In my 30′s I turned within and sat quietly and listened. My forms were rote and purely physical – they kept my now sedentary lifestyle from freezing my body up entirely.

In my 40′s I continued to listen within, but also tried to brute force my forms and probably injured myself more than anything else. Then someone worked with me to listen WHILE I did my forms… Chi was there all the time, I just didn’t see it.

In my 50′s the Chi came when I was willing to devote the time to my forms… In movement, in breath, in stillness – it’s there, it always was, it always will be.

How about you? Where are you on your journey? When and where do you find your center?

Injuries happen and for me it’s usually at some spot where I have been injured before. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere and others the injury is completely understandable.

Bottom line – after an injury I usually don’t spend the time letting it heal, I start to work out again too soon and reinjure myself. In my Kung Fu days, Lee would always tell me – give it a rest Rick and you’ll heal twice as fast.

Now that my primary activity is Tai Chi, it’s a little easier to see it coming, to back off and prevent anything major

Qi Gong and Tai Chi are for some unknown reason the conduit that makes this life force available to my perception of it. The masters of long ago, inspired by who knows what, developed these exercises and to them I am truely grateful.

Chi is of course is always there and in the morning I find that I am very receptive to it.

I try not to get into a big “prep” thing – Just do it.

Breath, balance, focus, movement.

The Chi is waiting for you – it hasent gone anywhere – Maybe you have, but it hasn’t …

Until next time.

Practice often and with sincerity.

Rick

Well, occasionally I have a breakthrough and see things that I did not previously observe…

I was watching a YouTube vid on Tai Chi Walking (link on a previous post) and what the guy was saying has really affected not only my Tai Chi, but the way I move in daily activity.

To put a foot forward (this is Qi Gong to be hard to explain, but what the heck…) To put your foot forward but keep you weight back until your front foot is fully planted, and then, and only then roll forward into the step, really keeps you grounded, more focused and balanced. Another thing, is when you roll forward, don’t extend beyond your knee. We studied this in Karate and Kung Fu, but not to this level of observable detail…

So he mentioned it, it watched this video for – well no more than 10 minutes and there you go. The extraordinary in the ordinary… I just need to pay attention – One moment at a time.

Easier said than done…

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When I walk through my day, I am not MINDFUL of the movement! Not good?

Well, you might say – it’s instinct you idiot! Everybody (most everybody) knows how to walk… Well yes this is true, but in practice, to further the flow of Chi, Chi has to follow the mind, and if you’re not paying attention, who knows where it’s gonna go!

The center is below the navel – the dan tien and to move from there is different. To walk with your center in mind, you don’t over extend your movement. As in sparring; my weight is never beyond my circle, never extended past my knee when advancing; to do so would put me “off balance”. Internally Chi is “dispersing”, it’s not concentrated and focused.

So walk from the center, stay back and put your foot in front of you, not on top of it, don’t be in a hurry.

There’s a great YouTube video on this concept – seems like a together guy - Steven Hua

Until next time… Rick

But how much of winning is “mind” and how much is “body”. I think that you would agree that winning is all about mind and of course skill, tone, endurance, speed.. all that stuff has to be there too!

However, when you get in the ring with another guy, the last thing you want to do is underestimate him… he has probably been working out just as hard as you have – bet on it.  But mind is a different thing entirely….

For the record, I am not an MMA competitor, as a matter of fact, I just study Tai Chi now, but I studied Karate and Kung Fu for many years-  I am older now and just don’t heal like I used to…

I wish I knew then what I know now!

Tai Chi will provide you with a center, a core and an energy that you might not have ever felt before. Of course the pace in Tai Chi is much slower than you are used to and that’s good, getting in touch with your balance, breath and subtle body movement can give you an edge.

Don’t take my word for it.. check it out and I would love to hear about the results …

Rock ON

Rick

After 48 hours of straight travel, finally arriving in LuoYang China, about 1000 miles inland from Beijing…I was looking forward to a good nights sleep…

And at first I thought that my “dreams” would come true. My host had arranged for no meetings til mid afternoon and I was alllll set…

At first I thought I was hearing things, the sound of dissonant blaring music that seemed to be outside my window,
I was disoriented to say the least… what was wrong with this picture?
Yes the the music was foreign but to a western beat… I looked at my clock … 6 AM!!

Wait a minute, it can’t be outside my window, I was on the 8th floor of the hotel!

Through this cognitive dissonance, I stumbled to the window and squinted through the curtains to see the main town square far below filled with people doing Tai Chi and Qi Gong in a myriad of forms.

I am not an impulsive person by nature, but something told me to get dressed, get down there and get in to the middle of it! I mean WHEN would I have a chance to do this again???

The Chinese are a curious and welcoming people and being one of only a few Caucasians in LouYang – a city of about 1 million people, certainly contributed to their interest. But they really paid little attention to me in the square; it was natural to them to be there early in the morning and exercise….

The music, the extreme humidity and the crowded square; the forms were intoxicating, exciting and these early mornings were some of the fondest memories of my trip… but if I never return, I will always have that experience.

Be receptive to the opportunity before you, you may never have it again…

I think back to instances when sparring and doing the same thing, and you know, whenever I held my breath, I completely lost the flow of the moment, the follow through, the technique that would have scored the point. Worse yet, forcing the breath also leads to tension an injuries… don’t I know it!

Have you ever noticed when you are in a tense situation that you hold your breath? How about it just becoming shallow, not cleansing and kind of jagged?

In my opinion, Chi flows with the breath and the mind, so if you are holding your breath, you are really holding and blocking the mind and your natural energy from the natural course…

Be mindful of it and then let it go…

That was a long time ago.

Fast forward 30 years – I am walking through the town square in Luo Yang China, about 1000 miles inland from Beijing…  people brush painting on the concrete, others doing sword forms others doing hand forms in unison… when all at once an older man walked by me doing my Tai Chi walk!

9000 miles and 30 years, I guess it’s just a spec on the Tai Chi time line.

While I do go on walks every day, I don’t do “the walk”, as a matter of fact, I probably would not have thought about it except for the old man in the town square.

The moral of the story, keep your eyes open, be receptive to what’s going on around you… Lessons can come at any time…

I think I will incorporate it. What the heck … balance, breathing, gaze the whole deal – Stay tuned…

Oh, if you like my posts, please be sure to tell your friends and definately subscribe to the feed…

Until next time.

Rick