Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The 8 Pieces of Brocade Qigong, and Modernizing What is Ancient

Taught my first lesson today in a long time.  I always start new students off with the 8 Pieces of Brocade qigong.  This qigong does so many good things as long as one adheres to basic principles.  It helps with range of motion, energy level, relieving tension, and does all this while being a very easy and short.  Also it can get you acquainted with basic principles of breath coordinated with movement. 


Everyone I've ever seen does this qigong a little different.  The version I do and like to teach is put together from no less than 4 different versions.  To me that means it is great for customization and meeting students where they are regardless of physical condition.  I am pretty sure that anyone who can stand can do these moves, and for everyone else there's the seated version.

Anyway, I knew I was going to teach this today, so I was trying to remember what all the moves were called.  I usually simply refer to them as numbers one through 8.  This is bad for teaching, however, because the 8 Pieces of Brocade was historically taught as an orally transmitted poem.  Once I checked some of my original sources for names, I realized that nobody cares what the moves were called in antiquity.  I decided these eight moves need a hip new oral tradition.  You'll find these new names to be Americanized, rebellious, humorous, and all together against the rules.



1.  Hope You Wore Deodorant
2.  Draw Bow to Shoot Fan of Least Favorite Sports Team
3.  Upstairs Downstairs Hands
4.  Glance Behind You at 5 Haters and 7 Jerks
5.  Wagging Head and Tail but Don't Twerk
6.  Clench Fists and Build Chi by Punching the Face of your Least Favorite Politician
7.  Strengthen Kidneys Without Missing the Point
8.  Stand on Toes to Shake it Off Like Taylor Swift

Hopefully you find this helpful.


Feel free to join my page at facebook.com/taichiwithmiles for lesson times, quotes, and more cool stuff.  Also for questions or to find out more about lessons you can e-mail at beyondtaijiquan@gmail.com


Sunday, July 5, 2015

I'm back! Did you miss me?

I have learned so much since my last post over 2 years ago.  I got really wrapped up in the energetic healing aspects of what you can do with sensitivity to chi.  I spent almost a year with my primary focus diverted toward an energetic healing method called quantum touch.  This method is dastardly
simple, especially for those who have experience with other energetics.  It was founded by a man named Richard Gordon, who is still exploring all the stellar stuff that this discipline can do to help people.


I then fell down the deep dark rabbit hole of conspiracy theory.  Free energy. Aliens. WW3.  You name it.  This set of topics has more potential to steal your time and leave you in fear than anything you'll see on mainstream TV.  After at least a half year of seeing my country and civilization fall apart in a big collective version of the show 100 Ways to Die, I decided to put myself on conspiracy detox. I really respect the people who stand up for what they believe in and try to wake up the masses, but their fight isn't my fight.

My fight is to teach people how to wage peace.  Your biggest enemy isn't the gangster, the terrorist, or your potentially corrupt government.  Your biggest enemy is yourself, and the fact that it really is pretty tough to look on many people with compassion and forgiveness.  Pretty much every spiritual tradition in the world encourages the daylights out of this kind of attitude.  I view it as an essential component of being your best.  Anything else than the best, like if Jesus was in the room, or your momma, or your greatest mentor is a waste of time.  Treat others like you'll get a grade for it, because you probably will.

My personal toolkit for this fight is pretty diverse, but most comes from tai chi and super wise guys, especially my boy Lao Tzu, who challenges the daylights out of me from on top of that ox every time I read him.

The stage is set for the launch of private lessons and small classes.  The following is growing.  It's about to get real.  Real fun!  I teach right out of my home gym to keep overhead small and rates low.  Launch is TBA, but soon.  Once I start my availability will post every week late Thursday, early Friday.  Classes will stay small and select.


Feel free to follow the movement on https://www.facebook.com/taichiwithmiles
Classes can be booked by Facebook message or e-mail at beyondtaijiquan@gmail.com


Thursday, December 5, 2013

You learn tai chi, then it teaches you (what tai chi has taught me about myself and others)


In the last post, I shared how I came to learn tai chi and qigong.  In this post, I'll share a little bit about what the time spent with it has given me.

