The Photo:
The sunrise was at 7:18 with low tide at 5:26. It was cold for Florida; It was in the upper 40's when I left the house around 7:00. Luckily there wasn't much wind. I dressed for it with everything from long johns to gloves. I was warm enough with my ear flaps down and my hood up!
There was plenty of hard packed sand to practice on. Because it's New Years Eve tonight there are a lot of tourists in town. The beach was way more crowded than normal on such a clear and cold morning. I only saw a few regulars walking the beach. Notably Dave and Tonya walking north.
I brought my Cannon camera with a tripod this morning. I've been using my phone the past two days. Friday it was raining and yesterday....it was too cold? Anyway I felt a bit of resistance this morning so I thought it best to not get too used to using my phone even though it's definitely easier because it's just less gear to mess with. The downside is I loose experience with shooting in manual mode and experimenting with ISO, shutter speed and f-stop, plus the workflow from camera to external hard drive and of course the use of Photoshop CS6 to process the images. I'd like to keep all that going.....
The Practice:
I started with a full warm up using The 10+ focused on 'opening'
Hang the Muscles
Open the Joints
Muscle Down
Bone Up
Next I did a Round (right side) focused on big 'open' movements and transitioning for yin to yang with every posture; Only forming the posture at the end.
I recited out loud that the energy:
Originates in the hips
Is rooted in feet
Is developed in the legs
Is directed by the waist
Is formed in fingers
From hip to foot, to leg, to waist, to fingers all act as one integrated whole.
Next I did Standing Meditation with Earth Breathing and eyes focused on the horizon.
Next I reviewed Anyo Isa (#1) and Nihanchi Kata - Focused on full extension (open) in kicks and punches, relaxed balance (Zhong Ding) and a little more focus on the punches.
Next I did a double cane warm up with several rows of basics.
Next I reviewed the Tai-Chi Jian Form with names recited out loud.
Lastly a Healing Qigong then back to the house.......