Sitting Chi

 

Living with multiple disabilities required me to make many changes to my arts over the years.

On the whole I can get around, but when I take my walks outside I use a 3 wheeled walker for safety. I can get around in the house, abet taking care.

But last night I touched my tai chi practice while sitting. I can still perform some of my moving tai chi, but my disabilities stopped my former performance. It took my a year after the onset of my disabilities to work out how to perform it.

And while I walk outside about 1 hour a day, take some trips to lapidary to work on rock, when it fits my wife's schedule, or work on my blog, reviewing my email, much of my day I remain in my powered reclining chair.

Watching way too much television. some reading and I also spend considerable time thinking.

Perhaps it would be reasonable to explain how I got to this point.
 

I began my Yang Tai Chi practice with Ernest Rothrock in 1970.  I completed learning the form with 1/2 hour classes over 2 years. A wide variety of basics, 3 times learning the entire form.

    First the basic form
    Then relearning the form with Tai Chi Breathing
    Then relearning the form with my eyes following a moving focus point.

Additional learning Yang Tai Chi Sword, single push hands, single moving push hands, single moving turning push hands. Additional the double push hands versions.

At that point a decade of practice. Most of the time I was apart from Ernest. Then one day at a clinic both of us attended, we performed the first 3 rows of the Yang form together and I found my performance was exactly as he had taught me.

A few years later I began teaching my own group of students.

A few years later Ernest demolished my Yang performance with a single light touch that dropped me to the floor. Then he proceeded to show me how to stop that happening. He showed me Energy Point Alignment.

With practice my Yang performance greatly improved. Additionally I discovered that energy point alignment also allowed me to improve my own karate, and of course my students.  Likely one of the most important things I have ever learned.
 

Several years later I met Jim Keenan.  Among other things he shared his 5 Bows Tai Chi training practice. I understood what he shared, however while similar to the Energy Point Alignment I had previously been shown. I did not see the need to adopt it.

More time passed. Over the years Ernest studied Wu Tai Chi Chaun with Sheum Leung, his Eagle Claw instructor. Wu consists of 2 forms, the Teaching form and the Fast form. Both were subtle variations of the Yang form.

 

Then one years on a visit to me, Ernest began teaching me the Wu Teaching Form. It was both similar to my Yang form, but quite different.  Perhaps the most impressive was how I felt the Wu palm felt to me.

It was similar to how me Yang hand felt after I received energy point alignment.  In some impressive ways even feeling better. Much later I realized how similar to the Hand Bow Jim Keenan showed to me long before.

 

Again back in my chair, I start a simple exercise. Forming my Wu Palm in both hands, both palms with my fingers pointing down then my arms begin to rise, as in Inhale. Then I reach a point above my eye line, Slowly my fingers rise slightly and both of my palms begin to descend, of course then I slowly descend as I Exhale my breath.  When they return to their beginning position my Exhale concludes.

I repeat this motion of palms rising and descending, over and over. Each time my breathing slows.

As this repeats, again and again, I more strongly enter my Tai Chi chi feeling.

There are many other exercises that accomplish the same thing,  At times I move from one exercise to another to mix things up. Of course this is unnecessary. I also can use my Eagle Claw chi kung drill the same way using the Wu palm.

As I perform the exercise,
I breath in,
I breath out.
My chi continues to flow.

 

 

 https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2025/01/tai-chi-palm.html

 

https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2013/10/tai-chi-palm.html 

https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2024/12/tai-chi-walking-and-to-sleep-perchance.html

https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2021/03/life-lessons-from-john-dingers-passing.html