Tai Chi

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In addition to the workshop in France, Danny’s heading back to the mountains to teach 3 workshops this summer:

http://www.crossriver.ca/dharmazentaichiqigongbuddhismretreat.asp

Length: Two days (two nights)
Difficulty Level: Easy to moderate
Dates: May 22-24; June 26-28; September 4-6, 2009

Retreat Itinerary


Day 1:
Arrive at CrossRiver Wilderness Centre by 7:00 p.m. After preliminary introductions with staff and facilitators, you will have the opportunity to discuss more about the coming weekend experiences, settle in to your cabin and the Wilderness Centre, and relax and enjoy the evening.

Day 2:
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Qi Gong breath exercises
8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Breakfast & free time
10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Warm-up & Qi Gong exercises
(Includes stretching, standing meditation, and 12 Qi Gong movements – See YouTube Clip Below)
11:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch & free time
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. DharmaZen 24-style Tai Chi (See YouTube Clip Below)
(There will be a 10-minute rest break at least every hour; go to www.damazen.com
for an explanation of this Tai Chi style)
4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Tea time & Introduction to meditation
(Loose-leaf green tea from Taiwan, made Chinese-style in little cups; the meditation practices will be Buddhist-style sitting meditation)
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Meditation
6:00 – 6:30 p.m. Break
6:30 p.m. Dinner & free time into the evening
(the Wilderness Centre in the evenings has many different spaces available for both
secluded time alone with a book or journal, as well as community time around the
campfire, or in the outdoor wood-fired hot tub)

Day 3:
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Qi Gong breath exercises
8:30 – 10:00 a.m. Breakfast & free time
10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Warm-up & Qi Gong exercises
11:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch & free time
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. DharmaZen 24-style Tai Chi
4:40 – 5:10 p.m. Meditation
5:10 – 6:00 p.m. Discussion & question period; end of retreat

Note: there are only 12 spaces available in each retreat

Dharma-Zen Chi Kung I

Dharma-Zen 24 Movement Tai Chi Form

March 16, 2009 by David | 1 comment

So I’ve just returned for a business trip to Singapore.  It’s tough finding time to practice at home, and even tougher when you’re away from home.  Maybe you have a small hotel room.  Maybe you’re in a large city.  Here are a few tips you may find helpful:

1.  As at home, the toughest part is making the time.  Schedule your workout time.  Put it in your calendar and keep it real.  The best time is at the start of your day, before you get wrapped into work and socializing after work which can often be the most fruitful part of a business trip.  A focussed 15 minutes is much better than nothing, and 30 minutes is twice as good!

2.  Choose the best space.  If you can get to a park and have relative privacy, then consider practicing outside.  I’ve had nice workouts on beaches and in parks near my hotel.  Be cautious about practicing more obviously martial forms in public, as you may draw unwanted interest.  But if you’re out at or near dawn, likely you’ll only meet other fitness-minded people.  I often ask the hotel for nearby parks when I check in.  I look for aerobics rooms (great with mats and mirrors!) in fitness centers and often move the furniture around the room to make space.  If nothing else, 30 minutes of meditation, or 15 and 15 of chi kung and meditation with a bit of a warm up type stretch on the front end will really sharpen you for your day’s activities and can be done even in the smallest hotel rooms.

3.  Choose the best exercise that fits the space.  Ba Gua can be done in a four step circle.  Wing Chun’s first form is practiced standing still.  Hsing Yi was adapted to be done in a cell.  Was adapted to be done in a cell.  Key thought.  Danny has shown me how to adapt tai chi to be done basically in place.  Perhaps you can adapt your form or take pieces of it and practice in a very small place.  Perhaps the change in routing and focus will teach you something new about your art.  The important thing is to get good feeling from your practice.  As I mentioned above, chi kung and meditation can be done in the smallest hotel rooms.  Fingertip push-ups, fist push ups, crunches, stretches all can be done in your room.  Stand in place and practice each kick you know 20 times with each leg and see how you feel.  Try a hundred punches.  Ask the hotel for a yoga mat if they don’t have a health club.  It’ll keep you off that well-trodden carpet in your room.  And hey, if there’s a great pool, hiking path or jogging route, break up your routine a bit and take advantage of what’s available.  In Singapore, I had a very nice swim in the hotel pool just after sun up even though swimming isn’t usually part of my routine.

If you follow these three tips:  schedule, find the right space, choose the right workout, you’ll find you can still practice away from home and keep yourself sharp, healthy and relaxed.

