Holiday Thoughts

“Don’t sweat the small things” 

Corollary: “They’re all small things” –Mom

Think big, be kind, & listen.

When somebody said his motorcycle was “Just a motorcycle”, the Fonz replied, “Yeah, and I suppose your mother was just a mother.”

I have a very wide definition of art; I’ll accept just about anything as art. Of course some art isn’t very good. I have much higher standards for what I call great art. Great art is timeless. It is not dependent upon context, but stands on its’ own, and doesn’t have to be explained to be appreciated. Great art creates within itself a complete universe, and speaks to something in us which requires nothing else.

T’ai Chi can be viewed as art, both from the viewpoint of the practitioner and that of the observer. The quality of the experience here is a product of the space created by the performance, and as such, is never solely dependent upon following rules. The difference between ‘following’ and ‘creating’ is the subtle, but all important ingredient, awareness – or conscious participation. This “Being There”, this quality of being totally present in the moment, is a hallmark of both good T’ai Chi, and Great art.

 Mentioned earlier as the meditative aspects of T’ai Chi, this evolution of the consciousness of the practitioner, as evidenced by enhanced focus, attention, and calmness of mental state, has become for me the most valuable benefit of practice, far outweighing the obvious and considerable physical benefits usually discussed.

The same principles of organization we apply to our movements in practice, enhance our understanding of our world, all we perceive, as the extraneous overlays drop away. As this “Elegant Simplicity” is observed and we glimpse our part in the big picture, all the parts working together just as they do in our form, a Great Compassion for All we are part of can sometimes be felt. This special connection with our world can rejuvenate us and heal us and let energies beyond ourselves become accessible to us, as we recognize the part we play in the larger entity. As we work for the common good, the energies available to it become available to us. This is not magic or science fiction, but a practical, observable, common sense phenomena which can manifest as a product of the same principles we observe benefiting our bodies through our practice.

It bears mentioning again at this point that one’s practice doesn’t have to be perfect to accrue benefits. These benefits can also start even with the first lessons and just get better with time and practice, even imperfect practice.

Happy Holidays,

Daniel

Just Do It

 “You only have to buy one ticket to win the lottery”

                                                                                                                Jim Bakula

Usually people might think, “If I won the lottery I would ……”, and in this way, buying just one ticket can produce a wonderful expansion of the possibilities available in one’s life. The truth is that we don’t have to win the lottery in order to start actualizing our dreams. Often it’s not the lack of money that stops us from beginning this path. If we just start, it can take on a life of its’ own. If buying one lottery ticket starts this process, something far more valuable than mere money has already been won.

Last week I took a trip to the Kennedy Space Center here in Florida, where all manned space launches in the Western hemisphere have been sent from, and where all moon landings and all Mars launches have originated. The shuttle program has ended, and until the next system is ready, (not before 2017), leaving the gravity field of Earth entails a trip on a Russian Proton rocket or on one of several future private launch systems which are not yet operational for human flight. 

The International Space Station (ISS) is operational. Anyone with an Amateur radio license, a simple inexpensive handheld radio and antenna, and a free computer program or smartphone app (satellite AR) to see when the station is overhead, has a good chance to talk to the astronauts there. An unmanned launch to Mars is scheduled in two weeks. The school bus sized James Webb telescope, much larger than the Hubble, will go up soon. With cooperation and good will, it seems that almost nothing is impossible. 

T’ai Chi in Space

The possibilities for T’ai Chi in zero or low gravity conditions are intriguing. Coordination of movements from the center, internal balance, and the use of all body parts in integration would have immense benefits in navigating these environments effectively. The reduction of muscle mass that occurs during extended stays in these conditions might be reduced far more effectively by adding exercises based upon T’ai Chi principles to current work outs, which use stationary bicycles, elastic band stretches, and other traditional devices. I look forward to the growth of an entirely new field of T’ai Chi practice in the coming centuries.

This new science might replace the constant (gravity) with a variable, (time and force amplitude dependent inertia), leading to some fascinating possibilities and even some new moves. I suspect that we are in for some exciting times in the fields of dance, gymnastics, and sports, to name just a few of the new explorations of human potential just now becoming available.

