Good morning, all! Hope your week has been amazing.
I finally got back on the horse. My Taijichuan suffered the last few weeks. This is partly due to ongoing stuff around here, partly to my low technology-intelligence quotient. I’m calling that my TIQ. If you need something technological lost or broken, I’m your man. But, I digress…
Taijichuan
When I decided to start back up, I really looked around for a good school that would mesh well with what I am doing in Qigong. Previously, I’d taken some unknown style back in the mid-‘aughts. It was a good alternative to the Kenpo Karate I was learning. After PCSing to my next military assignment, all martial arts fell to the wayside. Fast forward to 2019. To get back into it, I did online video watching and purchased a course of Yang style Taichi. I don’t suggest I was even close to mastering the 24 short form, but I completed the set and practiced daily.
Either way, it’s fascinating (to me, anyway) that we have the capacity to learn just by watching and listening. And we can learn so much that way. In my experience, however, this leads to plateaus that are not easily passed. I found it easy to learn the basics, but what was going on inside and what I should be doing to really refine my practice…. This requires a competent instructor and mentor.
Narrowing it down and coming to a decision
Since the university canceled my plane ticket to China in (yesterday) February 2020, I decided to see if I could find a local school. I didn’t. Not any holding in-person classes anyway. This may be because of my low TIQ, but regardless, it didn’t pan out. And I needed to begin filing in those gaps.
So, I opened the aperture to pretty much the globe and started reading more about the various styles. I like Chen style. It looks cool but is much ‘harder’ and more martial than I wanted. Other styles are even more difficult to find. They also had a more militaristic focus than I wanted.
And that’s not to say the martial aspects of Taichi are not interesting. I just wanted to find a style that really delved into the neigong (inner work) aspect. I wanted to learn how it would affect my other training. When I found a great school with excellent teachers in Seattle, I was in. I told them what I just told you. Less martial, more inner. They accommodated famously.
Then I discovered just how useful it was to know the martial background when doing particular movements. Structure, as they say, is everything. As you may expect, there’s a really great synergy between the taijichuan and Qigong. I’m able to incorporate one into the other, and vice versa. A match made in heaven, so to speak.
Anyway, the school is fantastic and I enjoy both of my laoshimen and the work we’re doing. Here’s a link to their school, if you’re interested. I don’t get anything from it, I’m just excited about them and for anyone who would like to learn more. https://www.wudangdanpai.com.
Resolution check:
Breathing
Early on in my qigong training, I tried very hard to really breathe deeply into my lower Dantian. I breathed so deeply and was forcing the breath until I hurt my hips. The stretching of the pelvic bowl was painful enough I had trouble falling asleep. Throttling back on that was important then for obvious reasons, and not forcing it remains a watchword. I had a good week. If you’re working on deepening your breathing, go slow. If you’re forcing anything, you’re not really relaxing, and that is a key to getting some real work done.
Cultivating my Qi
Tuesdays seems to be the day when I don’t get done what I want to get done. Therefore, this week I decided that going forward, Tuesdays will be my day off. At least until the end of the semester.
Doing for others
I love how I feel when I let others go ahead of me when I’m driving. On the city streets anyway, less so on the highway. This week I was driving and slowed down to let a couple of people (that looked like they wanted to drag race) go ahead of me as the lanes merged. I felt good. Then I had a thought. Am I happy they went ahead or am I glad that I’m behind them? Made me think back to some of my military habits. I’ll have to contemplate this more.
Learn something new
Circling back to the Taijichuan lesson from last night. I really was tired, but I ‘muscled through’ and was rewarded with a nugget. Probably not technically new, but a good reminder, either way. Chang Laoshi told a story about growing up and how he kind of learned a form on the sly. He reminded us that if you forget something, to just continue along and fill that space. We should acknowledge that we are missing something and are including a place holder, but that it was important to keep going. This path I’m on, it is a journey. And I am grateful for the reminder that it’s ok to keep going.
Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and continue to progress on your own journey. Best to you, always.