What do you do outside of your Taiji practice

-

 What do you do outside of your Taiji practice? Does your practice extend into these activities and/or vice versa?

A couple of chance encounters over the last few months have highlighted the non-Taiji aspects of well known Taiji practitioners. It was well known that Cheng Man-ching was regarded as 'Master of Five Excellences' - and some extend this to seven - including calligraphy, painting, medicine, poetry, and philosophy. But did you know that Ken Van Sickle, one of Cheng's early students, is an accomplished photographer, the Wall Street Times running a piece on him earlier this month:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/lens/ken-van-sickle-photos-bohemian.html

Ed Young, also an early student of Cheng's, is an award-winning children's author and illustrator.

Just two examples but I'd be surprised if there weren't more out there. Is there scope for such creativity within Taiji practice or does the repetition, focus, and precision of practice stimulate other creative outlets?

[Image: Ken Van Sickle, "Cafe Tournon" from The New York Times article, link above.]



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gia-fu Feng: Personal Cultivation and Community Building

-
Image
"Move as slowly as possible, as lightly as possible, as if drawing on sil. Be tranquil like a mountain. Be alert like a cat watching a mouse. Be natural like a hawk catching a rabbit. Most of all, be aware of the flow within and without." Gia-fu Feng in 'Tai Chi - A Way of Centering & I Ching. 1970. Collier Books. One of my ongoing interests is the evolution of Taijiquan through the generations - partly why I chose the name 'Echoes of Taijiquan' - together with the transmission, development, and spread of Taijiquan outside of China. In the case of the spread of Taijiquan, I’m specifically interested in how it got to the US and UK, and there are some well known names associated with this process in the US (Cheng Man-ch'ing, T. T. Liang, and William C. C. Chen amongst others). I've only relatively recently come across the name of Gia-fu Feng (b.1919 Shanghai, d.1985 Colorado) and largely due to his translation of classic Chinese texts such as the Dao De
Read more

Intent

-
Image
 Intent. In a number of places the Classics talk about 'where' movement occurs first (translations: Barbara Davis): "first in the xin [heart-mind], then in the body" and "xin is the commander". (Wu Yuxiang, 'Exposition of Insights into the Thirteen Postures'.). "In all these cases, it is yi [intent], and not from externalities." ('Taijiquan jing'.) "Yi and qi are the lord, the bones and flesh are the subjects." ('Shisan shi ge'/'Thirteen Postures Song'.) This got me thinking about the process and the relationship between Xin (心, heart-mind) and Yi (意, Intention). Fortunately there's a fairly succinct explanation offered by Chen Yan-ling's (1943) 'Taiji Compiled: Boxing, Saber, Sword, Pole and Sparring' (Ch.5: On Intention and Energy): "As for intention, some say the intention is the same as mind and mind is the same as intention, but there is actually a slight distinction between mind a
Read more

The Daoyin Tu

-
Image
The Daoyin Tu (Guiding and Stretching Chart). Between 1972-74, during exacavations at the Mawangdui (King Ma's Mound) Tombs in Changsha, Hunan Province, a silk painting now known as the Daoyin Tu was discovered. The painting was found in the tomb of Xin Zhui (Tomb 1), the wife of Chancellor Li Cang who was also buried at the site in Tomb 2. Dated to the end of the 3rd century BCE, the Daoyin Tu is believed to be one of the earliest depictions of 'health movements' - ancestors of modern qigong - and shows around 40 postures, animal movements, and gymnastic movements aimed at treating pain and improving health. In addition to the Daoyin Tu, a wealth of other silk documents were found in the third tomb at the site. This tomb contained the burial of the son of Xin Zhui and Li Cang and included very early versions of the Dao De Jing, I Ching, and Zhan Guo Ce. [Credit: Daoyin tu - chart for leading and guiding people in exercise for improving health and treatment of pain, contain
Read more