Tai Chi – The Martial Art for Grown Ups
When I was a teenager, learning Judo and Karate while strenuous and a cause of many a sore muscle, was not that much of a physical challenge. In my 20’s, learning Kung Fu was a muscle and wind building exercise. Speed, timing, balance and endurance were just a matter of practice...
Patience did not exist. Giving things time to heal was not in my nature.
In my 30’s I began to more easily gain weight than build muscle. I met my future wife in my first Tai Chi class…
During that time, we started having and raising children and I started to turn within… I must have read 30 versions and interpretations of the Tao Te Ching, Alan Watts, lots of Yoga, practiced meditation and continued practicing my forms.
In my 40’s my stamina waned, bones broke and sprains came more easily. Exercise at times outpaced the strength of youth, my wife wondered if a heart attack was imminent!
Turning within even more…Yoga and meditation became a very important part of my life.
At the same time, in my infinite wisdom I started to actively study Karate again on a daily basis, sparring, kata, competition. Needless to say, the speed was not there and I realized that I was NOT immortal and by the way, quite “breakable”. I now had no choice but wait to heal and healing took 3 times as long…
In my early 50′s, I started to study Tai Chi again. The presence of internal energy (chi) startled me as I had never experienced it before in any of my previous martial arts training. Unfortunately, my instructor decided to stop teaching and I was tremendously disappointed. While I continued to do forms from earlier training, Tai Chi was shelved.
Now, well into my 50’s I am studying Tai Chi again and the chi returned almost instantly. My instructor and most of the students are women and for that reason, the testosterone is thankfully at low levels.
My balance, wind, endurance, strength and focus are gradually returning. As a result of my age and being a father for over 20 years, I have patience that I once could only have dreamed of.
Tai Chi has given me a method of healing body, mind and spirit and to be honest with you many of the benefits are still beyond my grasp.
Maybe the reason why most people start studying Tai Chi later in life, is that most of us are really not ready for it… To breath deeply, relax, to move, make mistakes and laugh at them requires a maturity that until recently, I for one did not have… This is not to say that those much younger than I cannot study or benefit from it… that’s just what it took for me…
Tai Chi is for grown ups (of any age).
Tai Chi and Other Martial Arts – How a Blend of Skills Can Benefit You…
While this site is devoted to the study of Tai Chi, it as a subject does not exist in a vacuum relative to other martial arts. While I understand that some do not practice Tai Chi for it’s martial benefits, it’s origins in great part are rooted in self defense.
My Style is Better Than Your Style
More than not, most martial artists contend that their particular style or system is superior to others, I feel strongly that when looked at as a whole a well rounded set of skills or tools can help you to deal with specific and unpredictable situations in life.
Don’t Take Is So Hard
Take for instance Judo. As you probably know, or maybe not, the primary focus in Judo is in throwing, sweeping or grappling (wrestling) with your opponent – “Hands On” stuff. However the first thing that I learned when studying Judo was to fall – and when I say fall, I mean FALL HARD!
Somebody’s throwing you, you’re going down… you don’t have time to think about it… you best know how to land… right?
True Story
Here’s a tribute to this that if not told by whom it was I would have a hard time believing it happened…
I was having coffee with a good friend – Lorenzo a while back – he’s in his mid 70′s and has never studied Judo or any other martial art… However his son has been taking Aikido (Judo on steroids) for a while.
During a visit between my friend and his son, they discussed and worked the basic principals and mechanics of falling, specifically a forward roll… Now please understand that this is a special family and all in this “clan” are VERY good communicators… So the “Lesson” is taught and they go on with their lives…
A short time later, Lorenzo is walking out the back door of his sons house, slips on the step, falls forward, tucks, rolls, does a 360 and lands STANDING ON HIS FEET! One lesson that perhaps saved him from serious injury. No joke, witnesses present – it happened…
The Moral of the Story
So the moral to this story is to be open to developing other skills, whether you are studying Tai Chi, or Karate or whatever, sooner or later, you are going to lose your balance, you are going down and you are going to hit the deck. In Lorenzo’s case, his training consisted of probably a 30 minute discussion and demonstration – it really does not matter.
Be open to learning all the time; if you are trained in a “hands off” style like Karate or Kung Fu, get comfortable with sweeps, throws or at least falling. If you are into Judo or Aikido, you might want to investigate “hands on” styles… You get the idea…
Until next time… keep practicing… Rick
Daily Tai Chi Practice and Body Knowledge
Practicing Qi Gong and Tai Chi on a daily basis is to me on par with eating and drinking water. Without it, not only do I feel mentally unprepared for the day, but also my physical energy and vitality suffer as well.
I think that it’s safe to say that those that do practice regularly and daily, progress much more rapidly in the Tai Chi journey, at any martial art or other physical activity.
The physical aspect to this is what I refer to as “Body Knowledge”…
I don’t think that I have ever read about it anywhere and it’s just a lesson that I learned a long time ago that goes something like this…
When learning a form, regardless of what it is, Tai Chi, Kung Fu, whatever, at first – strive to go through motions just learned without a great deal of thought. I know this sound’s ludicrous but hear me out…
For me, the body retains the motions more readily than the mind. To watch, listen, take it “in” and SHUT the mind down, to let the body absorb the movements – each one – and one to another, is a method of retaining movement that is far superior to thinking too hard…
One night many years ago, my Kung Fu instructor – Lee Burchfield, was working with me on a technique with which I was having a great deal of difficulty. After a period of time and in exasperation, Lee recited the following to me…
“A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, “Pray, which leg comes after which?”
This raised her mind to such a pitch,
She lay distracted in the ditch
Considering how to run…” *
Lee smiled at me, and said “Guess who you are?”…. Turned and walked away…
What else could I say?
Tao and the Watercourse Way
Alan Watts wrote Tao and the Watercourse Way in the early 1970′s. In that book, Watts elaborated on the Tao and the flowing nature of his life – coincidentally, in those final years of his life he took an active interest in Tai Chi…
It’s ironic, but again maybe not that at 56, I am starting to come to grips with the flow of my life, why things happened when they did and in the order in which they occurred…. the regrets are starting to dissolve.
I am a passionate person. I can get interested in just about anything at the drop of a hat… However, the earliest interest that I can recall was in the martial arts….
Over the years I have studied numerous forms , first Judo, then Sil Lum Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Shorin Ryu and Kajukenbo Karate, some Jujitsu… Every one had it’s place in my training and each happened for a reason when and where they came in to my life…
Now I find myself in an interesting place in that all that I have learned is blending together – naturally. Body movement, whether it be hard or soft, fast or slow and the flow of energy all seem to be merging…
Tai Chi has become an integral part of my journey on this earth – This site is devoted to sharing the trip.
You are welcome to come along for the ride…
