The Details:
It's 50 at the house. The sunrise was at 6:19. It's forecast to be cool and clear today.
The Practice:
I started in The Driveway with a brief Warm Up and a Round of Taiji (left side) tuned into bending my forward knee before transferring my weight to the forward foot. I let the videos that I watched by the late Micheal Phillips freely influence my Round.
Next I drove the Lexus down to Hatfield to meet with Paul.
We started with a Warm Up in the living room. Paul was in stocking feet so I encouraged practicing on the carpet in the living room as opposed to the hardwood floors.
Next we did Big Circles in both directions. This is the first time that Paul was able to discern The Fountain (right hand going clockwise) from The Whirlpool (right hand going counter clockwise). I tested it a few times and he was able to discern the difference every time. I also did both directions in the T'ai Chi Ruler variation and once again he was able to discern the difference every time. Fabulous!
Next we did a short Standing Meditation. I one finger pushed him on all four cardinal directions. The idea (theory) is to not stop your mind at the point of contact, whether you are receiving or issuing, but to link the contact point to the feet, yours and your partners as well.
Next we did a Focus Pad session focused on full extension of punches. Paul regularly gets 'jazzed up' when he does Focus Pad work. The session was no different.
Next we did Palms Up/Palms Down with a few at the end with added resistance (from me)
Next we did Full Open (spreading the webbing between the fingers) and Full Close (tight fists)
Next we did the first half of Part I - Paul followed me through twice. I did not add any detail or watch for accuracy.
Next we did Single Arm Push-Hands first circling then with resistance while pushing and pulling.
Overall I introduced more principles, theory and detail than before and Paul seemed to be able to understand and physically do it too!