tai chi in park slope

 I'm jumping into the middle of my stories from a recent trip to China.   My plans of posting here daily or thereabouts were dashed for some reason.   Maybe it was seeing and experiencing so much that was new, or traveling in a large group -- meeting new people in our long bus rides.   Or maybe it was getting up often at 6 for breakfast  on  "command"    Late in the afternoon the day before, someone -- usually our logistical leader, Lili -- would bellow at the head of the bus,  '  7 am in the lobby and we'll find a place for Qigong/t'ai chi!'  Or      'Breakfast at 6:30.   Be ready to board the bus at 7!'      It was a whirlwind trip of fantastic sights and encounters that I'm still processing.  And it was high energy, early mornings, late nights and activity and walking throughout the day.   But I feel responsible for notating the outstanding things relating to t'ai chi and so here goes ...

March 15, '24     It's Spring!   I saw a gathering of daffodils in the park this morning!   They've arrived -- and I bowed to them   (actually I didn't.  But tomorrow I will) So in honor of the new season, sending on the first stanzas of  Lao Tze, the great Taoist poet... The Great Way isn't difficult for those who are unattached to their preferences... Let go of longing and aversion, and everything will be perfectly clear... If you want to realize the truth, don't be for or against... Who ever said these things were easy?!  They are NOT! Here's something that's easy and fun, it's maybe not strictly t'ai chi, maybe homegrown, that is to say,  these moves have emerged from the bouncy traditions of the American gym class but they have the  feeling of our internal arts.   These exercises combine joy and work-out Enjoy! https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/24/well/move/joy-workout-exercises-happiness.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referring...

Shaolin .  It's very graceful, yet from the second you start watching, you'll see it also demands quite a bit of strength,  both inner and outer.  Yin and Yang are perfectly blended.  And having that calibrated just right,  it's beautiful to watch.   I've advised my students,  if you don't want to necessarily learn these moves,   just sit back and enjoy this charming monk's performance. The practitioner, in the video is Thich Man Tue, who is affiliated with Thich Nath Hanh's Tibetan Buddhist tradition, in particular with their Deer Park Monastery in California. About half way through, you'll come across their version of Eight Pieces of Brocade -- maybe the most practiced qigong sequence there is. (There's another version of it shown in its entirety on this blog, as demonstrated by Laoshi Faye Yip.  And I've learned a third way, courtesy of my former teacher, Master Hawkes.)   So if you come to my qigong class (Tuesday mornings) yo...

 Just came across a 4th C BCE Taoist scholar, Zhuangzi through the writer, Karen Armstrong In an interview in a recent article in the NYTimes she writes:   Everybody has heard of the Tao Te Ching, the Taoist classic. Less well known, but equally important and far more accessible, is “The Book of Zhuangzi,” written in the fourth century B.C., which also enables the reader to become aware of the Tao ,   the sacred reality that permeates every aspect of life. Zhuangzi’s style is energetic, ebullient, bracing, humorous and accessible. The secret, he explains, is to let ourselves go, laying aside the ego that we cherish so diligently. We do this not by abstruse meditation; instead, we must focus on simple tasks so thoroughly and wholeheartedly that we forget ourselves and allow the  qi , the sacred force that permeates the whole of reality, to take over. His heroes are not daunting, solitary mystics. Instead, Zhuangzi introduces us to ordinary people engaged in humdrum ta...

 In my classes I like to introduce the many Qigong sequences I've learned,  mostly from a fascinating teacher I studied with for a few years,  up in Stone Ridge,  NY -- Hawkes, he calls himself.   A powerful student of the internal arts,  Qigong,  t'aiji as well as Shamanism.  Over the years I learned one after the other,  and we would then alternate,  a few months with one,  then on to the next,  in cycles -- the  Eight Taoist Moves,  the Ten Daoists,  and to one of the most beautiful, and most well known  of these,  Eight Pieces of Brocade I've since found a version that was very moving, demonstrated by Laoshi Faye Yip, now teaching in London I believe.  While I haven't incorporated all of her style and form,  I've adopted, and now teach Laoshi Fay'sopening,  the last move,  as well as a flower-like 6th move, a punch with amazing spiraling of the wrist at the end.   This is a ...

Taoism, a philosophy as well as a religion Came across an interesting article in the NYT recently about Taoism’s perspective on what it means to be human and what it means to die.   Tai chi as you may know is the movement embodiment of Taoism, and I’ve been curious for most of my time studying this Eastern art to understand what Taoism is all about.  But aside from the amazing writings of LaoTze -- a must! -- I've been somewhat disappointed.  there's precious little on the books.   (Though ask me about the few t'ai chi stories that you come across now and then, including the one about the man at the drive-through Starbucks!)   ALL JOKING ASIDE,    I’ve found only simple one sentence references to what Taoism is — like being in sync with nature, or yin-yang.  ho hum.   Glibly said,  easily forgotten.    So when I came  across this  article the other day, titled  A conversation with the religious scholar Brook Z...