Welcome to the taichido monthly email Newsletter where we give you news about taichido and Doshi Gary Robinson gives his thoughts on aspects (both practical and esoteric!) of tai chi and related areas
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This month Gary looks at the weather....
A typically British thing to do, since we're completely addicted to it (because it changes so much). Gary though, looks at doing tai chi outdoors - weather permitting! He also takes a good look at his own instruction and the 'purism' of mastering part one of the form.

On a more sober note about weather, I'd like to offer my condolences to our central European readers who are currently undergoing some of the worst flooding over vast areas for centuries. Global warming is definitely beginning to bite, yet all thing must move on: just how much I wonder is this down to us as polluters and how much is it a natural part of the earth's cycle as a planet?

Back to the website: Hopefully you should have seen a sudden change in the homepage of taichido. I was never really happy with the new front end of the site, and it has been niggling at me for some time now to make the changes. I hope that it shows taichido off in a better and less 'disorganised' light!.

email mark@taichido.com if you have a view. Mark Allen, webmaster for taichido.com

It is the nature of this newsletter that I have no idea as to where exactly it arrives once sent, and whilst I am at pains to avoid 'airs and graces' it must I suppose be said that its readership is international; and indeed, the Geographical Tracking by Continent statistics of the 35,476 'hits' to www.taichido in the last 18 months reveals:
Unknown 16694 47.05%. North-America 11492 32.39%. Europe 5757 16.22%. Asia 655 1.84%. Australia 629 1.77%. Africa 123 0.34%. South America 112 0.31%. Central America 14 0.03%.

For the record, a more detailed analysis shows:
Domains / Countries Unique Visitors: Unknown 10085 28.42% .com US Commercial 9663 27.23% .net Network 6423 18.10% .uk United Kingdom 3090 8.71% .edu US Educational 816 2.30% Netherlands 612 1.72% Canada 509 1.43% Australia 468 1.31% Belgium 331 0.93% Germany 238 0.67% Israel 236 0.66% United States 211 0.59% France 180 0.50% New Zealand 161 0.45% Finland 145 0.40% .org Non-Profit Organisations 135 0.38% Singapore 134 0.37% South Africa 120 0.33% .gov US Government 114 0.32% Portugal 107 0.30% Poland 103 0.29% Spain 99 0.27% Mexico 97 0.27% Italy 95 0.26% Croatia 95 0.26% US Military 79 0.22% Czech Republic 73 0.20% Sweden 70 0.19% Norway 67 0.18% Japan 65 0.18% Ireland 61 0.17% Austria 57 0.16% Greece 54 0.15% Malaysia 52 0.14% Russian Federation 52 0.14% Switzerland 51 0.14% Argentina 44 0.12% Old style Arpanet 40 0.11% Estonia 34 0.09% Slovenia 34 0.09% Indonesia 30 0.08% Denmark 30 0.08% Brazil 27 0.07% Romania 27 0.07% Trinidad and Tobago 23 0.06% Taiwan 22 0.06% Yugoslavia 21 0.05% Slovak Republic 20 0.05% Thailand 18 0.05% Hungary 16 0.04% Bulgaria 14 0.03% Hong Kong 13 0.03% .int International 11 0.03% Luxembourg 10 0.02% Lebanon 7 0.01% Dominican Republic 7 0.01% Brunei Darussalam 7 0.01% Chile 7 0.01% Turkey 6 0.01% Latvia 6 0.01% Cyprus 6 0.01% India 6 0.01% Costa Rica 5 0.01% Uruguay 4 0.01% United Arab Emirates 3 0.00% Peru 3 0.00% Lithuania 2 0.00% Zimbabwe 2 0.00% Macedonia 2 0.00% Colombia 2 0.00% Ukraine 2 0.00% .gb Great Britain 2 0.00% Venezuela 2 0.00% Bermuda 2 0.00% Gibraltar 1 0.00% Greenland 1 0.00% Saudi Arabia 1 0.00% Armenia 1 0.00% Philippines 1 0.00% Pakistan 1 0.00% Iceland 1 0.00% Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 0.00% Mauritius 1 0.00% Malta 1 0.00% Nicaragua 1 0.00%.

This is all very interesting, yet for me, an Englishman, one very important question remains unanswered ... "What's the weather like where you are?"

If this screen-to-screen newsletter from an Englishman was instead a postcard from wherever that Englishman was to you, wherever you are, then I doubt the content would not go beyond that single subject of peculiar obsession. They say that this is so because our weather here in the UK is "changeable" and thus, when there is nothing else to talk about (and apparently there rarely is!) - we talk about what it was, what it is and what it will be. We then, plan our activities accordingly.

Weather Permitting

It is fair then to say that the weather has a bearing upon our practice of Tai Chi, and IT decides whether that practice or pursuit be an indoor or outdoor activity.

In theory, the practice can be no other than 'outdoor', for even the largest or most spacious indoor arena is isolated from the 'naturalness' of Tao and thus the opportunity to 'observe and be a part of nature' is removed. In a 'perfect world' Tai Chi would/should always be practiced outdoors, (as opposed to the other 'harder' arts and Chuan (martial/self defense application of Tai Chi) that should never be practiced in public), and if we are to believe the ancients and/or purists, there is more to being outdoors than just the difference in view or temperature. For instance, there is the matter of "rooting". Surely, if we accept that there is some credence in this notion of 'rooting', then should we not also give consideration to the possible difference between rooting to the earth and rooting through steel and concrete surfaces on floors other than those at ground level? .

