Michael P. Garofalo: Taijiquan Blog

Valley Spirit Taijiqan Journal

Tue, 25 Nov 2003 13:27:34 GMT

I now keep my daily Taijiquan and Chi Kung Journal on my website at:
http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/z200311.htm

It is much easier to work in my Front Page editor that in the on-line blog editor.
Relative linking by URL is easier that full URL. Spell check is also available.
The blog is nice because Google searches it on a more regular basis.

"The first level of stillness is about being with yourself in order to know yourself. This is
accomplished by being wide awake and aware as you deliberately relax into yourself.
The idea is to consciously enter into a state wherein you temporarily suspend everything
you think you know about who you are, including anything you have ever been taught,
and simply be attentive to what's going on right there where you are. You practice
being quiet, both physically and mentally, as you pay attention to the sensations in
your body, the various thoughts in your mind, and your current experience of being
conscious and alive. You practice simple body-mind awareness, being conscious
of the moment you are now in, and thereby experience with clarity the energy of you.
You consciously experience yourself as you actually are. In this way you open yourself
to a new, truer, less distorted experience of you and the world."
- Erich Schiffmann, Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness, 1996, p. 7.

Push Hands: Links, bibliography, quotes, notes

Fri, 15 Aug 2003 04:52:22 GMT

Walking and 13 Treasures Walking Qigong for 70 minutes. Beautiful dry cool morning, few clouds, and quiet. Mowed and edged gardens and watered in the evening. The ditch was running with fresh water - all the plants and animals were rejoicing. .

Did some research on Push Hands.

My Tai Chi practice has been done very slowly, very gently, with smaller movements and narrower stances. I feel very relaxed and calm. I've been doing lots of standing on one leg exercises.

The mind is one of the most hard to reach and inflexible body parts to train.

Solid and Empty

Thu, 14 Aug 2003 00:16:50 GMT

"Of what is the body made? It is made of emptiness and rhythm. At the ultimate heart of the body, at the heart of the world, there is no solidity. Once again, there is only the dance."
- George Leonard

Six Illusions About the Body
By Larry Dossey, M.D.

1. The body is solid.
2. The body is stable.
3. The body is individuated.
4. The body belogs to the Earth.
5. The body is stationary.
6. The body is mindless.

Sun Style Tai Chi Chuan

Tue, 05 Aug 2003 05:38:18 GMT

I worked on improving my webpage on the Sun Style of Tai Chi Chuan.

I started learning a short version of this form six weeks ago. I first learned with a teacher in a class. I am now using videotapes and books produced by Dr. Paul Lam to continue my studies.

Cheng Man-ch'ing (1901 - 1975)

Mon, 04 Aug 2003 05:39:24 GMT

I've been reading many books by Cheng Man-ch'ing in the past few days. I also did quite a bit of reading about Master Cheng (1901 - 1975) and his many fine students using the Internet. I prepared a bibliography and webliography, and
posted my notes as a webpage at:

Cheng Man-ch'ing and Tai Chi Chuan

"Harmony is itself paradise. The "miraculous" element is the way that relaxation, well-being, and harmony allow the heart-mind to take control of and focus the greatness of the ch'i, the power of thought, and the effect that this can have in ourselves and in the world."
- Wolfe Lowenthal, Gateway to the Miraculous, 1994, p. 14.

Head's Up! Tai Chi Chuan and the Head

Sun, 03 Aug 2003 02:38:47 GMT

Head's Up!

Lift the head. Push the top of your head upward (ding jin).

Tuck your chin in and slightly downward.

Relax the neck.

Hold your head as if it were suspended by a string from above.

Slightly part your lips and softly smile.

Keep your eyes open, and hold a wide angle and soft focus.
Professor Cheng taught that in Push Hands one should not look into the
opponent's eyes (Lowenthal, 1994, p.5).

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

You head should be aligned along an axis through your center and down to your feet.
The head should not extend beyond the feet.
The head, torso and waist should move as one piece.

