Around 2010 when Dr. Harper diagnosed me as having Diabetes type 2, I started changing my diet and began taking walks each day. Of course I started with short walks and then gradually progressed to 2 mile walks. I continued this ever since.
Fighting through Colon Cancer surgery I continued daily walks.
When my disabilities began to manifest themselves around 2012, within months they became more pronounced. Eventually I fell and began using a walker.
Then around 2020, having worn out 3 walkers I upgraded to a stronger one out of necessity. I use this one to this day when I take my walks.
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I have long ago realized so much of what I did was no longer possible. The Isshinryu Karate and YangTai Chi Chaun I loved were gone. I then spent years reworking what I had learned to become another possible answer for just me.
From the time I began my Tai Chi Chaun study with Ernest Rothrock it became a long lifetime study of what was possible, so many lessons to keep learning as that art became a fuller portion of my life. When my disabilities manifested and my Tai Chi practice was no longer possible, I spent a year reworking my practice into a version that was now what was possible. It was only 1/6 of my original study, yet touching only a piece of my studies was still touching everything Tai Chi was.
Of course it was not the same however, it was the closest I can do.
Recently I realized that my modified form was still tai chi for me. Then I realized a different way to touch my tai chi.
It was I could use part of my daily walks to touch my tai chi too.
One of my initial studies included tai chi stepping, the manner of stepping while doing my Tai Chi Chaun. Then when walking I could work on my tai chi breathing. Slowly inhaling then exhaling to a 6 count. Finally I would touch the handles of my walker lightly using my tai chi hand formation, as from my Wu Tai Chaun studies.
Strange as it seems by doing those things, tc stepping, tc breathing and tc hand formation I then discovered I felt as if I am touching my tai chi practice.
I am not teaching this, it is just for myself.
To Sleep Perchance to Dream
I regularly dream when I sleep at night. At times various martial topics I have written on are part of those dreams.
Last night A new dream came to me. Someone (nameless) was teaching me several new stick defensive uses. One's I had never seen before. Suddenly I awoke (about 2 am) trying to capture them in my memories. I only was able to retain 2 of them.
1. Someone grabs my wrist and pulls me towards them. I step in and rotate my waist counter-clockwise. As I do so I quickly drop my elbow down, immediately rolling my forearm down then continuing up and behind the attacker pulling arm, As my stick was up my right sleeve I dropped it down into my hand. Then grasping my stick, I raised it and then smashed it down over their forehead.
2. Someone kicks at me with their right front kick. I drop my stick from my sleeve, grasp my stick in my right hand and raise the stick up. As the kick comes in I smash my stick own across his foreleg, then allow the stick to slide up over his let to drive it into his lower left abdomen of my attacker.
While working to retain these few techniques I began to recognize these techniques as being found in our Bando form "the Hidden Stick". After years working the form these applications were never used by me.
All from a dream.
https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2017/10/time-to-work.html
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