I hope your martial and healing evolution continues with great flourish.

The 2010 World Taiji Boxing Association Western USA Workshop is ready to go. It’s in Darby, Montana, Thursday through Sunday, September 9 – 12. Each day we’ll practice from 10am to 5pm, with an hour break somewhere in the middle. It’s a great value for so much intense activity because the sheer amount of time we’ll spend immersed in Taijiquan will no doubt enrich any level internal artist.

This will be my fourth year hosting Mr. Eli Montaigue, Head Instructor of the W.T.B.A. It’s an honor to bring him from across the ocean to the Mountain West, and this year we’ll have some big changes.

This year Ben Montaigue joins us too!

The previous 3 Taiji Workshops were in Salt Lake City, Utah. This year is a little bit deeper in Nature: it’s in a small town in Western Montana, hemmed in by the Bitterroot Mountains.

We’ll be in Darby’s Community Clubhouse for the majority of instruction: 4 days or 24 official hours — to gather more skills in internal martial arts. Here’s some of our Taiji Agenda:

1. Side B of the Cannon Fist Form
2. Yang Lu-chan (Old Yang Taijiquan) Form
3. Pushing Hands the WTBA Way
4. Fajing Striking
5. Taiji Stick

As always, we’ll go as deep and far in each area as time and skills will allow. Get in on it here.

[This man looks very much like my Grandfather. Photo credit: MisterWiki.]

My Grandpa lived on his own until he was 96. Born in 1898, he lived a full life with stories and children…and boxing. He carried himself bolt upright all the time. I never saw the man slouch.

The man had impeccable, defined dignity. He emanated it wherever he went. He walked bolt upright and his ability to carry himself tall and proud testified to his depth of dignity.

I was reminded of Grandpa and of my secret Taiji goals when I StumbledUpon this:

Apparently age is just a number, especially when it comes to keeping a healthy body. The following 5 inspirational and active people have obviously stocked up on vitamins, done their stretches and taken old age on head first. After looking at these 5, there’s simply no excuse not to shape up.

— from 5 Old Age Health Freaks (unfortunately: not a dignified title)

The story tracks 5 older folks and their amazing athletic feats.

It shows more evidence that people can handle the powerful, combative aspects of Taiji, doesn’t it? I mean: if “92yr old Ladislav Nicek [can compete] in the annual Winter Swimming Championships in the Vlatva River for over half a century” I bet you can amp up your training. I digress…

Taiji has many more goals than just fighting or general health and fitness.

Secret Taiji Goals

Once upon a time, in a Tai Chi class in Salt Lake City, my instructor said: “What is Tai Chi for? Hmm…hmm… I’ll tell you: it’s to Fart, Fart, Fart!”

Shocking, I know. But the point was not just fart, but to fart at will! Okay, that’s exaggerating. The point was to have effective methods of letting things out of the body in a controlled fashion.

It’s our last dignity: to control our bowels and bladders.

Please make sure that your training includes some understanding and practice of “lifting the perineum” or something similar. Without it, you’re missing essential training.

Taiji is not just for combat, not just for generalized health. Stand tall.

Taiji maintains dignity.

Imagining attackers prepares a body and nervous system for proper responses. It stimulates survival mechanisms. It offers an exacting study of reflexive tendencies and habitual movement patterns. It provides opportunities to discover where one holds unnecessary tension that might obstruct or confine fluid, flowing motions.

Begin by getting the motions correct, and then move on to images that are less horrific. Here’s why practicing outdoors brings new refreshment:

one might imagine offering breath or energy to trees, people, hills, mountains, or distant horizons.

At this stage the body sinks into the ground a little more and the reach extends. The eyes also move from looking down and inward to exploring the real world, looking toward vast vistas.

Taijiquan becomes an act of peace as long as its roots are sturdy.

Mother’s Day was designed to stimulate peace too.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Go see the Mother’s Day Exquisite Taiji Offering at Integral Grace.

Using my normal awareness, I sauntered across my parking lot. I climbed into my car, glanced around, dropped it in reverse, backed up, and heard a startling CRASH!

I think it’s me?

Adrenaline rush. Exhale (to encourage breath control). Look closer: yep. My car is interacting inappropriately with someone else’s car!

Barely. It’s just a nick (and no one was hurt or injured). But man, oh man.

My biggest foe is my embarrassment.

I’m not embarrassed about the act, the crash, the incident. I’m not embarrassed to resolve the problem. I’m not ashamed or terrified either. I’m embarrassed deep down, on the inside.

I get embarrassed, plagued really, when I miss something, especially something that should be obvious. My awareness was not expansive enough include the little old lady who pulled in behind me.

Yes, under my awareness radar a female senior citizen, on her way to a physical therapy appointment, pulled in behind me. Fast or slow, I’m not sure. Maybe slow and stealthy; perhaps quick and direct. When I backed up: there she was.

But here’s the Supreme Ultimate Point, in retrospect:

Dim-Mak Bumper

My bumper was scuffed, just a little. Our cars met; my bumper met her wheel. Her hub cap shattered: and that appeared to be all the damages…scuffed bumper and shattered hubcap.

We agreed to settle it amongst ourselves. It seemed simple. But after she found out: uh-oh. Her rim and tie rods were wrecked too.

A mere scuff on my bumper dealt significant damage to her car. Why? What was the key? Taiji of course.

I was turning gently and the position of my bumper, though not deliberate, was precise. Subtle and easy: that gently turning bumper placed perfectly against her tense, unforgiving hub and rim, did a lot of work. In fact, I experienced almost no impact…I only heard the sound of impact.