                                                                                              Blessings to All,

                                                                                              Daniel

Thought is the Mind Breathing/the Standards

Thought is the Mind Breathing (J. Bakula)

When we first start to meditate, we usually begin with a process of allowing the mind to become more quiet and peaceful. Awareness seems to grow naturally out of this calmness. As we study T’ai Chi and work on eliminating extra movement, a similar process ensues. The unnecessary movements drop away and the essential ones achieve a brilliance and clarity against the quiet background. This space which is created allows a great joy and openness to enter. T’ai Chi shares with other sincere meditation practices this ability to enter a state in which distractions that sometimes keep us from peace and balance become irrelevant, and from this state, solutions to these distractions are often more easily found. It is within this context that I offer the following exposition.

The Standards

After demonstrating the form, Mr. Chow would talk about what he called “the standards” before beginning the first lesson with a new student. He would sometimes place a dime on the floor, and then proceed to do the form, from beginning to end, and end in exactly the same position from which he started. He contended that this was the result of paying attention to these standards, which consist of some basic rules about body/body part positions and angles designed to bring the body into a relaxed state of balance. Although these are far more easily demonstrated than described, I shall list them here, with the caveat that one might benefit more from actual classroom instruction.

The angles of the feet, hands, arms, and legs are usually parallel, 45 degrees, or 90 degrees (a right angle)

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The feet start out under the shoulders, not so close as to create difficulties in balance, and not so far apart as to make shifting the weight completely to one side or the other more difficult. Although some individual variation is acceptable, a good starting place for many might be to place the feet at right angles to each other with the toe of one pointing at the other heel and touching it. Then lift that toe and pivot from the heel of that foot until both feet are parallel to each other. Finally put the toe down, with the feet about one foot length apart.

Next, the arms are often extended with the wrists and shoulders held at the same height. When the elbows are sunk, the angles are such that the upper arm is 45 degrees down and the forearm is 45 degrees up. This forms a right angle at the elbow, and leaves a hand width of space between the elbow and the body. This is a very ergonomic position. If the arms are extended straight out, they can quickly become very heavy. If they are held too close to the body, then the shoulders tend to tense and rise up. This is dysfunctional, as the tense shoulders are an energy block, disconnecting the arms from the spine. Also, for self defense, an arm which is too straight can be pushed out of place, and a hand held too close can be pushed into one’s face.

Looking at the next standard, the knees are bent to the point where they extend out as far as the toes. If one were to drop a line with a weight on the end from the knee, the weight would be just over the end of the toe. (Bending the knees more might be more aerobic, but is not done in our form, late Wu style.) From the bent knee position, with everything relaxed from the waist up, one can shift the weight to one side and straighten the other (weightless) knee out in front and then lower the leg until the heel rests on the floor. The leg with the weight on it should still be bent to the standard (extended as far as the toe) and the two knees should then be even.

The weight is shifted 100 percent, and is usually on the bent leg, with no weight on the straight leg. By bending the straight leg as one straightens the bent leg, the weight is shifted back and forth between the legs. The weightless leg moves and the weighted one does not. The relaxed state is only achieved when these movements occur in a state of balance. 

Further explication and application of these standards, while often given in class, might in a written article create more confusion than is warranted here.

Again, words on a page are probably not sufficient to impart this material to one who is not already somewhat familiar with these instructions. They can, however, be very useful reminders to those wishing to improve their form. Some of these writings are intended for the benefit of all, and some are somewhat technical in nature, and are intended to be useful to practitioners at various levels of proficiency. Please do not be put off if some of them are not useful to you at this point. They are more relevant in the context of practice. I endeavor to vary the level of these articles so as to offer material to students at many different levels of proficiency. 

Mrs. Chow would say, “To teach is to learn twice.”, and so I say

Thank you,

Daniel

Balance & the Synchronization of Simple Movements

The study of T’ai Chi begins with a process of removing extra movement and thereby learning to move in a more efficient manner. In the first raising of the arms we learn not to tense or raise our shoulders as the arms come up. When we start moving our feet we begin to become aware that if we can stay in balance in the gravity field, then many of the tensions involved in keeping us from falling over also become extra, and unnecessary, movements. Many extra movements, even small ones, interfere with our balance, requiring additional tensions and movements to adjust for their effects. Staying in balance allows us to maintain the relaxed state characteristic of T’ai Chi, and is facilitated by movements characterized by the use of minimal muscle group activation. This generates an elegant simplicity of perceived movement, which shows through when the nonfunctional movements dissipate as our practice evolves.

