Finalized - Snake Tai Chi and Qigong

January 16, Sifu Steve writes:
Had 2 days off, so this is 35/100. We have a deal with the Delta Hotel health club for the use of a space. It's only a 10 minute walk for me, so I'm taking advantage of it!

The Snake Tai Chi and Qigong are finalized! Here's the Tai Chi sequence:
1. Snake Moves its Body, Hibernates: Start with feet together (bingbu) and Python Moves its Body; then circle down and back up, thenstep out L foot into wujibu with middle fingers pressed into navel and palms cupped, Snake Hibernates (meditate on heat).

2. Snake Wakes and Hunts: Turn from side to side 3 times, on 4th. L Lohan block as you turn to the R and then pivot on ball R foot to throw L. Steps out with L. foot and lock arm.

3. Snake Sticks out Tongue: step up with R. foot and then out with L into White Snake Sticks-out Tongue (Brush Knee), then repeat to R. with Carry Tiger to Mountain.

4. Snake Hunts the Monkey: Shift R and follow step L into Cross Hands to Penetrate (fingertip strike w. R. hand), circle arms and shift R foot parallel to L in Fist Under Elbow (in wujibu). Then shift weight to R and execute back-weighted Cross Hands to penetrate and entry into Repulse Monkey; second Repulse Monkey morphs into Old Yang Single Whip.

5. Up the Tree and Down (Heaven and Earth & Snake Creeps Down): Yin-Yang Palms as transition, the Snake Creeps Down 3X both sides, slow and lower each time. 

6. Waiting Snake, R Lotus Kick: Twist step L with R. forearm block and up into L empty stance with R palm out and L palm down under R elbow. Sweep Lotus.

7. Conclusion: Step back R to wujibu with turn of torso and accumulating circles, then Snake Hibernates with diminishing circles. Then dispersing circles and water path conclusion with sinking the qi.

The Qigong follows the same sequence, but I have not written it out yet. There's been opportunity to test-drive it in small groups, and it seems to 'cook'. Two club members who, due to health Hx have depleted qi and are usually cold, found that it heated them right up. The back weighted "White Snake" / "Cross Hands" really works the kidneys and, I suspect, has an effect on the immunes.

Key to the Tai Chi is extreme softness and doing it slowly.

The Dragon is coming as well. The Dragon Qigong from Dr. Shen requires no modification. The new Tai Chi form is probably going to fall in three sections, of which the first is tentatively complete, focusing on the earth dragon. The next section will be centred on wood and water.

I shall leave Tiger alone until the Dragon is complete.

Getting the Snake ready for CNY debut...

January 4, Sifu Steve writes:
The Snake qigong and Tai Chi forms are now complete and ready for our New Year event in February. The Tai Chi form consists of 7 compound movements; the qigong of around 20, which gives a pretty reasonable idea of the actual number of individual movements in the Tai Chi. So, continuing my project, I am now deeply engaged in developing a Dragon form.

Initially, it was intended to be brief as well; however I realized that this stage of the project affords me the opportunity to explore the development of a longer form with the technical problems of energetic development which that involves. Randall Templeton has given me some great input about this, and while his concepts differ somewhat from my own his insights have been very valuable.

One issue is that there are various kinds of Chinese Dragon. While the blue-green Dragon has in common with the Snake a watery coiling aspect, it also shoots forth like lightning or lightning, or like a river bursting its banks. The golden Dragon has a different character, representing the centre, the concept of hierarchy and order, and also a balanced powerful shaking kind of movement reminiscent of the waves of power emanating out from an earthquake.

To this point I have the first 10 movements of the dragon Tai Chi form. They are drawn from the old Yang family middle-frame, and from the Chen family new and old frame, particularly the old-frame "Cannon Fist".

Dragon and Snake

December 27, Sifu Steve writes:
Dec. 27th., and day #19/100.
The Dragon is much more complex than the Snake, but not necessarily much longer. I make it out to be around 20 moves, which is roughly equivalent. Interestingly, the Snake incorporates Old Yang, Chen Xinjia (Yi-lu), and a tiny bit of traditional Yang; the Dragon has no traditional Yang, but otherwise has the foregoing as well as some Chen Cannon Fist (Laojia), both near beginning and at the end. 

