The Unintended Benefits of Too Much Tai Chi

I want to tell you guys about the unintended benefits of doing too much tai chi.

In 2023, I started practising tai chi at a local school. My teacher saw how keen I was and told me that if I was serious about tai chi, I would move to London to learn under his teacher, someone he'd studied with for over 30 years. Not China but London of all places. He was half joking of course, never thinking I would actually do it but...

In 2024, I moved to London to learn tai chi from a 6th generation Yang style tai chi master. Ever since moving I practise every day. I do between 30-40 hours a week now including attending and teaching classes. I have over 1500+ hours clocked in since moving here. Maybe more, I don't know, I lost count.

Strange things have happened and continue to happen...

I'll briefly mention the intended benefits: better balance, calmer mind, more energy, better posture, improved sleep, less stress. The reason doctors tell their older patients to "try tai chi" is because it's a low impact exercise with proven health benefits. tai chi is scientifically good for you. Not after one class of course, but try 6 months. It's like any movement practice, you don't get results straight away!

So yeah it's good for you, but if you start younger than the doctor's recommendation? You get some strange stuff happening that not many people will tell you about... but I will!! :D

Here's where I get a bit esoteric.

Physical Changes to the Body

Your hands are warmer than usual

Not very useful in summer but during winter oh boy am I popular holding all my bros' hands when we go on walks together. Since tai chi improves circulation by moving your chi around your body, your limbs can get genuinely hot. It's like those monks in the Himalayas who meditate in the snow in just robes and don't freeze. No gloves. No socks. Just pure chi baby!

Walking feels ridiculously good

After a good session, it feels like walking on clouds. Almost weightless. Every step feels like a big stretch. You feel connected to the ground like a lil tree and connected to the sky like a bright star. You become a solid pillar connecting heaven and earth. You also walk very quietly which means you may accidentally sneak up on people. You move like a big cat.

Your body turns to jelly

In tai chi, you try not to use your muscles because tension is bad. It stops the chi from flowing and strains your body. Just walk around with your shoulders tensed up all day and you'll know what I mean. No matter how relaxed you think you are, you can always relax more. tai chi is basically learning how to relax. As you untense and unlearn habitual body habits, something shifts which makes your shoulders naturally drop and your weird aches and pains fade. You literally become like jelly.

Your body can relax on people

Relaxing by yourself is one thing. It's still hard of course but relaxing when someone is pushing you? Way harder! To truly learn tai chi, you must tai chi with others. When pushed by your tai chi partner, you instinctively tense up, resist, engage your muscles. It doesn't matter if you bench 225 bro, you can't use your big muscles in tai chi! You do the opposite. You relax into force. The harder they push, the softer you get. It makes no sense until it works, then it makes perfect sense. Physical pushes are just obstacles. The harder life pushes, the more you need to let go, not brace. When it clicks, it clicks.

You might think, I'm already pretty relaxed. That's good, but can you relax within the structure of your body? Because if you just go floppy that's kinda meh useless, like a fish on the floor. Can you relax when being pushed around by the everyday happenings of life? Can you stay cool when everyone around you is having a meltdown? This is what tai chi teaches. Relaxation is a skill that can be practised.

Your skeleton starts to change

As your muscles and fat turn to jelly (you probs won't have a massive gym bod doing tai chi... the six pack AI grandpa ads are lying to you), your skeleton also starts to change. Your bones become denser. You feel simultaneously heavy and light. The S-curve of your spine begins to slightly straighten. Your posture becomes impeccable. Not possible? Look at my back bro. Look at the back of any serious practitioner. Straight as a brick wall!

Speaking of brick walls, you become one. A while back I was on the tube, just standing there not holding on to anything, when a lady walked right into me and crumpled to the ground. She got up before I could say anything. I felt kind of bad since I didn't mean to be a wall, I was just rooted into place with my two feet. I didn't feel much. All her force got redirected into the ground.

Your eyes can change colour

OK not everyone sees this and personally my eye colour hasn't changed, but when I look into my teacher's eyes they are sparkling blue. This is his shen, his spirit shining through, from many many years of practice. He's East Asian so eyes that blue would be something out of a shonen anime. Mine haven't changed colour... yet. But they have a gleam. I have the look of a child seeing a giraffe for the first time. Bright and alive. A key concept in tai chi is intention. Intention is projected through the eyes. With enough of it, physical changes become possible.

