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Jan.-April. 2018 Schedule
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 17th
Location: Crossings in Downtown Silver Spring, MD
- Beginner 1 (Postures 1-12) 6:30 - 7:30 pm
- Beginner 2 (Postures 13-24) 7:30 - 8:30 pm
- Corrections (all 37 Postures) 8:30 - 9:30 pm
Date: Thursday, Jan. 18th
Location: CityDance at Tenley Washington DC
- Beginner 1 (Postures 1-12) 6:45 - 7:45 pm
- Beginner 2 (Postures 13-24) 7:45 - 8:45 pm
- Corrections (all 37 Postures) 8:45 - 9:45 pm
Date: Sunday, Jan. 21st
Location: CityDance at Strathmore North Bethesda, MD
- Corrections (all 37 postures) 9:00 - 10:30 am
- Beginner Sword (Permission required) 10:30 - 11:30 am
- Beginner 2 (Postures 13-24) 11:30 -12:30 pm
- Beginner 1 (Postures 1-12) 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
- Correction Sword (Permission required) 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
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follow Cloud Hands Tai Chi
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Spring is patiently waiting,
in the frozen ground.
- The present is the springboard to the future. The pathway to the returning light and the vibrant energy of Spring is directly through the cold, darkness of Winter. We may bemoan the frigid temperatures, but the stillness of the frozen earth invites us to deepen our awareness. If we accept the invitation and step into that stillness, if we take the time to tip-toe through the silence of a winter's night, we will also create inside ourselves a quiet that reflects all that we see outside.
There is so much to see in Winter. What is not visible to us during the rest of the year becomes visible...The barren forest floor, the contour of hillsides hidden beneath a leafy canopy in Spring, Summer and Fall, the crystal clear waters that flow in a river free from the sediment a softened earth yields to rain, the foggy warmth of our breath as it churns its way through the steely edges of frozen air. Spring will come, as will summer and fall. Being present, and embracing the stillness of Winter, means embracing that stillness within ourselves, as well.
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"Courage is the greatest of all virtues, because without it, one can only practice all the others intermittently." - Maya Angelou
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A question: In the practice of Tai Chi, are we really engaged in what could be called an indirect art? In other words, are we trying to move the body from one posture to the next, in an uninterrupted stream, that, like a river, flows on unceasingly?
Or, in Tai Chi, are we actually trying to move, that which moves the body?
Tai Chi is a mind/body exercise. The Tai Chi Classics (some of the oldest know writings on Tai Chi) tell us that Tai Chi is first in the mind, then in the body. The refinement of the movements in Tai Chi requires the use of our mind and our imagination to create the precision we are seeking in our bodies. My teacher, Robert Smith, the first western student of Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing, lauded to this same idea in an article he wrote on weight-lifting and Tai Chi. Given that an often repeated admonition in Tai Chi is to never use force, there would seem to be nothing more antithetical to Tai Chi than weight-lifting. Yet, Mr. Smith saw common ground between the two practices in the use of "Mind". His take on weight-lifting was that at the highest levels of the sport, the athlete's bodies will all have been trained to as fine an edge as is possible. Regimens of diet, and conditioning will have these elite athletes able to heft relatively similar amounts of iron off the ground and into the air. What would differentiate one from another would be their mental training. If athletes could use their imagination to "see" themselves as successful, they would engage the mind, allowing it to join and assist the body's efforts to create a successful lift.
The need to use the mind and engage our imagination in our Tai Chi practice is also reflected in Professor Cheng's statement that you should do your Tai Chi "as if" you were a master. Another example of this need to engage the mind in our Tai Chi practice is the title "Imagination becomes reality"in the title of a book by the late T.T Liang, a very accomplished student of Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing. HIs book,. I believe, that Professor Cheng, Robert Smith and T.T. Lang were all talking about the same idea....
. We cannot settle for the gross level of "doing" involved in moving arms and legs from one position to another. We need to reach a little deeper and tap into the more powerful definition of ourselves which includes the "Heart/Mind". We need to imagine that we are capable of the miraculous. (I say "the miraculous", because for many of us thinking of ourselves as a Tai Chi Master falls squarely into the category of the miraculous).
But what does it mean to "engage the heart/mind", and to "imagine oneself as a Tai Chi master"? I think, the answer lies in a question Professor Cheng once posed to a class of his students. He asked them what percent of Tai Chi should be attributed to "flow" (continuous, uninterrupted movements), and what percent should be attributed to "structure" (having those movements follow the Five Basic Principles and put the body into the most relaxed, balanced position). After some debate and discussion among his students, Professor offered that "flow and structure" combined were only 30% of Tai Chi. The students immediately asked what was the other 70%. To which he relied, "It's you". According to Professor Cheng, fully 70% of Tai Chi already lies within each of us. Tai Chi is a vehicle for discovering and bringing to life the unique miracle that is each one of us. The work of Tai Chi is the work of self discovery. It is a relentless, never-ending process that is happening everyday, all day, in all our actions, big and small.
The word "courage" comes from "cor", the Latin word for heart. We are familiar with courage as an act of heroism, but there is another kind of courage. It is the courage to live every day with an open heart. In our Tai Chi practice we seek to allow the free, unfettered movement of the chi in our bodies. Fear restricts the chi. It limits the movement of our vital energy. It prevents us from realizing the fullness of who we are. Yet, fear is legitimate. It can keep us alive. Living with an open heart allows us to discern between the fear that protects us from the car that is hurtling towards us as we cross the street, and the fear that prevents us from loving for fear of being wounded by the love, or even more simply, the fear that prevents us from voicing a compliment for fear of embarrassment. One fear protects us, the other restricts us.
Professor Cheng sought to practice his Tai Chi 24/7/365,... all day, every day. Few are willing to do the work necessary to reach into the depths of self-knowledge that correspond to the heights of becoming a true Tai Chi Master. By all accounts, Professor Cheng was such a man. Ed Young was another of Professor Cheng's senior students. During a lecture on Professor Cheng's paintings he was asked what was the most remarkable thing about Professor Cheng. He thought for a few moments. Then, with a voice choked with emotion, he said, "That he was just a man. That he was not a freak of nature. He was just a man who was willing to do the work". I count myself as extremely fortunate to have studied with several of Professor Cheng's direct students. I am equally humbled in trying to communicate his legacy to another generation of Tai Chi students.
In this time of quiet, deep in the bowels of Winter, let us summon our courage and take advantage of the opportunity Winter has provided to look more deeply into ourselves and into the world around us. Doing so will help us recognize and embrace the vibrant energy of Spring when it presents itself in our lives, each and every day...
even if "...The weather outside is frightful..."
Peace and all good things,
Michael
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Sat. Morning Practice:
We are suspending the outdoor practice on Saturday mornings for the months of January and February. We will resume our outdoor practice at 8:30 am on Saturday, March 3rd.
* Photo is the hearty souls who attended our final outdoor practice in December.
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