When Things Go “Crunch” – Martial Arts Injuries
So you doing your form and your teacher says “go deeeep” and you do and then your knee tells you “nice try” but at this particular point, on this specific day, you HAVE GONE TOO FAR! Ouch….
Injuries happen and for me it’s usually at some spot where I have been injured before. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere and others the injury is completely understandable.
Bottom line – after an injury I usually don’t spend the time letting it heal, I start to work out again too soon and reinjure myself. In my Kung Fu days, Lee would always tell me – give it a rest Rick and you’ll heal twice as fast.
Now that my primary activity is Tai Chi, it’s a little easier to see it coming, to back off and prevent anything major
My Gratitude to the Great Chi Masters of the Past…
Whether you call it Chi, Ki, Prana, Kundalini or anything else, internal energy does exist…. I know that now.
Qi Gong and Tai Chi are for some unknown reason the conduit that makes this life force available to my perception of it. The masters of long ago, inspired by who knows what, developed these exercises and to them I am truely grateful.
Chi Never Sleeps
When I wake up in the morning, I try and do Qi Gong and Tai Chi first thing…
Chi is of course is always there and in the morning I find that I am very receptive to it.
I try not to get into a big “prep” thing – Just do it.
Breath, balance, focus, movement.
The Chi is waiting for you – it hasent gone anywhere – Maybe you have, but it hasn’t …
Until next time.
Practice often and with sincerity.
Rick
Look for the Extraordinary in Your Ordinary Tai Chi Practice
I practice Tai Chi and Qi Gong every day (well almost everyday…) Anyway, when something becomes a habit, doing the laundry or exercising and I hate to say it, Tai Chi too, I have a tendency to just go through the motions, get done what needs to happen and move on… I don’t really pay as much attention as I should, it’s automatic.
Well, occasionally I have a breakthrough and see things that I did not previously observe…
I was watching a YouTube vid on Tai Chi Walking (link on a previous post) and what the guy was saying has really affected not only my Tai Chi, but the way I move in daily activity.
To put a foot forward (this is Qi Gong to be hard to explain, but what the heck…) To put your foot forward but keep you weight back until your front foot is fully planted, and then, and only then roll forward into the step, really keeps you grounded, more focused and balanced. Another thing, is when you roll forward, don’t extend beyond your knee. We studied this in Karate and Kung Fu, but not to this level of observable detail…
So he mentioned it, it watched this video for – well no more than 10 minutes and there you go. The extraordinary in the ordinary… I just need to pay attention – One moment at a time.
Easier said than done…
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Chi Lies at the Heart of All the Marital Arts
Over all the years that I studied various marital arts, and it was SELDOM that I was aware of the flow of chi.
I can recall at the height of my training in Sil Lum Kung Fu, the sensation of energy separate from muscle and effort, something apart of my physical training – but that came and went in one fleeting moment. The irony of that moment is that I NEVER forgot it…
Fast forward 30 years… Here I am 50+ years old, learning Tai Chi AGAIN… and there’s the sensation, there’s the energy that I felt so long ago. The huge difference is that now, it’s doesn’t just disappear. It comes back when I practice Qi Gong (Tai Chi warm ups) and Tai Chi.
Sometimes I feel it in a business meeting, or on a walk or wherever…
As I have mentioned, I am not interested right now in studying anything other than Tai Chi, but I am absolutely certain, that the Chi that I now experience was always there, always present and a driving force, but just had to be properly coaxed, had to be awakened.
It’s not hard to do, it does not take great discipline, it just takes persistence and some stillness. I am no master, I am a student and I am learning.
I really don’t care what art you are studying – Tai Chi can and will augment and enhance your training… Try it, it won’t take you long to determine whether or not I am full of it…
