Monday, May 23, 2011

Is Longer Better?

There are many length Tai Chi forms.  24 postures to more than 100.  Even though our form has been called “the short form” it is really of medium length.  When you count the repetitions, which you should for accurate comparison, we have 65-70 depending upon how many Repulse Monkeys and Cloud Hands you do.  It should be pointed out that Tai Chi originally had only 13 postures so these forms are much longer.  Quality matters more than quantity.  I learned the “long form” first and, while I go through it every now and then, I think our form is completely adequate.  The one advantage that the long form might have is that it is . . . . longer, i.e., it keeps you practicing for a longer period of time.  So, do ours twice.

Kim

Monday, May 9, 2011

The New York Times Crossword & Dojo

In one of last week’s New York Times crossword puzzles one clue read: Dojo discipline.  Since dojo is the Japanese word for a martial arts training hall (it literally mean place of the Tao or way), I was running through the various Japanese martial arts that I know of such as: karate, judo, jujitsu, etc.  Nothing seemed to fit.  Finally, I realized that the answer was TAICHICHUAN.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Ch'i kung and Tai Chi

In class this week I talked about ch’i-kung (also spelled qigong) and Tai Chi.