Remember how your pisiform fits in the revolving parts of another’s body?

Be careful, and look around.

I do.

“The fingers should be straight but not stiff. The palms are relaxed and slightly hollowed while holding the Tile Palm Hand.”

—Power Taiji

While there are several shapes that the hands form into during the form, this is the primary one. Feel energy in your palms. Tile Palm Hand is alive (yang) and relaxed (yin) all at once.

Finally, I saw them. Let me apologize for not commenting.

I’m sorry I missed a chance to give credit and engage more thoroughly.

My weakness in this age of interneting is that if I fail to respond right away, I may miss my opportunity… so as I wandered back through Real Taiji articles with a sense of… I’m forgetting something… I found 6 wonderful stories about How I Found Taiji.

See: I am impressed.

I enjoy other stories immensely… however subtle or dramatic. Each has a personal touch and I’d like to hear more. Many of the story tellers have blogs, and I urge folks to check them out because more Taiji tales are revealed in their respective blogs.

How They Found Taiji

• Josh Young gets it going: “The effects upon my life have been so profound and beneficial that I have been very grateful…” And he explains more at his Wuji blog in the article Bit of Autobiographical.
• Robin from Obey My Blog tells subtle jokes with I feel like I’ve already run my story into the ground, ha. And leaves us wanting more…(check out her blog for more).
• Francisco reveals how “Yes Taiji saved my life, no joke.” Please read more about him at Tai Chi Musings.
• Nate Johnson chips in with “Better late than never right?” and says more on his note: My Motive.
• Loc strikes us with his unique internet grammar and puts it coyly “hahaha…Let’s just say, an AngeL from Heaven gave me Some Guidance, and said, Ah, So, Taiji, neh?”
• day wraps it up with “no teacher around so I bought some dvds from ymaa, but I found the “controversial” wtba taiji, tried it and now tied with it. Too nice to give it up.” I’d like to hear more, day.

If you’re reading this: I know there’s more.

Please consider adding to the stories: however little or big, subtle or dramatic, your voice is important. Add a dash in comments below or add it to How I Found Taiji.

“The shoulders are rounded and the elbows dropped and relaxed. Keeping the elbows, in general, pointing downward encourages the shoulders to relax. However, this is one of the most difficult aspects of taiji for beginners to achieve.”

—Power Taiji

No doubt about those elbows…

Directing or pointing them downward is tough, and it’s made even tougher by pronating the forearm so that the little finger rises. In some cases, Taiji forms remove those difficult motions of lifting the little finger because it encourages lifting the elbows, then the shoulders, and then creating tension in the body.

But you can do it right. Just keep those elbows down when your forearms roll.

Check out the changes I made on the following pages:

• Courses
• Lessons
• Workshops

Here’s a short summary…

World Tai Chi and Qigong Day is coming soon. I’ll host one in Hamilton, Montana’s River Park, from 9 am – 11 am on the 24th of April. If you’re nearby, come and play.

Eli Montaigue, Head of the World Taiji Boxing Association, and I solidified plans to have him teach a 4-day workshop right here in Bitterroot Valley.

I’ve cut back on free public classes to make more room for online course development.

And there’s a new preview of the Old Yang Taiji Course 1.

I consider all beings intelligent.

Yeah: all.

We all have bodies wired to learn, to adjust, and to change… in good ways.

Treating people as if they’re intelligent inspires growth and fuels creativity. It makes teaching Taiji, martial arts, and healing skills much, much easier. (Hey: who doesn’t like being treated smart?)

It’s easy and it’s fun and everybody wins when we treat people smart.

But Not Intellectually…

Intellectual intelligence, gets confusing. Theories and thinking and thought about ideas often put up barriers to natural growth. With our internal dialogue, we can talk ourselves out of anything. Or into anything. Or back and forth. We can think about it again. And think about it another way. Or not. Or yes. No. You see?

Do you like being right; hate being wrong? Me too. (I hope I’m right.)

The point is: consider the whole person: body, emotion, actions, senses, and whatever other parts… smart.

We are much more than our thinking, more than our thoughts.

Bodies are designed to thrive and to learn and to know things, deep down, naturally. I can trust that — anyone and everyone has a unique and provocative way to push for fun and to discover personal power, wily freedom, and tender connections…

It’s Easy To Help

People learn naturally. Treat people like they’re smart and they catch on quickly.

Everyone’s ready to learn how to move, and not many people need overly simplistic methods. If you’re treated intelligently: chances are, you’ll learn faster and have more fun.

I don’t know how to teach Taiji for Dummies.

I haven’t met any.

[Old Yang Taiji Classes are available now.]

Real quick, here’s how it works…

You’ll get private email invitations to each of 32 high definition classes (download and streaming videos with supporting pdf worksheets).

Oh and it’s on a brand new, private server.

It’s easy, thorough, private, and supported.

That’s the basic features.

Of course, benefits that you get include the regular benefits that you’d get from Tai Chi class (you know: the health stuff you get from moving smoothly and breathing deeply). And, because it owns the essence of combat and it’s set up like private lessons, there’s many more benefits.

When you want to know more…

Check out Ancient Methods in Modern Media.

“The backbone should be, in general, vertical in relation to the ground, but there are some postures that require a slight forward lean. Never hunch the back.”

—Power Taiji

Because I think vertical is so important: I’ll go a step further.

Be vertical, vertical, vertical.

What I mean is this: take out the curves of your spine and make each and every posture as vertical as if you were hanging from the tip-top of your skull’s skin… your crown.

Be the King or the Queen of Taiji.