Skip to main content

World t'aichi and qigong day. It's around the corner!

On this eve of Thanxgiving 2019,   I'm finished shopping for the dish I plan on making for tomorrow's feast -- simply roasted caramelized veggies -- and I find myself with a little free time.   

                                                                           


 So I begin to noodle around on-line looking for the date of next year's 
World T'aichi  Day (WTCD)  and voila!   It's the last Saturday in April,  aka  April 25.   

 My class and I have been chatting for a couple years now about possibly hosting our own demonstration/class in honor of this banner day.  And something in my bones tells me that next year,  that is 2020,  is it!   

What shall we do?  Teach some of our favorite qi-gong moves?   Introduce people to the opening two moves of the Yang form?  We'll all practice the first third?  Or should we play "In a Landscape" one of our oft-played works of gentle, slightly eccentric pieces of music and engage everyone who stops by in "Water?"   This is one of everyone's favorite exercises, where two people pair and together promote a deep connection with each other's energy.   

 So I'm engaged once more in this preoccupation -- mulling and planning.  And so I think with this post, I'm going to take it a step farther.  I'm going to make it official.  2020,  somewhere in Prospect Park,  taichiinparkslope will "pitch a tent"  and demonstrate and teach some of our favorite routines and moves. 

   No doubt there will be more posts about this as it develops.   And in the meantime,  peruse their really wonderful  website.    

 A lot of well-written,  succinct summaries about all aspects of t'ai chi and qi-gong.  One tidbit that had me prick my ears...the organization that has put this together I believe is lobbying for Medicare to cover t'ai chi!  I think that would be an incredible thing -- imagine how many fewer falls,  broken hips,  boosted immunity,  and lower blood pressures.   Hopefully some day soon!  And more on that too in the coming months, as I learn more.  

 And everyone -- if you're reading this today, which I doubt many of you are,  all my best wishes for a very happy thanksgiving!

 Jing (tranquility),

 ~ Susan

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

Ma Wang Dui__Health qigong

 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 ...
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