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.

Hello and welcome this month the first edition of the Taichido Newsletter that is now available in six languages! I have in the past been asked if I can produce other language versions, and have finally tracked down some translation software that seems to be very accurate. Its amazing the way that this kind of software has developed over the years to be able to deal with contextual issues of translation as well as literal. Having said that, those of you who are reading this in another language may tell me otherwise! Feedback please to mark@taichido.com. You can read this newsletter in English, French, German, Italian, Portugese and Spanish. If you are a current subscriber and wish to change your language, please email me on the above email address.

Language is the centre of the latest project on the website. I am in the process of translating the entire Tai Chi Netguide - the full instructional step-by-step guide to the Yang form with video animations that we have on our pages - into those languages too. I have had many requests for this, so its very timely. It is a long and often tedious process, but has enabled me to do at the same time some housekeeping on the Guide, clearing up, changing a few things, checking continuity, and finding some pretty major errors, so expect a new and improved Netguide soon.

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

When writing this Newsletter I do try to remain aware that the banner above it all is "Tai Chi" and bear that in mind when considering subjects. However, it has been quiet 'in the dojo' this month, and I have taken advantage of this annual lull in activity brought about by the end of the (UK) holiday season by pressing on with a few personal projects and pursuing other personal interests. The work that I have put into these 'other activities' has had the effect of raising my (and therefor Taichido's) profile in certain circles; and therefor with your forbearance, it is news of these activities that I shall pass on to you in this edition of this newsletter.

www.taichido has, since its inception, had a small section and selection of pages on the subject Buddhism. This acknowledges the fact that historically the two are interrelated. However the story of how this came to be is a complicated one; and anyway, the Tai Chi that is practiced today by 'westerners' is not the chuan form which was practiced in China hundreds of years ago. The form common to us all in this world shrunk by speed and technology is a highbred shaped by and inclusive of many diverse cultural, ethnic, climatic and political environments ... and hundreds of years!. In full appreciation of this fact, www.taichido does not make a big issue out of (evangalise) Buddhism or ever suggest that the practice of one compels the practice or indeed any familiarity at all with the other.

However, a vital element to ensure the 'completeness' of Tai Chi is that the practice contain as intrinsic to a degree of spiritual endeavor or voluntary submission to some moral code. It is my further opinion that the precise form or credo of this spiritual commitment is irrelevant. The vital point is there must be some, and provided that the sum of this 'some' is that the individual tries to to 'right' (or 'correct') more frequently and 'incorrect' less so; then the practice of that individual has at least the potential to become 'complete'.

Southampton City Dojo - Dissolved

My own 'unique' path to becoming a practicing Buddhist who also happens to teach Tai Chi was a complex process that could not (should not) be replicated by any other individual. It was not my plan to become a Tai Chi instructor or a Buddhist and I did not begin my studies in either with any sense of homecoming of triumph. Whist I am pleased to spare you here from the gory details (divorce/serious illness) I must likewise confess that when this person (me) took up Tai Chi it was not to become some super fit and serene being, but to simply reestablish myself as a human being on a most fundamental level. Hence, on Valentines Day (14th Feb) 1996 I founded Southampton City Dojo - the forerunner to www.taichido.com. - and made the statement:

"There are these days many different paths available for us human beings to select from. This therapy, that therapy, 'ology this, ology that, this and that technique and so on. There are so called fast ways, and there are gradual ways. SCD recognizes that your way is 'Your Way' and does not seek to alter or subdue this. By the same token, the Dojo does not wish to alter the traditions or subdue in any way the effectiveness of the Tai Chi originally known as or called "The Great Ultimate".
Master Cheng Man-ch'ing was himself partial to the odd glass of whisky.
When once questioned about this anomaly he replied:
'I am learning to be a human being, not a living Buddha'."

My Place

Southapton City Dojo was actually formed primarily to be a meeting place for the practice of Zazen (silent sitting/zen meditation) and the inclusion of Tai Chi training as an "also available" activity came about as a financial imperative and not as some carefully calculated scheme to 'combine' one with the other - notwithstanding the fact that I myself did combine the two (and others) as 'my practice'.

