Skip to main content
As the summer winds slowly down and we resume the hectic lives of busy New Yorkers and
before the slipping into our fall gear is fully realized,  let me just post a couple pics from the 1st ANNUAL LOU REED TAI CHI DAY!  About a half dozen of us met for a picnic, some qi gong, and then a wow of a performance choreographed by Laurie Anderson and her wondrous partner and husband -- alas,  deceased -- Lou Reed.   The bandshell was literally throbbing with his ambient music.   It was overpowering,  thrilling.  and for a brief moment I thought of downloading some of it for our classes.  Then I thought,  no,  it's too much.  Then I thought why not.  So we will probably try it.

Anyway,   here are some pics.    Thank you Ting for bringing such delicious treats!  Thank you Alex for demonstrating your soccer moves and keeping two energetic boys enthralled,  thank you Nancy and Michael -- it was such a great evening!

We will def repeat it next year!

A few quotes from Lou's journals, which were displayed in gigantic screens next to the stage and 15 seconds of video --


Delectable things to eat, courtesy of everyone!

Alex and Ting's son and soccer ball


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shaolin form of Qigong

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

By not doing nothing is left undone

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...
1 comment
Read more