When this happens, the few simple movements left often use single pairs of muscles. And when these movements are synchronized, they appear externally similar to ordinary movements, but they share the exceptional quality of being generated from the center, and bring with them an internal harmony within the body. Some examples will clarify this very practical and useful insight. Hand and arm movements are a good place to start because they are more easily learned than the leg, hip, and foot movements. This is because these leg, hip and foot movements somewhat contradict some of the strongest of old habits connected with keeping us from falling over, and because they are also less visible at first.

The Punch – Wrist and arm movement coordination

In the form, after the first forward walk and before carry tiger to mountain and cross hands, we pull our fist back to our dan t’ien, lay the fist down across the waist below the belly button, rotate the hips to the right then back to center, and then raise the fist back up. Then, as we shift the weight forward onto the front leg, we initiate the forward punch. (This is a forward punch, not downward as in attack the tiger). In these movements, as the fist (a gentle fist – imagine you are holding a butterfly, or some long stemmed roses and don’t want to be stuck by the thorns) is drawn back to your body, the wrist angle changes from almost straight to bent in almost a right angle. This keeps the fist’s alignment to the walls and corners of the room (or the compass directions, if outside) the same. The wrist is then straightened to lay the fist across the waist. The hips are then turned to the side and back forward, the wrist is bent again to point the fist forward, and as the punch is initiated and the fist is moved forward, the wrist is gradually straightened so that, again, the alignment of the fist in space is not changed. One can at this point imagine that one is sliding the fist on a table, so that it does not go up or down. The movement is entirely horizontal. 

We are concerned here with two simple muscle activities – the movement of the arm forward, and, exactly synchronized with this, the bending and straightening of the wrist so as to keep the fist exactly aligned in space, a beautiful example of stillness in motion. During this movement, the shoulder should be relaxed and the punch can be considered a gentle stretch from the spine through the fingers, connecting them all and allowing the flow of Chi. One might imagine they are sawing wood with a handsaw, and that it is necessary to keep the saw aligned in the slot it has made so that the blade will not bind in the slot. 

The Exercise

Creating Stillness in Motion

1) Put your hands together (as in praying) with the wrists bent 90 degrees and the arms against your stomach

so that the fingers are pointing forward, the elbows are out to the sides, and the forearms are parallel to the floor. Slowly push the hands out in front of you until your arms are extended in front of you. Notice that when you start your wrists are bent. And when you finish, your wrists are straight. Bring your hands back to the start, and again, notice how the wrists unbend and bend as the arms go forward and back. We are endeavoring to take conscious control of our wrist movements as we do this forward and back motion. By contrast, usually the wrist is automatically moving according to very old habit patterns, which typically are not functional movements.

2)   Put your left hand down by your side and try doing the same movement using only one hand. Again, pay attention to the wrist. Watch it bend as you draw it back to you and against your body, and unbend as you push it out. Keep the flat palm perpendicular to the front of your stomach, with the fingers pointing straight in front of you. Do this slowly, trying to perfect the coordination so that the alignment of the hand does not waver.


3) When you are fairly comfortable with step 2, close the hand into the relaxed fist. As you push the fist forward and pull it back, again watch and take control of the wrist’s straightening and bending. This is so you can synchronize the arm movement, which moves it forward and back, with the unbending and bending of the wrist. This gives the appearance of stillness to the fist as it moves forward and back.

This exercise helps the student to take conscious control of what is usually an automatic, habitual movement. The hands are in front of us in plain sight and they do not support our weight, so they are relatively easy to work with. They are a good starting point. When we learn about this coordination and synchronization in one movement, it can easily be applied in other areas. This leads to improvement throughout the form, and generalizes to more efficient behavior patterns in our everyday life.

This same set of muscles can be used in an up/down movement similar to playing with a yoyo. Hold your right (or left) hand parallel to the floor and move your hand up and down, keeping the palm open and straight and parallel to the floor. You can put a coin on the back of your hand and do this movement up and down without dislodging the coin. When you get better at this, you can replace the coin with a golf, tennis, or ping pong ball. Again, we start with the wrist movement and eventually can take conscious control. As we do so, we have the opportunity to change from old dysfunctional habits to more sane and functional ones. This can be applied to many other movements.

