Boo to Taboo !

For this, the "unlucky for some" thirteenth edition of Taichido.com Newsletter I shall say boo to another taboo and at last begin to make good of my promises to complete the series of articles "Part Three of the Yang Long Form". I have explained in previous editions of this newsletter that these articles are in effect no more than a record of weekly sessions here in my home dojo with advanced students (Sue, Mark(webmaster), Matt, Adam and Richard) as we progress through to the end of the Yang Long Form together; and to date I have made many excuses for its non-completion. A wind of change has blown through Taichido and that is all over now.

Through experience I can confirm that what my teacher said is true: "It takes about three years to learn the Yang Long Form". Using that as the benchmark I thus relate to all prospective students: "It takes me about three years to teach the Yang Long Form". Again, through experience, I have also found that it is best to be honest with prospective students from the start and do make sure that a time-scale such as this is appreciated. In all instances I do also offer an incentive and promise some sort of attainment in a shorter time-scale by telling all prospective Long Form students: "it takes me about six months to teach the fundamentals of Chi Kung and Part One of the Yang Long Form". Sometimes this is good enough, but more often it is not. The fact that only about one in six of these initial 'no strings' chats with prospective students results in any commitment to future ongoing training no longer disappoints me and I simply put plenty of time aside to accommodate these one-offs with well intentioned individuals.

In the first part of this newsletter I look back at the Christmas and New Year period, and find plenty say; despite the fact that the dojo was closed! Further confirmation that that most of what goes on here does in fact go on more somewhere else!
In the second part of this newsletter I begin to finally lay to rest the ghost of the series of articles "Part Three of the Yang Long Form". Again, due to certain works engaged in at present, a complete review of existant article became absolutely topical anyway; and this (Part Three) task that before had begun to teeter on the edge of onerous was all at once made easy out of necessity and then easier still through study and understanding - as a group.

Happy New Year !

New Year (in the UK) is a time for making positive resolutions; to either give up something bad or take up something good. Deciding to do good and doing good - even to/for yourself - are two entirely different things, and momentous resolutions require monumental moments to mark their inception and instigation. New Years Day is an obvious landmark and a measure of henceforth virtuous endurance.

Regardless of the time of year, condition of the moon or position of the stars, the acting upon intention, good or bad, is the responsibility of the individual. There is no in-between; there is just thinking about it and then there is (just) doing it. And even then the hard part is yet to come ... the endless and less glorious every day task of continuing to do or not do whatever you decided you would or would not do!

The visualization associated with the posture 'Beginning' is "the sun rising slowly above the horizon"
The purpose of repetitive Tai Chi practice is to train the body to react instinctively and without thinking or at least without need for calculation of gain or loss. The sun comes up, the sun goes down. The moon comes up and the moon goes down. That's it!
In the context of the posture of the associated triagram of the I-Ching (35) one is also urged to "set a higher goal". I am inclined to compare this I-Ching reference with The Verse of Atonement, a translation of a Zen vow/chant as follows:

Sentient beings are numberless
I vow to save them all,
Desires are innumerable
I vow to put an end to them,
The Dharmas [truth] are boundless
I vow to master them,
The Buddha Way is unattainable
I vow to attain it.

The I-Ching (hexagram that is associated with the Tai Chi posture "Beginning") suggests - "set a higher goal"; it does not say 'accomplish everything immediately'! Like the Zen chat above, it does however suggests that constant effort on the part of the individual is essential.
In chanting the Verse of the Atonement the practitioner vows over and over to master the un-masterable and attain the unattainable and repeats his/her determination with unabated enthusiasm every time. 'Learning' the Yang Long Form must be approached with a similar attitude, and practiced daily ... without expectation ... bearing in mind that the whole process is rendered void and pointless the instant that 'knowing' is claimed.

Resolve

Apparently, some retail outlets in the UK realise up to 80% of their annual turnover in the two weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year celebrations and thus fuel the orgy of indulgence and excess that has become an intrinsic part of these festivities. In turn, other organisations such as Gyms and Health Clubs see a similar surge in enrollment and membership in the first week of the new year. It is the standard practice of such organisations to charge an annual membership fee 'upfront' along with other charges (for other services) in advance. This is the way that this business accounts for the fall off in attendance that inevitably follows this new year rush. I am given to understand that nowadays, in an effort to attract more 'clients', the best equipped (the richest) of these Gyms have taken to bolting video games to their exercise machines! Nevertheless, figures show that: only about 50% of us make new year resolutions at all. Of those, less that 50% actually act upon their resolution. Of those, only 25% continue 'with resolve' for three months; and from this small remainder only 25% are still 'at it' by the end of the same year.
It is then no less remarkable that between us (myself and my friends, the 'advanced' group discussed below) can lay claim now to thirty years of study and practice of this one thing - Tai Chi.

Part Three of the Long Form. 1st draft of the last part!