Practice hard,

David

September 20, 2008 by David | No comments

Here is a recent news article called “Tai Cheese Anyone?” that has interesting things to say: “A dairy farmer who believes a happy cow is a productive cow has discovered an unusual way to relax his herd and increase milk yields – T’ai Chi. He performs the ancient martial art in front of his 100 cows every morning to get them in the right moo-d to produce lots of milk [Tai chi is a Chinese martial art involving a series of slow, controlled movements which can help developing strength, balance, posture and a feeling of calm.] The 44-year-old organic farmer visits the animals at 9am each day to run through his ten-minute routine of slow movements and breathing techniques – dressed in his distinctive overalls and wellies. He said: ‘Tai chi is all about leaving your problems behind and getting into a better zone and my mood definitely transfers to the cows. Like all animals, they are very receptive to human emotions and can sense feelings such as relaxation, calmness and happiness. Some people think what I do is ridiculous but I have some very content cows and I would do anything to keep them that way. As any good dairy farmer will tell you, a happy cow is a productive cow.’” (From the Internet on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=142597&in_page_id=34).
I think this is an interesting story. There is an idiom in Chinese that goes like this “Duei Niuo Tian Chin”or, “Play a lute to a cow”. In the West an equivalent expression is, “To throw pearls before swine.” In ancient time people thought animals were very simple beasts; they couldn’t understand human being’s feelings and they didn’t have emotions. However, now that we know more about animals we know that is wrong. Anyone who has ever owned a family pet like a dog, cat or rabbit, knows this. Just as the Tai Chi farmer said, “Like all animals, they are very receptive to human emotions and can sense feelings such as relaxation, calmness and happiness.” So to “play a lute to a cow” or “play T’ai Chi to cows” is not a ridiculous idea anymore. I’ve also heard of some farmers playing music to their cows every day and others giving their oxen massages.

There also has a story in Buddhism that goes like this. After Sakyamuni Buddha had been teaching for a while his followers became more numerous. His cousin Devadatta saw this and began to plan to kill Buddha and substitute himself in Buddha’s place. So he sent eight assassins to Buddha when he was sitting in a cave meditating. But when the eight assassins saw Buddha’s stately and calm face they put down their knives and repented to him. Devadatta tried again. This time, when Buddha was walking by beneath a hill, he rolled a huge rock down from the top, but this only succeeded in hurting Buddha. The third time, Devadatta drove an elephant to madness by giving it a lot of alcohol to drink. He hoped it would trample Buddha while he was walking about begging for food. Devadatta thought to himself, “An elephant is not as same as a human being, so an elephant shouldn’t be influence by Buddha. This time I will succeed.” But when the elephant began his rush, he senses a calm and peace feeling from Sakyamuni Buddha. Unexpectedly, the elephant stopped his mad trampling run and became very gentle.
So we can see from this story that it’s not just human beings that can sense a calm and peaceful feeling from the Buddha. Even a drunken elephant can sense it.

For me Tai Chi isn’t just a martial arts or exercise. It is also a moving meditation. Even after practice it for twenty-four years and doing same thing every day, I still enjoy it every time I practice it. When I focus on the movements and my breath, I feel calm and peaceful. This feeling can also influence other beings. I’m not just benefiting to myself but also being beneficial to all the other beings around me.

Danny

tai-chi-farmer.jpgtai-chi-farmer1.jpg

April 18, 2008 by Danny | No comments

Throughout martial arts circles, you’ll often see and hear debates about grappling and ground fighting. In one recent example, a Wing Chun proponent talked about some grappling moves in Wing Chun (WC).

A Brazilian Ju Jitsu (BJJ) person immediately went on and said that’s not grappling. Grappling has sweeps and counters and holds, etc. that clearly were not part of what was what the WC person was talking about. He went on and on about how there is no grappling in WC.

In my opinion, it’s all in the definition or semantics. To me, the BJJ person’s definition sounded more like “ground fighting” than “grappling”. It sounded like he was describing BJJ. It sounded like the BJJ person was saying, if it’s not BJJ, it’s not grappling.

Perhaps one needs to look at the word grapple, and it’s definition (from Dictionary.com): to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch.

By this definition, grapple, or grappling, stands aside a bit from ground fighting. Does Wing Chun have movements where one “seizes another in a firm grip”? Sure. Is Wing Chun ground fighting? Heck no. Are there throws and grappling in Ba Gua, Tai Chi and most Chinese martial arts? Absolutely.

However, if one wanted to focus on grappling and ground fighting in Chinese martial arts, I think someone would need to study Chin Na (locks) and Shuai Chaio (wrestling) to get close to Judo, JJ or BJJ. Interestingly, Robert Smith in his book “Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods” wasn’t very impressed with how Shuai Chaio people on Taiwan stood up against his Judo. He said the art had stopped evolving where Judo hadn’t.

