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.