Southampton City Dojo was 'dissolved' April 2000 because (in part) that PLACE/building was in danger of becoming a 'centre' for a certain type of practice - that practice being the combination of Tai Chi (which was by then the predominant activity) AND - but only because this was not only my practice; it (the building) was also 'my place' - Buddhism.
Furthermore, the size of Tai Chi 'classes' had grown to what was, for me, an unwieldy size and the whole thing was in danger of becoming a 'business' with a commercial rather than spiritual imperative. I was, in short, pleased to see the place go!.

It is easy to identify this time when SCD 'ended' because the process involved paperwork and formalities. (It just so happened to be the first April Fools Day of the new millennium!) It is less easy to say when Taichido began because there were no such formalities and the website simply 'organically' grew as a result of Mark (webmaster) becoming 'my' student around about 97/8 and infecting me with his enthusiasm in I.T. and the web.

I was given cause to indulge in these recollections recently when, in connection with my 'other actives' I was invited to give a talk on the subject of "The Relationship between Buddhism and Tai Chi". This subject was suggested by the leader (though he would probably object to me calling him that) of that group - Jim Pym - with that group being the Sidmouth (Devon UK) Buddhist Society. Some of the text of this newsletter is based upon that (unwritten) talk.

I have known Jim for many years and he is also one of the very few to have known me throughout my 'conversion' from Zen to Jodo Shinshu (The Pure Land). Following an exchange of letters between myself and him in his capacity as Editor of "Pure Land Notes - Journal of the Pure Land Buddhist Fellowship", we met face to face for the first time at a conference "Buddhism in the Western Mind". I should confess here now that my motivation in attending such a conference was not so much to learn any more about Buddhism but more to try to obtain a better understanding of the eastern and oriental mind and thus be better equipped to 'interpret' some of these 'concepts' as appropriate to Tai Chi students.

Others

Any news that I have not passed on to you month by month has been that connected with my 'other' activities. In recent times this has increased considerably, and maybe this has had an effect on my output or contributions to www.taichido.com. However, this 'refocusing' has not been at all detrimental to the site which is still lovingly cared for and maintained by Mark with undiminished enthusiasm, and continues to grow with this establishment of this newsletter, now in its 9th month and now available in many languages and welcoming new subscribers every month. This is good news!

My 'other news' is that as of January next year I become the editor of Pure Land Notes and thus allow Jim more time to concentrate upon his personal projects - including the writing a book on the Tao Teh Ching. So, it does appear that Jim and I do have more than one commonality! This is really no surprise given our similar attitudes. This attitude, outlook or way can be perhaps no better summed up than to quote from the blurb on the back cover of Jim's previous work:

"You don't have to sit on the floor ... to be a Buddhist. Nor do you have to wear special cloths, speak a foreign language or eat different food. You don't have to do most of the things that you might have thought essential." ISBN 0-7125-0447-2 "You Don't Have To Sit on the Floor" Published by RIDER.

In conjunction with the editing of the 'hard copy' journal of Pure Land Notes I also intend to simultaneously produce an on-line version of the same to also be published quarterly. A 'sampler' of this on-line publication in a work in progress prototype form is available to view now at my home site. For details see below.

And finally, whilst on the subject of invites to other sites, may I please repeat my invite to my 'other home'; the Jodo Shinshu Temple in London called Three Wheels. Please pay it a visit if only to view the pictures of its authentic Stone (Zen) Garden and the latest pictorial update "Construction of the Other Garden".

For your convenience I have created a 'hub page' titled "Wheels-Within-Wheels to enable quick and easy access to the various sites mentioned above, and though I have no set plan at present, I can foresee a useful potential for further development of this 'other project' and the creation of another website called either "Wheels-Within-Wheels" or "Pure Land Notes On-line". Click on Wheels-Within-Wheels to go directly to the quick and easy hub page. A similar link may be found at the foot of my home site Dai Chi's Taichido.

Gassho
Gary