Furthermore, it is said that when one practices under a tree, one is able to 'share' or 'draw upon' the energy or Chi of that tree. Should we accept the notion of 'Chi' and the notion of 'Tree', are we not then obliged to consider also some notion of 'Tree Chi'? Sure, these notions are a little far-fetched and distant ... but so is the Sun and the Moon, and the energy or Chi of these two distant objects are intrinsic to the notion of Tai Chi - are they not?.

So, there is a (strong) case for practicing Tai Chi outdoors. However, the weather, like the world, is not perfect; (not perfect enough for the average Englishman anyway!) therefor practice is most often undertaken in halls rented or owned by clubs, and hence, now also on account of 'economics' and 'security' as well as 'the weather', group practice for the most part occurs indoors.
Other than this, I would suppose that the most common forms of practice in the UK is either in the form of opportunistic sessions in the back garden, or alone in the house (with furniture pushed aside) ... or when on Holiday in some other country where the weather is "better"!

This is all a long way from the 'image' that attracts most westerners to Tai Chi in the first place; with on the one hand, the vision of some solitary and serene figure in the mist, or, on the other hand, hundreds practicing in unison, in 'ordinary' everyday cloths in some Public Square.

So, for one reason or another, Tai Chi in the open is a rare site in the UK, and the weather takes the rap for that!
It is my belief however that there are in fact plenty of opportunities to practice together out of doors, and that our excuses made on account of the weather are not wholly valid; and it may be perhaps we are in fact distracted from the harmony of Tao by our efforts to form clubs and rent larger and larger halls in which to practice a more superficial harmony.

Notwithstanding those issues and components of practice that I raise above, it must also be said that the Tao Teh Ching (the philosophical reference point for 'classic' Tai Chi) does give clear and unambiguous advice against 'pre-judgement', discrimination and sub conscious assumptions of good and bad: "When all the world recognizes beauty as beauty, this in itself is ugliness. When all the world recognizes good as good, this in itself is evil." If we are to agree with this and other notions contained within the Tao Teh Ching (Classic on the Way of Virtue), then we should not hold with the notion of "good weather" and "bad weather" at all!

Ancient Purist!

I would not describe myself as an ancient, any more that I would describe myself as a purist, yet I suppose that it must be said that as a Tai Chi instructor I do 'set the bar high'. I ask not forgiveness for this because I do in fact feel that it is my duty to do so, and accordingly I am fairly demanding from the start.

The first demand of 'Absolute Beginners' is that they 'master' 'standing still'. Seriously; this is a big ask in the early days and it takes about six one hour sessions to accomplish! And then there is breathing, then coordination, and then Form is built upon these foundations. All in all it takes me about six months to teach a beginner Part One of the Yang Long form; so that, on a weekly basis, is about twenty four one hour sessions.

The discipline that I insist upon then is that students 'remember for themselves' all of this this and be able to perform Part One without prompt from myself in 'form' or by voice. I use here the word 'form' to describe or identify my 'physical presence', my body, the part of 'me' that can be seen. As you (the reader of this newsletter) and I know; this 'my body' is not the be all and end all, and "looking at me" is not "looking at tao". To look at, or for, this - the tao - one must look inward; and to know the tao one need only 'know' themselves.
So, at this stage in training, when all that a student needs to remember is (the Yang) Form, I suggest that our practice be done 'in the open' and without architectural reminders of orientation, or corners that dictate direction and simply run through this section (quite literally) over and over with myself as no more than an example for visual reference if necessary. The length of this phase of instruction is dependent upon how much practice students themselves put in at home between sessions, because I do not move on to Part Two until I am personally assured that students can independently and alone remember the whole of Part One.

Continue to Communicate

The greatest ongoing demand that I make of students that can remember Part One and thus choose to continue into Part Two is that they do just that ... continue! This request that students keep practicing and keep coming is perhaps a bigger ask than "stand still"! The students may not think so, but I do! Being granted the permission to be a persons teacher or instructor is a great honor and a responsibility that I take very seriously; and that is why I 'set the bar high' and try to teach Tai Chi with "nothing added and nothing taken away".

Despite all of this, about half a dozen people have gone beyond the formalities of the teacher/student relationship and we have become good friends. They are those that have learnt and remembered the whole of the Yang Long Form, practice independently AND keep coming ... rain or shine!

The next newsletter that you receive from Taichido will be in September, by which time, here in the UK, the shortening of the days will have become noticeable and the temperature will have dropped. Just as inevitably, the sessions that my friends and I have enjoyed together in the park at sunset shall, for a season at least, cease. Again, through necessity, my friends (the part 1 2 3 group) work during the day and all have family's to spend their weekends with, so we are only able to meet in the evenings and by the time they arrive here (at the 'home dojo') it is already dark and we have no option but to train indoors.
On these occasions and as a group, we do not so much practice form but concentrate rather more upon individual postures and/or applications as well as Chi Kung, Yi Jin Jing and Tai Chi Ruler. It is also quite possible that during these 'indoor evenings' we shall look again at the Lee Form, as this Form is particularly suitable for practice in small spaces. So, rest assured that we do not enter hibernation in the Autumn. On the contrary, you can be assured that this change of emphasis and adjustment of practice habits is likely to be the cause or inspiration of many new articles @taichido and a possible start point for new studies or projects that we shall be pleased to share with you.

However, our (UK) summer is not over yet - and, as 'outdoors' is always option one, and the sun, for now, is still shinning, we shall continue in this manner for as long as we can and hopefully ... go with the flow and thus be together with you in Tai Chi and the Tao, on the same earth and under the same sky.