Thanks to Tai Chi, I am really starting to see my Kung Fu in a different light. Not just feeling my moves but seeing them as well. What I used to think was a completed move by feel, Tai Chi waves it finger at me and shows me otherwise. Tai Chi has allowed me to watch a move from formation to completion. Helping me to finding that precise point where energy is released, where technique triumphs and "good enough" falls apart. It truly is a beautiful feeling.
I do my Tai Chi every morning now. At 5:10am you will find me in the basement with my air-pods in listening to some Tai Chi tunes, flowing through my moves, preparing me for the day ahead. I should have started this decades ago, it energizes me in ways I can't really put into words.
So for those of you who haven't tried Tai Chi yet, you are missing out.
Where this ties into my Kung Fu has become pretty obvious to me. Several people have pointed out that I wasn't finishing my moves when I do a form. I never really got it, I thought I was, so one of us must be wrong. Well guess who that is, Me! I am noticing more and more while doing a form that I haven't released my energy before moving on to the next move, I wasn't in the moment. I thinking of the next move before completing the move I am currently doing. So I would tend to pull a punch short, or keep my stance too narrow, or just plain old flail around hoping to find a flow.
By applying Tai Chi to my forms and slowing them down to a speed where I can see the formation of a technique, it has given me a better understanding of my energy flow (or lack of). It makes me realize how much work I have yet to do (think mount Everest). Now I'm not saying I want to blow it all up and start from scratch, I just need to pay a lot more attention to my intent, to my power, to my flow, to my Chi (Tai). And with that should come more speed, more precision, more completion.
I am not terribly happy with this blog but I am leaving it as is, not really sure I am getting my thoughts out properly.
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