Life in Motion
Training to your own specifications
When i first realised the shape of my legs (see bow-legged article in “Choosing a tai chi style that suits you“), i had to change my perception of what’s correct. Recently, i found another body structure difference.
My teacher noted that when my palm presses forward, one of my elbows are higher than the other. He [...]
Action, then label
I’m currently reading a biography on Maria Montessori - an educator among other roles. When she teaches kids, one of the features of her method is to let them learn through their senses first, before labeling what their senses tell them. For instance, the children will learn to listen as they explore the different pitch [...]
unShake your booty
Nowadays, when I thought I am doing the Tai Ji form properly, I had a rude awakening when one day my teacher shouted “stop shaking your butt!”. And from then on, I’m very conscious about it. Of course, I always smile too whenever I realise I’m doing it. It’s just a funny thought, to think [...]
Drawing small circles
The smaller the circle, the smaller the mind. 圈子小，人生圈子也小。
When doing Tai Ji, or when pushing hands, it reflects the way you see life itself. When we are afraid of making mistakes, when we are not confident in ourselves, these feelings will show in your Tai Chi, even to the untrained eye. For instance, the hands [...]
When you push, just push
A common habit when practising, is to make the adjustments while carrying out an action. In the context of Tai Chi, you might have seen people bobbing up and down, or pushing forward with various hand gestures, looking very awkward as though their clothes just don’t fit them. Then one day, my teacher said,
“When you [...]
When the learning gets tough… relax!!
It’s that word again… relax!! When faced with a steep learning curve, it’s always made worse if you force yourself through the curve rather than ride on it. The materials would seem more difficult, the retention would seem more difficult, and you might end up hating the subject so much that you will never touch [...]
1 and 1 makes 3
According to my current Tai Ji teacher, if you practise the form continuously one set after another, the effect is compounded. For example, if you practise the form twice in succession, you would have effectively practised 3 times. 3 in succession equals 6 times, 4 in succession equals 10 times, and so on.
To think that [...]
Move like earth
The Earth moves at 40,270 km/h, and yet we don’t feel it. Maybe because we’re standing too far away from the spinning axis - 6,371 kilometers too far! Now, if we extend the same theory to our own bodies, assuming my hand is 1 meter away from my spinning axis, I would need to “spin” [...]
Tired from running but it’s all worth it!
I have been trying to clock more distance for the Nike Charity Run. I’m glad to say that I’ve met my own target of running at least 40km for the charity. That’s worth $200! I’ll try to do a bit more before December 5th. I really don’t know how someone can actually clock close to [...]
Nike Charity Run
For every 1km you run, Nike will donate $5 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation! The catch? You’ll need an iPod and a Nike+ Sports Kit so that the information will be uploaded onto the Nike+ website. I suppose this could be a sales booster for both Apple (not that they need more sales from the bestselling [...]
