I used my phone camera for this image. Zoomed in as far as I dared to. Then I cropped it trying to get the 5 deer that were grazing throughout my practice session on the deck. Oh yeah and first a single hawk crying for it's mate then the mate and the first hawk flew away. Nature is amazing!!
The Details:
It was 30 here at the house...Brrr! Clear sky and lot's of sunlight. It'll be warmer this afternoon, all the way up to the 60's. Yay!
The Practice:
I started off with a round of Taiji Jian with my metal sword and the music with me reciting the names of the postures. It's a CD that I made for training this form, back in 2009. It still works!!
Next I did a brief warm up #1 and #2 of The 10.
Next I did a Round (right side) to Master T. T. Liang counting the beats One Da, Two Da......tuned into staying with the count and issuing from my back, with the resulting Jin forming in my fingers
Next I did a Round (left side) to just the music. I was having a challenging time keeping my concentration on the continuous flow of the form and keeping it in time with the beat. Interesting practice from a mental attention point of view. Then when I did find I was out of sync (spaced out), trying not to react and just stay calm and focused and simple get back to it. I was able to do that on both Rounds. Doing a right followed by a left round is challenging from a mental attention and short term memory stand point. It requires the same sort of mental focus that playing an arrangement in music demands. You have to know where you are in the arrangement and if you're doing multiple iterations, as in a band practice, you must keep straight which iteration you are currently playing. Very similar mental attention is needed to keep 'things' straight.
I also tuned into the use of my back to store and release energy throughout the Round (s)
Yang Cheng Fu's Ten Essential Points of T'ai Chi Ch'uan (a handout from Master Paul Gallagher's classes)
#2 - "Let the chest be hollow and pluck up the back."
Master Paul's commentary: "Hollowing the chest means to let the chest be held in a bit do the ch'i can sink to the tan t'ien. One must avoid forcing out the chest; if the chest is forcibly expanded, then the ch'i will accumulate in the chest with the result that the upper part of the body will be heavy and lower part will be light; the heels will easily rise of the ground and ones's root will be broken. Plucking up the back means the ch'i must adhere to the back. If one can hollow the chest in the proper manner, then one can automatically pluck up the back; if one can pluck up the back, then energy can be issued from the spine so that one can be without match."
Next I put on wrist 2lb weights and did a round of Anyo Apat tuned into keeping my shoulders in the proper place and generally being careful not to injure or aggravate my shoulders. I have hurt them both in the past and one of the culprits was using wrist weights incorrectly.
Next I did a round of Kusanku Kata using the same 2lb wrist weights. I tuned into the agility and health benefits of this Kata.
I finished with a Healing Qigong -
"Pore Breathing
- Qi Permeates My Bones -
Breathing Out Into The Space
That Is Everywhere
Inside And Outside Of Me"