I'd like to think that everything that happens in life is a lesson.  The bigger or longer the task, the more you stand to learn.  If your task is to cultivate a skill that takes effort and diligence to acquire, that's gong fu (kung fu, no, kung fu doesn't mean  fighting.  That's wushu).  It makes sense to me that that kind of task teaches the biggest lessons.  Being that tai chi is most certainly an activity to which you can apply that gong fu ethic, it's no wonder that it could be fundamentally trans-formative. 

 One of the things tai chi taught me is that when something seems mysterious and little-known, you get to thinking that the information you need is just plain out of reach.  In this particular case, you may feel frustrated that your area is fresh out of bearded hermit-monks in the mountains that teach kung fu in exchange for alcohol.  You may throw your hands up in sheer hopelessness, thinking that while you may wish to walk this road, there just simply isn't a road to walk.  You can't get there from here.  These are some of the things that I felt in my first year with tai chi.  We are lucky that we live in the information age.  While Google is no substitute for a drunken master (or reputable teacher), once you really commit effort to turning over that rock, you will be surprised to see how connected you really are with what you might want to learn.  I am also gifted to have a fantastic library in my town, and people seem to be paving the road for me further every day by having already requested and read books that, months later, I realize I can really use.  I have no idea who these other tai chi players are in my town, but if you are listening, thank-you and find me.  I, so far, have learned everything I know about tai chi from web, video, and print resources.  Part of you might be afraid to walk a path like that without individual guidance.  Tell that part of you to proceed with care, but proceed nonetheless.  I've never heard of any master of the gong fu of hopelessness and giving up.


As I've searched, I've become connected and acquainted with many great people.  Gifted practitioners of gong fu, energetics, and healing seem to crawl out of the woodwork when your intent is to find them.  I haven't met any other tai chi players other than those that I've taught.  That being said, just because someone isn't on the exact path you're on doesn't mean that their insight isn't of value.  My network of martial arts, philosophy, and healing friends are very important to me.  I know that there's wisdom there, and I try to help them when I can as well.  I frequently point friends to web resources that may help.  All hail the almighty share button!

Tai chi has taught me to look at the experience of life differently.  One of the biggest culture shocks that I got
when studying this stuff was in learning about duality.  Duality is a big part of Taoist philosophy and cosmology.  Without getting way into that cosmology let's just look at the taiji symbol, which is what this martial art is all about.  It is a depiction of the dynamic nature of yin and yang forces in the universe.  Viewing things from the vantage point of dynamic duality gives many valuable insights into life as we know it.  As much as I'd like to go on and on about the profundity of that viewpoint, if you have an interest in it, look for yourself, and find your vantage point.  This includes contacting me to ask what I think, or leaving a question or insight of your own in terms of a topic request. Sorry.  The teacher in me can't resist.

I will say that one of the ways it changes your view of things is by teaching you how to use your power instead of your force.  The more you practice recognizing the difference in life situations, the more you realize that using force is an indicator that you have abandoned the desire or ability to find a power-centered solution.  One of the biggest examples in life of this is yelling or name calling.  Get this reaction from someone, and you know you've just hit their force button.  If it serves you, you may just try to join their energy and find a "power" solution.  The because I said so's and
or else's are also dead ringers for the use of force.  If you catch yourself in a situation like this, try your best to find an alternative that gets your job done without so much effort.  Get there, and you're starting to understand this wuwei idea.  That's that paradoxical state that Lao Zi talks about in the Tao Te Ching.  Nothing is done.  All is accomplished.  I've never seen a river work hard trying to get water downstream.  It never says "damn it!  This water is heavy."  Instead, every river I've ever seen effortlessly moves water downstream with the ease that a magician pulls that quarter out from behind your ear.  In fact, it's so easy for the river to move that water that you realize that the water's really moving it, or at the very least you can't tell the difference, and trying to figure it out just gives you a headache.  Never seen a river with a headache either.

