Tai Chi – Lesson 5: Parting Clouds

About This Class

Lesson 5 in Terry Kvasnik's Tai Chi series opens with sung swinging, head-neck-shoulder rotations, and hip circles to gently awaken the body and shift awareness inward. The heart of the class is "Parting the Clouds" — also called cloud hands or silk reeling — a signature Tai Chi movement in which the hands arc through the air as if scooping water while the waist rotates and body weight transfers fluidly from leg to leg. Terry breaks the sequence into its component parts (arm arcs, waist twist, weight-shifting footwork) before integrating them into the full three-step form pattern. The class then shifts into a dynamic power segment: a high-repetition standing torso-rotation drill performed at escalating speed with legs locked to isolate the core and build the rotational "torque" Tai Chi is known for. The session closes with Dan Tien belly breathing, a standing cool-down stretch, and a brief mindfulness close. Throughout, the instructor weaves in philosophical cues around acceptance, non-comparison, child-mind playfulness, and the experience of qi, making the class as meditative as it is physical.