One example of a more difficult movement occurs just after the first round hand, after the turn. As the hip rotates out and to the left, the left foot gradually turns inward so it appears that the foot is drawn straight back. The arm is also drawn back. However, when we do this movement at a higher level, both the arm and the leg movements are produced from the center of the body by turning the hip out as the foot turns in (the angle of the arm also changes), again creating another example of stillness in motion. These examples are much easier to demonstrate visually than to describe with words. They are perhaps much simpler to do than to describe, and I hope my attempt to describe them in words doesn’t make them appear too complicated.

The Chows offered a very high level of instruction to all who came to them, and I hope to provide the same to all who find their way here. Again, it is not necessary to perform the form perfectly to attain the benefits attributed to T’ai Chi, and these rather technical offerings should not discourage anyone from practicing at whatever level they enjoy. I present them with only a desire to aid those who may find them useful.

Thanks to All,

Daniel

Cycles

My classes at the college are divided into six week sessions, each separated into beginners and advanced students. New students all start in the beginners section, but after that students can choose which section they participate in. Usually I recommend taking the beginning six weeks twice, as the second time allows for one to notice and learn a lot that is missed the first time around in a class environment. After that, learning styles and speed varies, and each student can choose for themselves which side of the classroom suits their individual needs better.

The first year on a new job, all is new. When the second year begins, we find when we come upon the same seasons a second time, that our understanding has the opportunity to increase. We often are able to use our prior history to better relate to situations in which we have some experience. 

Cycle of the Generations

The cycle of the generations is a longer term version of this. If we look at the past, we see some recurrent similarities repeating every thirty five or forty years. For example, the 1890s (The gay 90s – gay meant something different back then); the late 1920s with flappers, jazz, the bohemian world portrayed by F. Scott  Fitzgerald, and so on; the 1960s with Hippies, the psychedelic revolution, the peace movement; and in the late 1990’s/early 2000s, the blossoming of the internet, in which everyone could have their say, open source code (Linux),  the end of apartheid, etc.  These times were followed by periods which showed a different set of similarities – The great depression of the early 1930s, the great recession of the 1970s, and perhaps our current recession, which we are now coming out of. You can find your own parallels, but you might find useful the concept of a thirty five or forty year cycle of planetary/human scale events. (Astrology might be a useful means of tracking these cycles, which are not necessarily caused by the effects of planetary movements and their interactions).

Sometimes looking at these long term cycles of events and “taking the long view” can help us to cultivate the patience needed for tasks requiring considerable time to evolve to fruition, such as the study of T’ai Chi. Also, this past July 4^th weekend celebrates thirty seven years since I began the study of T’ai Chi, and perhaps the beginning of a new cycle for me…

Longer Cycles

For those interested in the study of longer cycles in human history, it might be worthwhile to google the precession of the equinoxes, an approximately 24,000 year cycle observed by the astrologers, who divide it into two thousand year parts to section it into the twelve astrological signs – we are moving currently from the age of Pisces to the age of Aquarius. Also of interest in the area of great time might be the Indian concept of Yugas – we are currently in the Kali Yuga, which some have said lasts 432,000 years. When we stray into these areas however, we move from the empirically verifiable into the metaphysical and lose all credibility required as the basis of Western “hard science”. 

The language used in these studies, however, might be adaptable as a means to discuss the more pragmatic issues found in our everyday lives – realms such as a cyclic learning process observable both in cultivating new skills and in explaining the evolutionary processes we see all around us which seem to contradict entropy. As the nature of energy seems to involve a cyclic process (waves), it might be useful also as a means to describe the physical mechanics of the Chi energy. 

Before concluding, I’d like to return from these heady flights of fanciful possibility to some very practical words of encouragement. Our efforts, studies and practices have, in the past, always produced results, and this suggests that no effort is wasted. Indeed, I started this article stating that, after the first set of lessons, I allow students to choose which side of the room to attend, with the beginners or the intermediate group. In actuality, the amount of time spent moving according to the principles of T’ai Chi is cumulative, and what you put in is what you get out, be it good habits or bad habits. As the computer people say, “Garbage in, garbage out.”  To reap the benefits, it matters much less than most people assume, which part of the form one works on. If you spend time moving in balance, in a relaxed state, from your center, this will always have a beneficial effect. How could it not? To learn the form correctly from beginning to end and be able to practice it on your own, however, usually requires a more structured approach at some point.

It has been said that it usually takes 10,000 hours of playing guitar to master it. It has also been said that “A journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step.” Perhaps the dimensions of each step are not so critical. Be kind to yourself, enjoy your practice, and watch it grow.

Blessings to All,

Daniel