Tai chi has taught me that there isn't just one opinion about how to stay healthy.  Tai chi is fundamentally connected with Traditional Chinese Medicine.  You almost literally have to step outside of yourself and say, "I'm entering Chinese medicine planet now."  These ideas on how to stay healthy are so removed from western medicine.  Who knew that just applying pressure to certain parts of your body can give you relief from many ailments more quickly than medication, without toxicity?  If you're interested in acupressure, it's highly youtube-able.  I can't remember the last time I took a decongestant.  I often use an acupressure treatment for sinus congestion, and I share it with friends and co-workers when they have the sniffles.  Chinese medicine is all about balance in the body.  The idea is, "let's study healthy people and figure out how they got so impressively healthy."  The prevailing idea with western medicine?  "Here's a condition/symptom we found in a sick person.  Will the same weapon work over and over in most people?  Great.  Deploy it."  Now I can't bring myself to knock western medicine, as it does so many cool things.  I would just like us to use all the healing wisdom we have at our disposal.


Tai chi has caused me to develop an experiential knowledge of the concept of 'qi.'  I remember having a measure of energetic sensitivity all the way back when I was studying the David Carridine AM & PM tai chi.  They had some energy ball qigong on there, and now that I look back on it, I remember getting the feeling.  It wasn't until I started studying the Richard Clear material that I developed a more refined sense of energy.  Before then, I would speculate endlessly on the nature of qi.  Now that I'm there, and I use energetics every day, there seems to be no need to "explain" life force energy to myself.  I now feel that when someone wants to understand the nature of qi,  the very best thing I can do is show them.  I give people little exercises and encourage them to play.  The reactions I get are priceless.  Many people are already way more sensitive then they ever knew.  You get a lot of  "whoa, cool" or "wow, that feels weird."  Another way people get the feel for energetic sensitivity is when I do healing for them.  Almost everyone feels something when I work on them, including heat, tingles, pressure, and on extremely rare occasions, other pains.

There is a vast and deep wealth of knowledge to be gotten from practicing a gong fu like tai chi.  One of the biggest lessons that's trending for me right now can be summed up with this phrase:  things are almost never as they seem.  I'm now in a big wrestling match with some of the biggest concepts:  karma, reincarnation, and what happens when you resolve all that karma and climb all those levels of consciousness that are available.  What is the frontier seen by the Taoist Immortal.  Is it God?  The Void?  If absolutely everything in the universe is traveling the path to oneness, what happens when that last atom, that last soul crosses the finish line?  Another big bang?  Perfect eternal harmony?  Are they really the same thing?  I'll tell you guys when I figure it out or receive knowledge of any compelling arguments.  In the meantime, feel free to share my blog with friends.  It makes a great free holiday gift.  Kidding!  But really, tell me what tai chi, or the other parts of your journey, have taught you.  If everything is really one, then I really am 'all ears' and JFK really was a jelly doughnut.     

Friday, November 1, 2013

Hello, Tai Chi, nice to meet you.

I arrived at this place called tai chi as a result of some thoughts I had 4 or so years ago.  This internal dialogue went something like this (a complete paraphrase).

"So, I'm getting into my 20s and I'm starting to notice that I'm not as strong or fit as I'd like to be.  I'm starting to get all soggy, and I can see these two futures emerging:  in one future version of myself (in my, lets say, mid 30s), I'm on the couch in a white tee shirt with a large belly and terrible complexion, eating something salty.  (Think Ben Stiller as White Goodman from the movie Dodgeball.  That's right.  The fat version.)"


"NOOOOOOO!!! There has to be another way.  I'd rather see myself fit and strong and not dying early, or even beginning the process of death as I sit there on the couch and destroy myself utterly."

"Fit people exercise.  So if I want to be a cool kid and do what the cool kids are doing, I should exercise too.  Well, how do you exercise? I'd better find out.  Exercise is HARD!  But wait, nothing is harder than watching yourself fall apart in the mirror."

