“Because nobody can help him!”

Coincidence, I guess… I was re-reading a bit of Fu Zhongwen’s final interview earlier tonight; I saved a copy on my desktop for future reference.  Then later I was doing a quick search to see if I could find out anything about Yang Luchan’s birthplace area.  After glancing at an article or two I chanced upon this one centering around James Fu.

http://www.yongnian-taiji.co.uk/Article%20Layout.pdf

Possibly many readers will be familiar with both of these pieces (on GM Fu Zhongwen and Master James Fu).  What caught my eye this at time was yet another “beware of praise” anecdote.  Broadly speaking, it seems that if you are hopeless at taiji, many true masters will simply say “Very good, very nice!” after viewing your form.

Conversely we often hear that if a master troubles to criticize you, you should be honored that he feels there might be hope for you.  And truly, why hang out with martial artists, fighters, if mere words trouble you overmuch?  Pride goeth before a fall, it’s said.

 

JAM

 Taiji is known as close-quarters combat.  There’s plenty to say about this but one aspect is that if you can hang in there while quite close to your opponent, you’ve automatically jammed many kinds of attacks favored by aggressive brawlers.  (The big punch; the big kick; the charging takedown; etc.)

Better have some good balance, sung and peng though, or it will turn into a tussle real fast and if you’ve actually been spending your time on taiji practice, you’ll wish you’d brought brass knuckles.  Or actually acquired some taiji ability.  That’s what I’m hoping for.  Brass knuckles are illegal, and I’ve always hated wrestling and slugfests.

A time-honored response to threatened aggression is “Get in their face right away!”.  There’s a lot to be said for this.  Standing off and trying to “calm down” the the other person may work.  But the ideal is not having to hope, but being able to do.  Sometimes you gotta stand fast.

 

FIRST AND FOREMOST, YIELD

This is more “knife defense” then one hopes to ever need!  But looks like pretty good physical training for anybody who’d like to be able to handle themself in a tight spot.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3049118/knife_defense_disarms_russian_spetsnaz_hand_to_hand_combat/

I like the drills where they (the students) have to move effectively with their hands clasped behind their backs.  (I’ve previously mentioned the famous taiji teacher who dreamed of  having broken arms, and became unbeatable………………..)

 

The Microscopic Result

We think big strong waves

Which compared to the sea are

Barely there at all.

 

THE TAIJI DIAGRAM’S MEANING

I need to move and

I need to be still so I’d

Best start doing it.

 

CREATED OUT OF NOTHING

http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/Pickover/pc/random_reality.html

Good, I found this online without too much trouble.  I’ve posted a link to this article previously under the title SELF-ASSEMBLING OUT OF A SEA OF RANDOMNESS.

I rediscovered my printout copy of this article a few weeks ago.  I sat down and read through the thing, and was pleased to discover it made a lot more sense to me that when I first found it on the Web.

Which isn’t saying too much actually because when I first dipped into this dodgy lot, my general reaction was “??????”.  The bottom line is, we’re told nowadays that we’d best keep on learning if we don’t want our brains to start petrifying in middle age.  Believe me, I take those admonitions very very seriously since I will be… uh….. 53 solar revolutions old next January.

 

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT

Man, sometimes even I am surprised by the stuff I find on the internet.  It’s not like I put a lot of time into surfing/seaching/googling.  If I can’t get something useful in a few minutes, I’m done.  (Thank goodness I have a bit more patience with taiji.)  But years ago when I was new to computing I did earn my spurs with data searches.  And wasted plenty o’ time sitting on my ass whilst staring at a piece of glass.

But tonight I rolled the dice with another short set of *likely keywords* and what should pop out but a book on the canoe in Canadian culture, with a nice helping of Daoist seasoning.  Feel free to check this out if you have the time:

http://books.google.com/books?id=NV9jC8×9HA0C&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=taiji+diagram+water&source=bl&ots=pczGlabc0U&sig=CAK6VlUQfE12rH8MNDBmdHX7Dy4&hl=en&ei=u3sDS4KiJ4T8tQOvyOG4Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=taiji%20diagram%20water&f=false

 

TRANSFORMING ONE’S STATE

Just by accident I found a post from Sensei Strange talking about Ki/Qi/Chi.  Pretty good IMO, he stresses the “vapor” aspect and even made a video to help penetrate the depths of this oft-used term that tends to remain nebulous even so.

http://tomikiaikido.blogspot.com/2009/03/ki_12.html

 

INSIDE OUTSIDE

Just had a funny thought

I think of me as being inside me

But why should that be?

Maybe it’s because

I look “out” with my eyes

I speak “out” with my voice

Sounds, tastes, smells come “in” to me

And no one can seemingly read my mind

Cause it’s inside where no one can see

But since I look out

Speak out

Reach out etc.

What if my mind got out

Where would that leave me?

And what could I do

With the resulting dichotomy?

 

QI EXISTS FOR A REASON

I only have a few minutes to write this post.  Just as well, since it could turn into a pointless Lite Rant that I can’t back up with any credentials anyway.  Just stuff I was thinking about while preparing my midday Saturday meal.

I guess I could also title it “Invisibly Connected by Nothing II”.  Those remarkable flocks of birds mentioned earlier… basically a whole lot of small living bodies.  Parts of the whole, that’s how I think about the birds of the flock.  They definitely exist with solidity, as as such can be viewed as yang.  But the other aspect of the winged flock is very much yin in that case.  I’m talking about the air that supports them.  This is the general picture I have in mind when I try to make the leap from a bunch of birds, to taiji me.

I’m interested to read about fascia, and geodesics, and tensegrity, and any other topic that could help inform my practice.  But for a long time now I don’t spend much if any time to look deeper into these.  It’s tempting to look to various sources who try to explain things in a detailed logical way; including western medicine and even TCM.  But the folks who created taiji art didn’t use that kind of “science”.  They had something else to work from (including elder arts in general).  The way I proceed now is, why re-invent the wheel?  Nor do I need to be a physics professor to make use of the wheel.  A Caveman could do it.

Okay, meal’s done.  I did practice already by the way; and need to do more before next sunrise.