Your tongue should rest gently on the roof of your mouth behind your teeth.
Swallow all clear, thin and watery saliva.

"The upright direction has always been the most s alient, constant, and unique direction in our world."
- Roger Shepard and Shelley Hurwitz

"Professor Cheng often talked about the position of the head, "as if pressing up against heaven," "as if being suspended by the pigtail: worn by Chinese during the Manchu dynasty. He said that, while there are a number of good images for the head position, he especially recommended the idea of "hanging" because it counteracted the tendency to hold the head stiffly in place."
- Wolfe Lowenthal, Gateway to the Miraculous, 1994, p. 5.

Sun Tai Chi Chuan

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 13:03:41 GMT

"There is a central idea. Merely practicing is not understanding. Seek to understand the human ability. Study diligently for deep ideas. The result after a long time is that one is able to know." - Sun Lu Tang (1861-1932)

"The essential characteristics of Sun Style Taijiquan consists of the following: advancing mutually follows retreating; advancing must have a follow step, retreating must have a moving back motion; the movements are relaxed, comfortable, rounded, and full; movements follow nature. During practice the feet should be able to differentiate fullness and emptiness. From beginning to end, the movements of the routine must be like flowing water and clouds floating in the sky, continuous without interruption. Within each turn of the body, there is a "opening" and "closing" action. This is why the style is often called Open/Closing Taijiquan."
A Brief Introduction to Sun Style Tai Chi Chuan

"Sun Lu Tang would crystalise his teaching, experience and methods into his own style of Taijiquan. It was primarily based on Hao's Wu Yu Xiang style Taijiquan. That he chose Taijiquan as his final art expressing the essence of his art is indicative. He is supposed to have incorporated the rapid foot work of Pa Kua with the leg and waist methods of Hsing-I with the soft body of Wu Yu Xiang's Taijiquan. In actual terms of the form, it retains many characteristics of the form Hao taught him as well as the sequence of postures."
The Development of Sun Style Tai Chi Chuan

"The creator of Sun Style, Sun Lu-tang was about 50 years old and was a well-known expert of two other internal styles (Baguaquan and Xingyiquan) before he learnt Tai Chi. So naturally, the style has the advantage of the influence of the two other internal styles. Sun described his Tai Chi as using Baguaquan's stepping method, Xingyiquan's leg and waist methods and Tai Chi's body softness. Sun Style has a higher stance, less kicking and punching, all movements have the same tempi, and a very strong Qigong emphasis making it more popular with older practitioners."
Comparing Chen and Sun Styles, Dr. Paul Lam

Atlantic.Net and Feature Price Are Ripoff Web Hosts!! BEWARE!

Sat, 12 Jul 2003 13:38:19 GMT

I apologize to the thousands of people who visited my third website this month, Green Way Research, only to find nothing there. I also apologize to everyone who sent me e-mail that has been withheld by the ripoff web host Atlantic.Net and defunct Feature Price. Green Way Research serves up over 45,000 webpages each month.

Finally, after being down from 7/1/2003 until 7/11/2003, the many webpages at Green Way Research are now up and running on new web servers. My e-mail is again working properly.

Here is what happened:

1. In December 2002, I paid cash up front to Feature Price to host my website, and things were going just fine at www.egreenway.com.

2. Atlantic.Net "acquires" and takes over accounts of the Feature Price company, then without any warning or explanation my website and email disappear on July 1, 2003.

3. I read a message from Atlantic.Net on 7/2 that I need to join up with them and pay more money to them to get my website back up. If I don't, I don't get a refund, and my website and e-mail disappear, even though I have already paid for six more months of service.

4. Atlantic.Net falsely "talks" at its website (Feature Price FAQ) about demonstating its "good will" and "positive intentions" and "customer service" and providing "excellent web hosting services" .... Hooey!! No service, take your money and run, don't respond - that is the REAL deal you get from Atlantic.Net.

