T'ai Chi has certainly withstood the test of time, with some scholars claiming its origins go back 700 years. That alone tells me they must be doing something right! I play around with Wu style t'ai chi, as taught to me by Harvey Leibergott, a student of Calvin Chin's for the past three years. I use...

George and Susan,
My heartfelt sympathy to you and your entire family. Paul Giella

Van, "Impara l'arte e mette la da parte", as we have discussed, an old italian proverb from the Renaissance that means "learn the art then put it aside". The sanchin stance teaches principles of balance and weight shifting, covering the vulnerable groin area and musclular focus t...

Allen, I hadn't heard about the hate part. but I can guess it might have to do with the fact that it is long (twenty minutes or more) and a departure from the strict orthodoxy of the past decades. When I first started to present it to the class I called it an "eyes-breathing-posture exercise&qu...

time for a little commercial message. At the Hut classes on Saturdays we do a long version of Sanchin a couple times per month. Takes about twenty minutes and is directly geared toward breaking students out of the zombie-like routine. The form is done in three phases; first, the classic way. Second,...

the dan tests that have meant the most to me over my carrer were the ones I prepared for most completely. Pass or fail, and I have had both experiences, I have felt that the whole experience of increasing my training , getting into the best possible shape, pushing myself up a notch or two made it mu...

I agree with sensei george; it's the elbow strike that we do over and over again in all the kata. When I wear the High Gear suit and have the class do the Kanshewa and Seisan bonkai with contact (me as the attacker)I am regularly impressed that almost everyone does that strike with much more force t...

david,
I wasn't there to witness the event, but it sounds truly harrowing. Thankfully, we have people like you, with a conscience and a good heart, in our group and in our world. Will this experience change the way you practice in any way? Just curious.

Bill, Thanks for your reply. And you're right, I'm talking only about my experience in mental health hospitals. I actually had the (encouraging) experience about three years ago when I had to have a hernia repair. I had my pre-op visit with the surgeon who explained the procedure and asked if I had ...

Bill et al' In my experience, having worked for nearly twenty years in a private, for profit hospital, the advent of managed care truly changed things for the worse. It was not the haggling over the particular unusual cases, the questions about extraordinary procedures for special ("zebra"...

Absynthe was probably banned for good reason... be careful. The last thing we need in this culture is another drug of abuse.

If I may add a psychologist's perspective to this discussion... one of the reasons many people do not allow themselves the proper rest period between hard workouts, even though we know in our heads that is is a good idea, is the difficulty we have in acknowledging vulnerability. If I go easy on myse...

Here is a dilemma, then. Because as teachers, or as parents, we want our students (and our children) to grow up and become independent, self-thinking individuals. But we don't want them going off on their own until they truly have the skills to handle the challenge. Remind them of the story of Phyto...

uglyelk, I would add only one thought to Bill-sensei's thotough and thoughtful review. That is the paradoxical effect of suffering repeated injuries. I have known many students, myself included, who did not allow an injury to heal before training that area again or who repeated an injury to a weapon...

It is nice to see people thinking psychologically about our motives for committing ourselves to a long course of study.. indeed, a lifestyle. Socrates said " the unexamined life is not worth living". Well, maybe he was exaggerating a little bit - it is still worth living - but it is richer...