I tried to remember how many Ben Lo camps and workshops I've attended. I lost count after 40. At 84 he is still a powerful teacher of Tai Chi.
Direct and honest - sometimes brutally so - he holds us to a high standard of practice. He reminds us that Tai chi is more than just a health exercise, but also a meditation and martial art. A discipline (kung fu) that is profound in its wisdom that strength is generated from relaxation, not tension. As I tell my students: imagine living a life that, when called upon to "be strong", your response would be to relax in the Tai Chi manner. You know from a very deep place that relaxing is what will help you to be strong, stable, and present. You would live a very different life.
I saw old friends and colleagues who continue to deepen their practice. Ben again reminded us that to cultivate Tai chi we needed to have a disciplined, daily practice. A good metaphor for this is that progress in Tai Chi is like the thickness of one sheet of paper every day. It is a layering process that requires consistency.
And, of course, we held posture and held posture and held posture. I felt exhausted, yet energized and strong in the Tai Chi sense of relaxed strength. Holding posture is a very challenging thing to do and to do consistently, but I believe it is largely responsible for whatever root and stability I possess.
This blog is for students and Tai chi friends of Kim Kanzelberger to share thoughts and ideas about Tai chi and their practice.
1 comment:
Kim, so the first night of my first tai chi class with you, you said, "There is strength in letting go." I thought you had read my mind! As my daughter leaves for college this fall, and as I watch my parents grow old, the principles of tai chi seem to speak to the need to relax into these natural and universal life challenges. Letting go of the tension that comes with worry about those I love seems to give me more clarity to face -- and even appreciate -- this stage of life and the sense of loss that comes with transitions.
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