Sensitivity & Perception

You become more sensitive

Since tai chi is so touch based, you start feeling things when people make contact with you. You can learn a lot from someone just from a handshake, a hug, just being in the same room as them. Your intuition is strengthened. I can feel the internal power level of people from touch. Newer students feel light and hollow, the old guys feel dense and heavy. It's exactly like those kung fu movies where someone hands tea to a visitor and in that tiny exchange they know how strong they are. I used to think that was pretty silly. Now I know it's true.

I can read eyes very well

Since intention is projected through the eyes, I can read them very well. I think mine have a pull to them too if I switch it on. Sometimes I feel someone's intent before they move, like their body sent a signal ahead of them. A key concept in tai chi is intention. Intention is projected through the eyes. With enough intention you get a glimpse into the future.

You're more sensitive to life

I saw a nice tree and imagined how long it had been there, how many people had enjoyed its shade, how many kids had tried to climb it. The squirrels living in it, the insects, the birds. You appreciate the small things: a homecooked meal, a walk in the park, small talk with strangers. You're more present. This might just be the benefit of any meditation practice though.

You become calm because your head is empty

You're not actually calm. Your head is just literally empty. Nothing to cling on to. No rushing thoughts. The internal monologue goes quiet. It's like a switch you can turn on or off. Doing tai chi, on. Not doing tai chi, off. After some time, everything is tai chi. It's a pleasant absence. You don't turn into a zombie, you just realise that you aren't your thoughts, you aren't your feelings. You are something else. An observer within yourself.

The Energetic Layer

An aura has formed around me

You can't see it but it's there. I've been farming it quietly each time I practice. Day in, day out. I feel like a stone in a stream: unmoved, present, quietly powerful. My chi bubble is not so big right now but it grows very slowly day by day.

Animals are drawn to you

Stare at them with affection and they come. Stare with firm intent and they back off. You don't even need to stare. You project energy. Animals feel it. Kids do too. ...Or maybe they just like the kooky guy doing tai chi in the park. Drawn to novelty perhaps. So far cats, dogs, and birds have reacted in funny ways towards me. It's a good thing I like animals.

Altered time perception

The long form takes 20 minutes. Sometimes it feels like a blink, sometimes like an hour. You can go into black holes of time and emerge. I've also stopped fearing aging. In tai chi, the older you are, the better you get. Grey hair is a crown and a flex.

Sometimes I dream in forms

Sleep is mostly dream practice now. Sometimes I dream in forms. Sometimes the forms dream me.

What's Next

I think there are more secrets to uncover. My teacher is a legendary figure in tai chi. He could literally go God mode and beat us all up, but instead he chooses to pass down his knowledge to the next generation, which I am eternally grateful for. He has abilities I can't explain. I won't say what they are since they just won't make sense to a layperson.

Last thing: if you chase these powers, they vanish. They come to those who forget they want them, and only if they won't misuse them. tai chi benefits manifest differently in everyone. Some are the same or similar, but what I experience is different to what my tai chi buddies experience. They've told me some wild stuff I don't experience at all. It's kinda exciting discovering what will happen next.

It's 2026 now. I just passed 3 years of practice. Countless hours of tai chi, fun, wonder, and excitement about what I'll discover next. My teachers rarely give out compliments but my seniors are telling me I'm progressing well. I am grateful to them and for the opportunity to do so much tai chi. There's much work to be done. I have only scratched the surface.

PS - How Do You Actually Get Into Tai Chi?

You may be wondering how you could get into tai chi or what it even is. Can you really develop all these crazy skills by waving your hands around in the park? Well no of course you can't. You must find a proper IRL teacher. Not YouTube videos, not some guy who took a weekend course in Bali to teach tai chi. A proper teacher you can physically see and touch. tai chi is touch based. Without feeling another person, you will never develop real skill. It would be like learning to swim by watching a video. You might pick up some technique and how to breathe or whatever but how do you know you can swim without touching water?

A proper class has three pillars:

Centralising chi – This is zhan zhuang practice, aka qigong or standing meditation. This is tai chi without moving. This is how you cultivate internal power.

Circulating chi – This is form practice. What you see old people doing in parks. It looks nice, almost like a dance, and it could be but all the secrets of tai chi are hidden inside. What you see on the outside is only the beginning.

Applied chi – This is partner work: the exchange of hands, pushing hands, posture testing, application of moves, sensitivity training. Things you can only do with another person. How do you know you are doing tai chi correctly? By testing each posture and each transition. By learning how to listen and reacting to incoming force until it is second nature. This is the real deal. This is tai chi.

Written 20th February 2026