don't take yourself so seriously

posted by Melissa

It was rainy this morning on our walk up to 15^th Ave for the advanced tai chi class we sat in on.  Amy met me at my apartment as I was busily sweeping up and gathering dirty dishes from the latest Star Wars viewing of the night before, we are on episode IV. 

We enjoyed some dark ‘n stormys (yum, 2oz rum, 1/2oz fresh lime juice, and 3 oz ginger beer.  I added a mint sprig) last night and I was kinda feeling the after effects, so getting up at 6:30 for tai chi was not exactly what I wanted to do when my alarm rang.  But as Amy says, I did it for the blog. 

a sculpture at Cafe Vita, capitol hill

We arrived early and got to chat a bit with Saul. He told us a little about himself…he grew up in a violent neighborhood in the Bronx, joined the military at age 18 and was stationed in Taiwan.  It was there that he first saw tai chi, and he saw it everywhere.  He said he was drawn to it because of the people, the kind of people it collected in the practice…people that had respect.

Saul talked to us for most of the first half hour of the class while the students practiced “pushing hands.”  As I tried to make eye contact with Saul, I was drawn back to the students again and again.  The practice was so intimate, so close and sensual.   In pairs, they stood with their feet almost touching, facing each other and each one taking turns listening and moving with their hands and arms.  I got to try this at last week’s class, but it was more sterile of an experience for me.  Even though, at the time, I thought it was quite a stretch of the human interaction kind for myself. 

The formal class commenced with a sword lesson, using wooden swords.  So, a little less exciting than the martial arts movies I have been watching every night, but with a little imagination and soft eyes, I could see the foundation of those choreographed moves.  And as Saul said, “Respect the full postures, and they will blend together with the whole melody before long.”   He was referring to how he explained each step in the movements, where the weight was to be held, each hand, the level of the sword.  All of it needs to be precise, and yet within that a looseness of the mind.

“Don’t take yourself so seriously.”  

Follow the form, but don't be an over-achiever.  Saul mentioned how new students are always exaggerating the form and it's movements.  I thought maybe that it simply a part of the process of being a beginner and learning.  

Hot for Teacher

posted by Melissa

I suppose tai chi is like Bikram yoga in some ways.  In hot yoga (Bikram) we learn the same 26 postures and two breathing exercises every class.  In tai chi, you learn the same form in every class.  In yoga if you have a good teacher, it makes a world of difference.  I think the same is true for tai chi.  When you find good teachers, there is an inherent trust in their authority, and within that trust I find that I can delve deeper into my practice.

checking out books from the SPL.

I am still having a difficult time connecting with tai chi.  I like classroom settings, I learn best with others.  I like to ask questions when I don't understand something.  And sitting here at home with tai chi books and you tube tutorials, it just is not cutting it it for me.  Especially when the subject is so expansive, with so many different types and forms.

So, we did take one class last Saturday, and while I like the teacher, I don't think going to Bothell every week is going to happen.  At that class what I do remember is that after the first thing, where you simply raise your hand up and down.  Yeah, I totally got that.  And that is what I practice over and over again.  And no, I did not do it for 30 minutes.  So, after that first thing we did something called "parting the wild horses mane."  But I can't remember how to do it.  So, I go to my books.  Seriously, none of the books I have mention that movement.  How confusing is that?

Learning tai chi from a book is like learning to knit for me.  I have no patience for it...my body gets all tight, my jaw is like a vice, and my shoulders are up to my earlobes with aggravation.  I could give it more of a chance.  I will give it more of a chance.  But I still get the sense that I need a good teacher.

I was picking up my eldest daughter from a birthday party last night and was invited in to have a glass of wine

Take out your notebooks

posted by Melissa

statue on Westlake, Seattle

I am just starting the movie "The Curse of the Golden Flower" by director Yimou Zhang.  (a visually stunning movie)  I know all these martial arts movies I am watching this month, like the Bruce Lee one I started the other night, "Enter the Dragon", aren't about tai chi.  But these are movies I never would have watched and from what I can tell tai chi has it's place in martial arts, so I do feel like I am expanding my cultural horizon, in a way.  

I composed this the rest of this post earlier, taking notes from a tai chi book while listening to Jamie play some jazz music at a cafe, Forza, near the University district.  It was a family event, all three kids were there doing homework and the like....even Amy's husband, Bob, was there helping Tallulah with her workbook.  

As promised, I am going to offer my rendition of the history of Tai Chi, as well as some other important factors about the practice.  I stopped into one of the Seattle Public Libraries today to get some books on tai chi, and the only one they had at the branch was “The New Life Library Tai Chi, Flowing Movements for Harmony and Balance” by Paul Tucker. 

Since I am a novice at tai chi, I claim no authority as to the knowledge found in this book.  I assume since it is a published book with the title it carries that it does have some pretty accurate information…but you never know.  I am sure some hard-core tai chi-er (is there such a thing?) out there may have some better information.  Nevertheless, here you go:

Tai chi purports to give many benefits that bring people worldwide to its practice.  It gently tones and strengthens the organs and muscles.  It improves circulation and the posture.  Tai chi also relaxes the mind and body.  These wide benefits, along with its slow movements make the practice not only accessible to a wide range of people, but attractive to those people as well. 

The practice that Amy and I participated in on Saturday was Yang style short form.  This practice was developed by Cheng man-Ch’ing (1901-1975) and is the most common form practiced in the west.  But tai chi was around for much longer than just the past century. 

Some sources claim that tai chi started 6000 years ago.  More conservative estimates say it goes back a few centuries, and most people believe that Chang San Feng (b. 1247), of the Sung dynasty, was the founder of tai chi. 

The story quoted in many sources, not just the book I am citing this evening goes like this:

            “As a Taoist monk, Chang San Feng saw a crane attacking a snake.  He was inspired by the soft yielding nature of the snake, which out-maneuvered the hard attacking beak of the crane.”