I found an interesting post in a forum by a guy who has studied both of the Chinese arts above and has tried them against some BJJ guys with only limited success. Again, we have no way of knowing if this guy is any good or if the BJJ guys he’s going against are any good, but it’s an interesting perspective on the topic and he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about:

Yeah, I do shuai chiao. Its basically wrestling. I also do chin na, which is pretty much kung fu submissions…leg locks, wrist locks, kneebars, armbars, chokes, etc. Sorta like judo or sambo but without the wrestling (which is why you need the shuai chiao background as a supplement!). Most kung fu schools only do standing wrist locks for chin na, though.

I can usually beat bjj blue belts about 50% of the time on a good day, but I have a lot of trouble with bjj purple belts. Been grappling in kung fu for about a year, but have been doing chin na and kung fu without the shuai chiao wrestling for about 7 years.

The chin na and chinese wrestling combination works well in the street. Probably not more effective than judo or bjj or whatever in mma competition, but it does work in the street. Comparitively, its pretty unorthodox, almost Sakuraba-esque, so it is possible to catch intermediate level grapplers with some subs, but I definately get my ass handed to me almost every time I roll with bjj brown belts.

Also, not all kung fu schools grapple. In fact, most don’t. Kung fu grapplers are at a disadvantage right off the bat. A lot of schools already teach a metric ****ton of material anyway. Add on weapons, all the damn chinese names and translations and different pronunciations and spellings, internal sytems, chi gong, etc. to the classic stand up kung fu in addition to TWO styles to learn to grapple effectively, it can get a little hectic to keep up with, especially when you’re trying to concentrate on your san da/san shou skills too.

You gotta understand that the shaolin temples weren’t teaching just thier own stuff. In fact, a great deal of the material taught there was from elsewhere. Thier whole philosophy was if it works, we’ll use it. So you wind up with hundreds of styles being practiced there and picked apart and analyzed and refined, some kinda suck, others kick a lot of ass.
But yeah, there’s grappling in kung fu.

The thread goes on a bit if your interested in reading it: http://www.subfighter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=19326

There you have my two cents on the difference between grappling, ground fighting and the Chinese martial arts that focus on these elements.

Ciao amici,

David

September 30, 2007 by David | 6 comments

I had a teacher many years ago, Bones, who once told me the story of his last fight. Bones had been a fisherman for a while. Commercial fishermen are a tough bunch, working in a very dangerous profession, with no guaranteed pay, success or survival. After spending a long time at sea, they’re usually ready for a beer or two when they get back to shore.

One night, out on the town, Bones decides he’s going to go to one of the bars he used to go to when he was fishing. He walked in, and immediately some big ugly looking guy at a table near the door gave him a dirty look. One of those ‘you don’t belong here get the @#$% out’ looks. Bones thought that was strange. He used to go there all the time and never had that reaction before.

Since his time as a fisherman, Bones had begun to study tai chi. He glanced down and realized with his long hair and silk shirt, he didn’t quite fit in with the regulars anymore. At the same time, he wasn’t going to let this guy’s dirty look stop him from having a beer. He had come to have a beer and possibly start up a conversation. If he didn’t strike up a conversation during that first beer, he’d move on to the next place.

He went up to the bar and ordered a beer. The fisherman’s glare gave Bones “permission” to watch the guy — from a self-defense point of view. He watched the fisherman in the mirror over the bar as he started drinking his beer. After a while, the fisherman stood up and stumbled into his table. It was obvious to Bones that he was pretending to be more drunk than he actually was and simultaneously “telegraphing” or previewing the approach he was about to take with Bones.

As tall dark and ugly walked around the bar to where Bones was standing, Bones grabbed the bar and thought of his arm and right side as being part of the bar, part of the bar, part of the bar…. So when the fisherman, as predicted, “stumbled” into Bones, instead of bumping into a normal soft human, he bumped into “part of the bar”.

The guy then says “Sorry”, and goes to shove Bones hard on the shoulder. Bones used the yin withdraw and deflect movement so his shoulder was “not there” and he drew his opponent off balance (into the void). This guy had tried to push Bones (a.k.a. part of the bar) so hard that when Bones wasn’t there the fisherman lost his balance, fell across the bar, spilled Bones’ beer and the beer of the guy on the other side of Bones.

At this, the fisherman said, “I must be more drunk than I thought!” He then proceeded to buy three beers for the three of them and they all sat down and shared a laugh.

An excellent example of using martial arts (awareness, rooting, withdraw and deflect) to control a situation without throwing a punch. No need to worry about weapons, friends, friends with weapons, revenge, police, police with weapons…. And most importantly, this is an example of using martial arts to get free beer!

Bones, we toast your memory and the lessons you continue to teach us.

–David True
Copyright David True — All rights reserved

July 26, 2006 by David | 1 comment

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