# My Tai Chi progress



## pakua (Oct 22, 2004)

Well I've been doing this a while now, and I must say it's changed a bit for me. I've got past the "Oops, facing the wrong way again" stage and I'm more relaxed and confident. I haven't tripped over my own feet for days now....   

Just yesterday evening, when I was doing my form in the garden at home, I felt a sort of mental 'click' that I'd moved up a notch. I can't put it into words, and I don't mean this was a Road to Damascus level 'click' but a 'click' nonetheless!

Great weekend everyone. :yinyang:


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## Dronak (Oct 22, 2004)

Congratulations then.    I'm sure the more you practice, the easier it will become, and hopefully more things will just sort of click into place and feel natural.  Have fun.


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## pakua (Nov 2, 2004)

Just when I thought I was getting the hang of it .....

We did the form so far in the opposite direction on Saturday- mirror image I suppose it would be called. That confused the heck out of me and I was back in  "Oops, wrong way" mode. It certainly keeps the concentration going, which I guess is the whole idea?


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## vampyre_rat (Nov 3, 2004)

not everyone does a mirror form.  some say that since the body is not symetrical, the form does not need to be either.  (this is just the health aspect.)

At first I thought you meant that you all started facing the wrong way, and just did the form in the usual manner.  This too can be confusing, until you have the form internalised.  You suddenly don't have the visual cues you used to rely on.

I used the idea of the mirror form in a recent workshop I ran, so that I could see that the students were following my movements, but beyond that I stick to doing it 'regular'.


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## Buddy (Dec 5, 2004)

We have a phrase we use in my school. "I suck at a higher level." When you start to feel confident at what you have practiced and the teacher (in this case me) says, "Not too bad, now try it this way." And just when you were on the verge on feeling good, you learn a finer detail of the practice and....you suck at it again. But you suck at a higher level than before.

Buddy


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## Randy Strausbaugh (Dec 5, 2004)

Buddy said:
			
		

> ....you suck at it again. But you suck at a higher level than before.


 :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl: 
Gonna have to remember that one.  The sentiment is all too familiar.


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## chi-ca (Dec 5, 2004)

Buddy said:
			
		

> We have a phrase we use in my school. "I suck at a higher level." When you start to feel confident at what you have practiced and the teacher (in this case me) says, "Not too bad, now try it this way." And just when you were on the verge on feeling good, you learn a finer detail of the practice and....you suck at it again. But you suck at a higher level than before.
> 
> Buddy


 L O L
Thanks for that post, I feel a little better now.
Chi-ca


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## tshadowchaser (Dec 5, 2004)

Not to worry every one goes through the same thing.  We think we have it then realise that we have only a small piece of it and must learn ever more.
 A time will  come when you know you have it


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## vampyre_rat (Dec 6, 2004)

A high level taiji player was heard to have said that when he dies he will only have studied one hair on a water buffalo's back. That was his view of how much there was to learn about taiji. The player had over 50 years of experience (first studied/lived in Taiwan before coming to america)

All we can hope to do is be better that we were.



> ....you suck at it again. But you suck at a higher level than before.


excellent.  We must retain our modesty at all times.


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## East Winds (Dec 6, 2004)

Pakua,

You are climbing the same mountain as the rest of us!! Each "click" means you are further up the mountain. Unfortunately you will also find that it is merely a plateau on the way up. The good thing about the "clicks" is that you can look back down the mountain and see where you have been. Some of us can even look back and see the dead end paths we have taken and sometimes the same dead and path more than once!!! Master Christopher Pei says "If we were allocated 100 years to learn Taiji, we would spend 1 year learning the sequence of the form and then 99 years refining it".

Keep working for the "clicks". You know when they happen!!!

Very best wishes


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## chi-ca (Dec 20, 2004)

East Winds said:
			
		

> Pakua,
> 
> Master Christopher Pei says "If we were allocated 100 years to learn Taiji, we would spend 1 year learning the sequence of the form and then 99 years refining it".
> 
> Very best wishes


Master Pei is a very wise man.


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## TaiChiTJ (Feb 21, 2005)

I know of a tai chi master in new zealand in his early seventies who was still teaching a few years ago. A student came from another country and trained with him for awhile. They were having a conversation the day the student was set to fly back home. The master asked him if he ever planned to come back and train with him again, the student replied that yes, he was hoping to plan another trip in the future. 

The master asked him for a favor. 

He told the student, "...if you ever come here and I tell you that I know all there is to know about Tai Chi Chuan, that I have completely mastered it, please punch me as hard as you possibly can. Maybe that will knock some sense in me."

:supcool:


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## Darksoul (Feb 21, 2005)

-Thats funny! "punch me as hard as you can" If we had the years and time to devote ourselves to the ma's, imagine the potential. Imagine the levels we could reach within ourselves. Humans are living longer now, though many not in a healthy way. If you were able to study Tai Chi or other ma's from being a small child throughout all your life...the possibilities future generations will have. Provided we don't screw it up now. I would love to look into the future and see the state of ma's, say a hundred years from now, then 500 years...


A---)


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## Shadowdh (Feb 28, 2005)

I have made some in-roads like this myself recently... little things that add up to a click... it feels great and the difference and improvement in the form is great... then you get the next click and realise how little the last click was... something I was told recently when I could only do a couple of days with a great taiji teacher was " If the only thing you can take away from these lessons with you or the only piece of advice I could give would be practice everyday..."


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