As individuals, each member of the [advanced] group [that meet together with me in my home dojo] is now, on one level at least, familiar of the whole of the Long Form and each could perform the whole thing - in isolation. My objective for the group however went beyond this. This was/is for us to perform the whole of the Long Form together - as a group - and not as individuals doing more or less the same thing at the same time. There is a difference!
In practice this means that the group progresses at the speed of the slowest/most 'no-show' at sessions member. However, there is another criteria that 'learning' may be measured in, that being the speed of the instructor.
So, what all of this now ultimately means, is that any group that I instruct to goes at my speed! My speed is - The Yang Long Form in three years. Extrapolating onwards: The Yang Long Form - twice in six years, The Yang Long Form - three times in nine years, and so on; always learning more but never 'knowing'. This sort of Tai Chi is not teachable, it is only knowable. This Tai Chi is not my Tai Chi, it is your Tai Chi.

To conclude this newsletter I provide here (below) a abridged version the first draft of new text relating to the symbolic meaning of the postures contained within Part One of the Long Form, this being not only one section of form that 'the group' has spent the last few months revising but also work necessary and directly related to the update of taichido.com and the production of an exciting new project - a series of interactive and instructional CD's (see editorial).

Part One
Beginning
At the start of the day the sun rises slowly higher over the horizon. This posture represents progress and the development of virtue.
Grasp Sparrows Tail (Left)
Text instruction to posture: 1. Cat stance, left foot 'empty'. 2. Hold a circle on the right hip, right hand shoulder level - palm down, left at waist - palm up. Step forward with the left foot and place that heel gently on the ground. Transfer weight from the (rear) right leg to the front (right) leg. Avoid bending at the waist. As your weight is transferred the left hand goes diagonally up as the right goes diagonally downward. In your left hand you imagine there is a bird. As this left hand rises the left descends. As they pass each midway one imagines that you stroke the birds tail.
The bird is a symbol of consciousness, air, spirit and breath.
Press
The hands, when pressed forward, represent the new moon waxing to the full. The withdraw or 'flattening' of the hands indicates the waning moon.
Pull/Push
The hands held parallel to each other in front of the body, is symbolic of strength outside and emptiness within. The 'withdraw and push' imitates the arc of the rising and falling sun.
Single Whip
Heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, and the four seasons are in constant revolution, each complete yet each reliant upon each other. Symbolically, the posture represents the motion of a light wind.

Compare these fundamentals with some of the symbolic meanings of just one of the postures in Part Three, and please note that it was at this point that my series of articles halted!

Part Two
Fair Lady Works at Shuttles
The Jade girl, serving maid to the Taoist immortals, works at the shuttles. The shuttles are gently and efficiently guided through the loom, to and fro and up and down.
The Chinese believed that the world was square. The four legs of a tortoise in the centre point to the four posts to which heaven and earth were tethered together (preventing separation) by 'the Godess' (Kuan Yin).
This sequence is also connected with the theory of the Five Elements. The [posts] four corners of the earth are represented by four mythical animals. South-Red-Bird-Fire; East-Green-Dragon-Wood; West-White-Tiger-Metal; North-Black-Snake-Water. The Earth is in the centre.
The Fair Lady moves the wooden shuttle with smooth body turns, again and again like a water wheel. There are four turns - the number of seasons in the year.

Articles, the group and the instructor came to an almost complete halt at:
Step Back to Ride Tiger. To ride the tiger means that you have achieved perfect control over self!

I am certain that none of the group would claim to have achieved perfect self control, yet it must be said that they have all proven that they are willing to give it a go, if only symbolically ... and that's good enough for me!
At the last session of the advanced group here at my home dojo we 'walked through' Turn Body and Sweep Lotus With Leg a dozen or so times together. It was an exciting evening. In the normally subdued atmosphere of a Tai Chi Dojo it rare to hear triumphant mutterings of "yes" under the breath whenever a posture is executed, in fact normally it is not possible to tell where one posture ends and another begins. This is not so with "Sweep Lotus". This is a difficult and dynamic posture, and one that I suggest can only be successfully or neatly pulled-off in around one in five attempts. Therefor and in this instance I suppose that the odd triumphant "yessss" is acceptable!

The next in the series "Part Three of the Yang Yang Form" will pick up where this newsletter ends and include text instruction and other commentaries on the postures "Snake Creeps Down", "Step forward to the Seven Stars", "Step Back to Ride Tiger", "Sweep Lotus", "Bend Bow and Shoot Tiger" and finally (the lowering of the sun at the end of the day) the 'Grand Terminus' of "Conclusion"
In the meantime I leave with you the following preview of my re-written text on the symbolic meaning of the postures Sweep Lotus.

Rising out of mire the Lotus flower unfolds all its petals as it slowly turns itself toward the setting sun in the west.
With some considerable [uncharacteristic] drama and obvious energetic dynamism the whole body turns a complete circle on the toes of the right foot and the hands, palms down, are held parallel to each other in front of the body, symbolic of strength outside and emptiness within.
Upon completion of the 'spin' the hands are 'whipped' back in an 180 deg. arc to 'chop' across the toes of the left foot which is held at waist height.
The Lotus has deceptively tough petals. Only the most masterly of swordsmen with the fineness honed blade is able to chop off the petals of the Lotus with one swift stroke.

Gassho
Gary