The Lotus Kick came in early, and I was wondering what to end with, since that kind of high energy usually is saved to the end of a form. However, I'm using King Kong Mailed Fist near the end, and that seems to balance it out nicely.

I think these two forms are certainly enough to keep me busy until CNY in February! I'll look at Tiger only nearer the end of the process. I have a feeling that what the Snake and Dragon are doing to me internally will have an effect on Tiger, hopefully to add some creative and artistic asymetrivality.

Creative conundrums and the Dragons

December 26, Sifu Steve writes: 
Boxing Day 2012, and day 18/100 on animals.
Creative conundrums abound as I approach the Dragon! Randall's "Five Ancients" study is a big source of inspiration! 

I can really see the energy-distinction between the azure and golden dragons. In my notes on the qigong I have written:

"The Cold Mountain Internal Arts concept of Dragon energy blends two different conceptions.
The Azure Dragon, sometimes referred to as Blue or Green, is the Lord of the sea or of the East, and is the embodiment of the Yang principle. In ancient Chinese poetry he is the sky-lord who is wed to the Shamanka Queen, the Metal Mother (see Tiger) who dwells in the west. The primary associations of the Azure dragon are water and wood.
The Golden Dragon is associated with the energies of fire and earth, and of the earthquake. It is the Lord of the Centre, and of transmutation from which other energies arise.
The Azure Dragon has a quality of wood, water, storm and lightning. It coils and then shoots out, but the Golden Dragon has more of an earthquake quality: a sense of epicenter, with power going out from this centre."

Creatively, I'd like to combine both of these in the Tai Chi form. I've generated a list of moves peculiar to each Dragon. But there is so much! How to produce something concise and transferrable, without putting too much in?

My exercise today has consisted of putting together an initial sequence rooted in the "Swimming Dragon" idea, and two other sequences. The longer of these two latter sequences is definitely Azure Dragon and uses the Old Yang circle walk into the 1st Bagwa palm change and Sweep Lotus. The third and final sequence is more Golden Dragon and ends with King Kong Mailed Fist. 

I think this gives me the outline of a form. Does it have an internal narrative of energy?

Guidelines for 100 Days Training

Here are the guidelines, according to Sifu Steve:

The “100 Days’ Training” is an old traditional Asian martial arts custom, intended to mimic certain elements of the “3-Months” training retreats which are traditional in certain branches of Daoism and Buddhism.

The elements involved in this kind of training are:

Get your ducks in a row. (Does that mean developing a Duck Qi Gong??) 
Photo by  Tomas Castelazo, via Wikimedia Commons

A clear objective.

Set out what you will do, when, how long, and what you want to accomplish.

A public commitment = equivalent to the old temple vows. 

Last time around I dedicated myself to 1 hour+ per day of the Old Yang form. This time, I am not specifying times, but shall work with animal material every day, the objective being to more deeply internalize the animal energies, and also to have, three months from now, at least 3 more animal forms of Tai Chi. As far as this goes, I'm polishing the Snake form, and hope to eventually have a Tiger and a Dragon. These forms will have a sequencing independent of any form we now do.

Record-keeping and public reportage. 

In the past I diarized. I also last time made entries on the Club Facebook page, but had very little commentary of feedback. This time: a blog for the group participating in this project, to share our progress, problems etc.

Final evaluation. 

At a nice Chinese restaurant, say, the beginning of April?

Dangers to the process are:

Over-commitment.

Your objective must be ambitious, but achievable. Almost invariably, new entrants to this process bite off more than they can chew, and then get discouraged when they cannot keep up the effort.

Concentration on quantity rather than quality. 

15 minutes of intense and intelligent practice are worth much, much more than an hour of rote exercise put in for purposes of satisfying your commitment and your ego! Don't set yourself up to fail!

Neurotic commitment.

Focusing upon the commitment, rather than recognizing times when your ability to perform is negated by ill-health or other factors. In other words, your 100 days will probably take more than 100 days! Be reasonable! Don't punish yourself!