tai chi

[jimboloco]

rejoined the Taoist Tai Chi Assiciation with my slacker step-son

it is awesome awesome awesome tai chi

i told the zen teacher sensei straightman i didn't have a clue
trashed dokusan and left, literally last year

i am making some progress, have some studies to do,
Eva Wong the Cultivation of Silence
inner silence to be able to listen\
better empathy\
better receptiveness
brush knees
where is the crazy wisdom master
loco lou nordstrom sensei
oh yeah zen for fools only, "undirected prayer"
reading expanding into other teachings\
reading pema chodron at present
i like what she says about encountering fear to get onself into the present moment
let it go
here it is
chang tzu where are you
hanging with the immortals
mountain hermits
ah dew drops on my stoop!

i found a book on my library two weeks ago
Diane Dreher's the tao of womanhood
i spontaneously gave it to slacker step-son's girlfriend last week
yesterday she remembered that she had tried to get that book a couple of years ago, but out of print!
mercy

[judih]

well alright
first thought - yes!
next thought - here it comes round again

i met t'ai chi in '72. It took me 4 years to decide to try.
then i had 2 years of weekly practice.

Then off to Israel for a month's vacation. i stayed. In 1994, a brilliant, modest teacher arrived to teach kibbutzniks from various kibbutzim at my kibbutz!
here it comes again.
i got pregnant, practicef, stopped, and then continued after kid was 6 months old.
and here i am.

my lower dan tien never forgot the glorious chi warmth born from practising t'ai chi.

ah.
and it seems that the average age of our group is over 50. s'alright.

[jimboloco]

i don't know my lower dan tien
from my upper inner tremble
but i can imagine

these gentle stretches, subtle twists and pullings
are strengthening the ligaments that connect my hip sockets,
amazing balancing secrets
lower back is sublime
unbelieveable

i first started tai chi here in the early nineties for about three years
remember practicing in my old rooming house back yard
whilst a Bulgarian threw little shots of water on me from up above
and i was still quite insecure in my emotional healings
when Desert Storm 1 started they were cheering at the nightime shock and awe,(a tv station had been brought in to watch the nightime broadcast of explosions and tracers)
one guy said, "a bomb just fell on Baghdad!" in a very excited way,i wasn't relating to them on any deeper leves,
so informed them that i was the war veteran and this scene was an extroardinary violence, and left,
went to the local Quaker group and sat and quaked for a year,
went back again to tai chi and learned the 108 moves, but again left after that, unable to feel at home there circa 1993
Stayed with the Quakers,, then a zen group,
finally came up against a wall, my life much more complete, lots of local connections, community involvements extended, still in contact with Quakers, peace Buddhists (have an invite to an all day Sunday silent retreat at local Theravadan center in May)

but also now I have the capacity for a more complete embracing of situations and people with a more secure grounding, my wonderful wife has made me very content with my daily life, it's true, she just sneezed reading the Sunday morning paper!

I really cannot see myself ever stopping this tai chi again
can get my nurturance for lifelong anti-war scars from a variety of sources
and take my subtleties with me as well

commence tai chi
wave hands at clouds
every movement now is a revelation
bodymind revolution
turning sixty in May!!!

we'll be kibbutzing tai chi til the cows come home!
it's a gentle way to empowerment
for self and others
may the circle be unbroken
by dissapointment, conflict, loss
all encircled by an encompassing grace.

[judih]

yes!

to remember while doing t'ai chi:
upper body reaches upward (spirit)
lower body reaches toward the earth (root)
together the concentration works wonders.


i've never learned the 108 movements.
we've done 24
42
and 88
now we're learning the sword cutta

always stretching the mind and encompassing the notion of smooth effective movement.

it was weird for me to get my mind around the idea of a sword, but it is as graceful as a ribbon in a gymnast's hand when the chi is flowing.

a touch of buddhist retreat is also very fine.
enjoy, if you go.
and happy sunday morning to you both.

[jimboloco]

thankyou amiga
the grounding is what i feel
the blessings of gravity
head is definately in the clouds