Taiji, manuscripts, database
Today was Taiji class. The instruction is following an interesting direction. It’s our third class, but we have yet to do a taiji form. Instead, we’re learning pieces. We spent two days doing the...
View ArticleTaiji and napping
Over 700 words yesterday, but only 400 today. My seven-day trailing average barely budged–it’s been between 655 and 688 all week. Productivity was lower today because Mondays we do Taiji and then have...
View ArticlePerfecting Taiji forms
I studied Aikido briefly when I was living in Salt Lake City. My teacher was a gruff Asian man whose English was just adequate and whose teaching style was not unlike what you see in martial arts...
View ArticleTaiji, weight shifting, and intention
One of the practices that we do in our Taiji class is a moving qigong exercise with a Taiji stick where we bring one end of the stick toward us, press that end down and point it down toward a spot...
View ArticleMy local Taiji group
The instructor for the local Taiji group that I’ve been studying with is setting up a website: Community Tai Chi. One of their first posts is a link to my article on Practicing tai chi movement “wrong”!
View ArticleDoing Taiji backwards
The Taiji form that we’re learning is handed. That is, many of the moves are not symmetrical left versus right. That seemed odd to me. In Aikido, each move has a left version and a right version and we...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wildlife audience for our exercise
This is the grassy spot near the rear of our apartment complex where we do our taiji practice. Today’s practice was special because we had an audience: a rabbit, a squirrel, three crows, and two...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A fitness regimen that’s working
After years of getting into shape during the summer, only to gain weight and lose fitness over the winter, I think I’ve finally put together an exercise program that’s working year-round. It’s pretty...
View ArticleLocal taiji blog
The local taiji group that I practice with, Community Tai Chi, recently opened up its formerly closed (password protected) Community Tai Chi student blog. If you’re local, and you’re interested in...
View ArticlePhysical benefits of standing meditation
Standing meditation is just like sitting meditation, except you do it standing up. (It almost seems topical right now, when so many people are talking about working at standing desks, which is...
View ArticleThree miles on the dread mill
I hate running on treadmills. I also dislike running outdoors in the cold. The result has been that, while I may get into pretty good shape in the summer, I always lose that fitness over the winter,...
View ArticleLosing weight
I’ve lost a good bit of weight over the past 18 months. I haven’t talked about it much here. It’s bad enough when this starts seeming like an exercise blog; it will not become a weight-loss blog....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Teaching Tai Chi this summer
I’m going to teach a Tai Chi class for the Champaign Park District this summer. Screen grab of the Tai Chi course description. The park district doesn’t put their course descriptions on the web except...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tai Chi class I’m teaching
I’m going to be teaching a Tai Chi class this summer for the Champaign Park District. Classes will be 8:30–9:30 AM Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. There’ll be a first session running from June 3rd to...
View ArticleFictional characters getting in shape
I’m a huge fan of a particular sort of scenes in stories—the scenes where the hero gets into shape. I was reminded of this recently, after reading Greg Rucka’s Critical Space, a thriller I read after...
View ArticleToday’s walk: 12.35 miles, plus taiji
Jackie wanted to walk to the Savoy Recreation Center where we take our taiji class, and it was about time for another long walk, so we did. Our training plan for getting in shape to walk the Kal-Haven...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pictures of me teaching taiji
As he describes in a post on his own blog, my brother came and took some pictures of me teaching my taiji class. (That link goes to the Flickr set.)
View ArticleRunning injury (minor, I think)
Last week I was perhaps a mile into a short run when I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my right calf. It hurt quite a bit, and hurt more on each of the two steps it took me to come to a stop without...
View ArticleEnough exercise (and a calf update)
I recently came upon an old livejournal post about my struggles to get enough exercise. It had been written in April 2008, some seven or eight months after I’d quit working a regular job, and was about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Achievement Unlocked: Chen 48-movement form
I’ve been practicing taiji for more than 4 years now. Jackie and I started with a 16-week class at OLLI, after which we continued studying with the same teacher, Mike Reed, at the Savoy Recreation...
View Article
