is $480.
I provide $40 of tuition support for each planned 12-hour commitment.
Students who complete two planned stages therefore receive:
$80 total tuition support
This support is intended for students who are willing to make a realistic plan and take action on that plan.
It is not a promotional discount.
It reflects the value I place on thoughtful planning, commitment, and consistent practice.
The following sections are for students who enjoy exploring the background, structure, and long‑term path of Tai Chi. They are completely optional.
- Jing Shuai
For Students Who Enjoy Reading More
Why I Use This Structure
I do not want students to pay today for a future they cannot yet predict.
Life changes.
Work changes.
Family responsibilities change.
Health, travel, weather, and many other circumstances can affect our ability to practice.
At the same time, a practice can become difficult to sustain if there is never a moment when we decide to take action.
So I try to hold both sides together:
Flexibility and commitment.
You can plan.
You can begin.
You can practice.
If circumstances change, you can adapt.
Then you can return to practice when the conditions are right.
This is one reason planned training receives tuition support.
A clear intention becomes meaningful when we give it a structure for action.
Flexible Participation
Not every student is ready to make a 12-hour commitment.
That is completely understandable.
Flexible participation is available at:
$25/hour
I suggest planning for at least four classes so that you have enough continuity to experience the nature of the training.
This option is intended for students who would like to explore Course Three before deciding whether a longer commitment is appropriate.
The flexible option is not intended to encourage irregular attendance.
Rather, it provides a way to begin when a longer commitment does not yet feel realistic.
Flexibility in Service of Consistency
A missed class does not need to become a reason to abandon a longer practice.
If you miss a team class because life changes, you may be able to make up the missed training by attending another appropriate group session within the applicable period, subject to space and scheduling.
The purpose of this flexibility is not to make attendance unimportant.
It is the opposite.
I want reasonable flexibility to make it easier for students to remain connected to their practice.
Flexibility is here to support consistency.
You Already Have the Practical Information You Need
If you have been reading mainly to understand how the program works, you now have the essential information about the training rhythm, commitment, tuition, and flexibility.
You do not need to read further to participate.
The sections below are simply an invitation to understand more deeply why I designed Course Three this way.
When Life Changes
A good plan should provide direction without becoming rigid.
There may be periods when work, family, travel, holidays, or other responsibilities make regular attendance more difficult.
During such times, we may adjust the pace of training or find another appropriate way to remain connected to practice.
The important thing is not to maintain a perfect schedule.
The important thing is to recognize change, respond intelligently, and return to practice when possible.
The Future Is Intentionally Open
Yang Style Tai Chi will be an important focus for the coming two or three years, but I do not want to define the entire future of Course Three today.
As students develop and the learning environment changes, we may explore additional areas such as:
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Push Hands;
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Tai Chi Sword;
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Tai Chi Fan;
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additional forms;
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deeper partner work;
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other aspects of Tai Chi and Qi Gong.
Some of these may develop into separate small-group or individual training opportunities.
Some may remain occasional areas of exploration within Course Three.
Some may become appropriate only when a particular group of students, with compatible experience and intentions, comes together.
The direction of the practice can reveal itself through the practice.
Practice Is a Conversation With Change
We make a plan.
We practice.
Our circumstances change.
We adjust.
We return.
The same process happens in Tai Chi itself.
We shift weight.
We find balance.
We respond to another person.
We change direction.
We remain connected.
The purpose of a good training structure is therefore not to control the future.
It is to help us remain connected to practice while responding intelligently to change.
There Is No Need to Decide Everything Now
You do not have to know how long you will study Tai Chi.
You do not have to decide whether you will eventually learn Push Hands, Sword, or Fan.
You do not have to know whether you will complete 24 hours.
You do not even have to know whether Course Three will become a long-term part of your life.
You only need to ask:
Is this the right next step for me now?
If the answer is yes, I will help you begin.
If the answer is not yet, that is also completely fine.
Tai Chi is still here when the timing becomes right.
Begin Where You Are
You do not have to catch up.
You do not have to rush.
You do not have to force the future.
You can make a plan, take the next step, adapt when circumstances change, and continue when the path becomes clear.
Start where you are.
Practice with sincerity.
Move with steadiness.
Respect the timing.
Let the next step emerge naturally.
If you prefer a shorter version, you can return to the top of the page at any time. The essential information is already there.
- Jing Shuai