5. My e-mails to Feature Price and Atlantic.Net went unanswered, and their phone lines were always busy.

In my opinion, if Atlantic.Net was a decent and businesslike web hosting company, a company wanting to keep its paying customers, they would have kept my website and email running, sent me a informative e-mail about the change in ownership, told me about their fine services and reasonable costs, told me when I would need to pay them to renew in 12/2003, and welcomed me into to the Atlantic.Net family. I would have patted them on the back for a transitional job well done and signed up and paid another year in advance.

Atlantic.Net's inept and avaricious transition leadership "team" has jumped offsides so many times and fumbled the ball and threw interceptions, just like the Raiders did in the last Super Bowl, and lost the game for them.

What a very disappointing two weeks for a webmaster. I recommend that you not subject yourself to the fumbling and stealing and duplicity of the Atlantic.Net Web host ISP.

Feature Price and Atlantic.Net Are Ripoff Internet Web Hosts

Thu, 03 Jul 2003 14:39:01 GMT

My web host, for www. egreenway.com, was Feature Price, in Florida.
They have been "acquired" by Atlantic.Net.

Suddenly, without notice, my website and e-mail are no longer working.

Atlantic.Net replaced my index.htm webpage with their own. They say I must pay them more money to get my website back up, even though I am still paid up for another 6 months. What a racket!! Based on my experiences, Atlantic.Net and Feature Price are a ripoff team, can't do the work you pay them to do, can't run your webpages or mail server, make excuses, and don't answer your e-mail or phone calls. Beware!!!

Master Chang San-Feng

Mon, 30 Jun 2003 16:07:34 GMT

After reaching for the needle at the bottom of the sea,
I looked up, one summer's eve,
to see old Chang San-Feng open the garden gate,
and join me for Tai Chi.

We said not a word -
hands moving like clouds,
fingers grasping sparrow's tails,
faces smiling, feeling the sun drop,
glimpsing a half moon climbing the clear sky.

Time flowed without a ripple of memories,
Space embraced a crane cooling its wings,
Being began to sing
softly in tune with the moon.

My dusty black dog barked,
sensing something on the warm wind;
speaking her mind,
ears up.

Master Chang was gone.
Leaving one shoe on a beanpole, and
a page of poems -
mementos for mortals.

Two black butterflies
danced wing to wing
in love.

By Michael P. Garofalo

Metaphysical Duet #3

Tai Chi Chuan and the Book of Changes

Mon, 30 Jun 2003 15:07:19 GMT

There are a number of books which explore the principles of Tai Chi Chuan relative to the I Ching (Book of Changes) - an ancient Chinese Oracle. This oraclar method was developed thousands of years ago. It was one of the first statements of yin-yang theory.

T'ai Chi According to the I Ching: Embodying the Principles of the Book of Changes. By Stuart Alve Olson. Inner Traditions International Ltd., 2001. 192 pages. ISBN: 0892819448.

Tai Chi: A Way of Centering and the I Ching: A Book of Oracle Imagery. By Feng, Gia-Fu and Jerome Kirk. London, Collier MacMillan, 1969. 157 pages. ASIN: 0025372904.

T'ai Chi Ch'uan and the I Ching. By Da Liu. 1972.

The Complete I Ching. Translation and commentary by Alfred Huang.

"Keeping Still means
When it is time to stop, then stop,
When it is time to advance, then advance.
Thus movement and rest do not miss the right time.
Their course becomes bright and clear."
I Ching Hexagram # 52, Translated by Richard Wilhelm

For practice in guided imagery, random oracular methods, and esoteric reflection I prefer the Voyager Tarot: Way of the Great Oracle by James Wanless, Ph.D. It speaks to my soul, catches my eye, and reveals more to me than the I Ching imagery and statements.

Voyager Tarot: Way of the Great Oracle. By James Wanless, Ph.D.. Foreward by Lynn V. Andrews. Carmel, California, Merrill-West Publishing, 1989. 330 pages. ISBN: 0961507934. The Voyager Tarot deck was created in 1985 by James Wanless, symbolist, and artist Ken Knutson.

This morning I selected the Sage of Wands.