So I embarked on an exercise quest of a little less than a year over which I tried lots and lots of different kinds of exercise. I'm not saying I gave all of these their fair shake.  I stuck with some longer than others.  I'll include an abbreviated list here:

Lifting
Running
Yoga
Richard Simmons videos
Body weight calisthenics (recommended)
Pilates
Tae Bo
Challenges at hundredpushups.com (also a good start)
The Shaolin Workout by Sifu Shi Yan Ming

I'm sure there was more where that came from.  A question that came up in my mind was "When I am all strong and fit, what kind of strong and fit do I want to be?"  Those body builders, mad respect, but I'm kind of a smaller guy.  I think I want to be leaner and more efficient.  Who looks like that?  Martial arts guys do. Yeah! Guys like Bruce Lee.  That's fitness.  That's how I want to be 10 years from now.

Sifu Shi Yan Ming
I started looking at martial arts for fitness and read about and looked at all different kinds.  I initially settled on Shaolin Kung Fu, because I liked the way it looked when I saw myself in my mind's eye doing that stuff.  I got a hold of the book, the Shaolin Workout, and went through the exercises therein.  Now, this is definately not the fault of the author, but due to my inexperience with pace, I sustained a back injury doing the exercises.  This is why they always recommend getting martial arts instruction from an experienced and reputable teacher, in person.  At that point my wife says "No more Shaolin Kung Fu!" and I say "okay." (for now)





I still really liked the idea of pursuing martial arts for fitness.  I started looking at tai chi as a gentler alternative.  I got a hold of the David Carradine AM & PM tai chi from my local library, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Snake Creeps Low
Since then, my back is rehabilitated, though I still have a knot at the site of the original injury.  I think its a great reminder, especially since it doesn't really give me any pain.  After doing David Carradine AM & PM tai chi for awhile, I decided to find more.  I learned the 24 form tai chi from a combination of The 24 form with Dr. Paul Lam and Canadian YouTube sensation Ian Sinclair.  Both are amazing teachers that got me quite a ways.  I also learned the 8 Pieces of Brocade Qigong from multiple sources.  Everyone does it a little differently, but it's a great routine to modify to fit your needs wherever you are.  The 8 Brocade is still the routine I recommend most for people who wish to try an exercise that is more gentle.  Also, while studying tai chi throughout those couple intervening years, I learned Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong from Bruce Frantzis.  I've also become pretty adept at post standing exercise, or zhan zhuang.  Standing meditation may be my favorite aspect of the training I've undertaken.  I'd recommend it to anyone who can't readily sit in a lotus (that's me too!).
Ian Sinclair
Bruce Frantzis

Richard Clear
In the recent months I've been going through the finer points of my tai chi certification training with Richard Clear, a decision I sat on for a year before making.  Also, because of that training, I started to develop sensitivity to qi (chi) energy.  In the last few months, I've really been exploring energetic healing, but we're gonna blow that way open in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

What about you?  How did your journey lead you here?  I love a good story!


Friday, October 25, 2013

The blogger that can be written about is not the eternal blogger.

Welcome to Beyond Taijiquan!  I imagine this arrived precisely when it meant to, just like Gandalf's arrival in Fellowship of the Ring.  Stay tuned, cause it's about to get a LOT cooler, trust me.  Lately I've been exposed to and working with so many cool ideas.  Most of them have to do with my primary passion, which is taijiquan (tai chi chuan) or just plain old (tai chi) depending on how you put it.

8 pieces of brocade qigong

I've been at that for a little over 3 years now, and I'm working on my tai chi certification so I can be an instructor when I grow up.  I have, however, been off on lots of side roads and tangents as I explore chi, energetic healing, world view and philosophy, and maybe a little bit of theoretical physics.  Don't worry, I'm not that big of an egghead; I doubt it will get too deep.  Expect irregular updates until my blog discovers Metamucil.  Expect humor and irony.