John’s Tai-Blog @ Camp Tai ChiTai Chi and anything I can relate to Tai Chi … like life

The Secret of Tai Chi Comes From Within

Tai chi really is all about listening to your body.  To paraphrase my friend and Duhism Master, Bob Tzu, ‘let psychology deal with the rest.’  I leave you with the eloquent words of the master himself.

It’s always me, me, me, me, me

“I’d listen to my Inner Child more if it didn’t speak in that whiny little kid voice.”

Bob Tzu

Your thoughts?

John

P.S. Visit Bob Tzu at www.Duhism.com

I found this great picture of Kirk Douglas and his inner child here:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1021219/Kirk-Douglas-91-unleashes-inner-child-ride-playground-slide.html

Tai Chi’s Arrow of Truth

You’ve probably heard me say it before, but a tai chi master is said to be able to respond so quickly to an attack, it’s as if they are reading their opponent’s mind.  You could say they’re human lie detectors, able to sort out diversionary attacks from real threats.  All right maybe you haven’t actually “heard” me say it before, but you’ve read me saying it.  It’s a figure of speech, so lighten up.

What got me thinking about this today?  I was doing one of my favorite things, scouring the internet for little known and interesting facts… yeah I’ve hear it all before and some day I do plan on getting real a life.

The story I was reading was on LiveScience.com, one of my favorite stomping grounds.  The title of the story is “Airports Could Get Mind-Reading Scanners”.  Imagine walking through an airport and thinking, “Gee, I wonder if they’ll notice my underwear is made of highly explosive fabric?”  Suddenly security surrounds you, rushes you into a side room and quickly disarms you… how embarrassing.  OK I’ll admit that may be a little far fetched, and maybe you personally wouldn’t be thinking that, but you get the idea.

As it turns out these “Mind-Reading Scanners” aren’t exactly that, but the technology is still pretty impressive.  You see the idea is to place images that only certain groups of people would recognize, in unlikely locations around airports.  Sophisticated computer monitored cameras would see people reacting to these images and alert the authorities so they could be questioned.  Wait till the lawyers get a hold of this one; talk about profiling. 

Next time you’re running through the airport and suddenly think “Oh no!  I don’t think I turned my heat down!”  If you happen to be looking in the wrong place at that moment, you could miss your flight.  I think the moral of the story is clear.  When you’ve got a very important trip and you can’t afford to miss your plane, arrive at the airport at least 4 hours before your flight… just in case.  If you are pulled aside, be nice to those in uniform and tell the truth.

Who better to sum up this post, with an age-old proverb, than our Middle Eastern friends:

“When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey.” ~ Arab Proverb

I’m not quite sure how this proverb relates to airport security, or tai chi for that matter, but you gotta admit it’s got a certain ring to it.  Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  You can read the LiveScience.com article here:  http://www.livescience.com/technology/mind-reader-scanner-100128.html

I found this image of Achmed the Dead Terrorist here:  http://media.photobucket.com/image/achmed%20the%20terrorist/jnoble87/Misc/silenceIkillyou.jpg

Tai Chi Life Skill No. 7

Most people who have studied any kind of martial art, or who might have wondered why their 2-inch penknife was confiscated by airport security, are likely pondering the martial applications of a ballpoint pen right about now.  Sorry folks but that’s not where I’m headed on this fine day.

I recently read a little known fact that got me thinking about, of all things, tai chi.  Tai chi and life skills to be exact.  I’ve written about this topic before but I think it deserves serious attention.  Attention to detail while letting go of preconceived responses.

Sometimes our egos get in the way of what’s best for us through preconceived responses, disguised as knee-jerk reactions.  We become attached to things that might not work all that well.  When your teacher or your master tells you you’re doing something wrong, go with it.  Standing there, defending what you’re doing probably won’t get you very far.  If you don’t understand something, say so; get the answer and move on.  Remember your teacher or master has already been where you are.  They too had to learn to let go of their egos.

Little known fact:

Following the sales success of his disposable ballpoint pen in Europe, French businessman Marcel Bich was ready to take on the international market.  He had named the product after himself, but realizing that Americans would incorrectly pronounce the name (spelled Bich) as bitch, he smartly dropped the H and called his pen Bic.

Of course this can be taken too far as well.  My Mother sent me a funny little first person story about a woman in Costco who didn’t care much about what those around her thought:

Funny Little First Person Story:

Yesterday I was at my local COSTCO buying a large bag of Purina dog chow
for my loyal pet, Biscuit, the Wonder Dog and was in the checkout line
when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had, an elephant? So since I’m retired and have
little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I didn’t have a dog, I was
starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn’t,
because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I’d lost 50
pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out
of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that
it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply
eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally
complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to
mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with
my story.) Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because
the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff
an Irish Setter and a car hit us both.

According to popular rumor, this woman is no longer allowed to shop at that Costco.  So let go of your ego, but keep it close by… just in case.  ;-)>

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this little known fact in one of my favorite books:  Who Knew? by David Hoffman

Tai Chi Vision or The Vision of Tai Chi?

It sometimes amazes me that a group of people can look at the same scene and each person sees a variety of different things, from pleasant to horrible.  No two people ever see exactly the same scene.  We each delete elements, add parts, and alter components.  What we see is never quite what’s there, but we defend our views with certainty, and at times a fervor that could do justice to a badger defending its burrow.

We each seek certainty, crave it, and have a deep-seated need for it.  When something we don’t expect or don’t want to see is present, we sometimes delete it all together.  When something we want isn’t there, we create it or alter what is to make it what we want.  At other times still, we see only what we don’t want to see.

Sometimes this process can be useful.  Just believing something is there gives us the confidence we need to succeed at our current task.  A child who believes their parent is right behind them, with their hand on the seat, can manage to keep their bicycle upright as the parent watches them pedal merrily down the street.

The opposite is true of course.  If we believe a monster of some sort is hiding in the bushes, we find it difficult to focus clearly on the task at hand, and we won’t do a very good job.  Whether the monster is real or not makes little difference in the outcome.

The trick is to focus clearly on what we’re doing.  If there is a monster in the bushes however, we do need to be able to respond to the threat.  This is where tai chi comes in.  When new students begin learning a form, they often have little idea of where or what their bodies are doing.  As time passes, they become more and more aware until one day they can close their eyes and know that every part of their body is in it’s proper place.  They become not only more aware of their bodies, but the world around them too.

Of course just taking a few tai chi classes won’t do the trick by itself, and there are other ways to go about becoming more conscious.  The thing is you need to practice tai chi until it becomes a part of your natural movement and then begin applying the principles to your daily life.  Once you start looking for similarities between daily life and tai chi, you’ll find the process is never ending.  It will help you remain more calm and relaxed more of the time.  Life won’t be perfect, but it will be better in some subtle and meaningful ways.

“The world’s as ugly as sin, and almost as delightful.”
- Frederick Locker-Lampson

So if you’re one of those people who always thinks their right, and it keeps coming back to bite you, I invite you to go from being a blind badger to a tuned-in tai chi player.  Find a school near you, buy a DVD, do something, and then begin applying the mindset to your life.  You’ll be glad you did.

Your thoughts?

John

Link Found Between Lack of Cancer and Tai Chi

It’s the truth; I swear to God.  I was just reading an article on LiveScience.com about the Big C and cell phone use:  The Science Behind the Cell Phone Cancer Scare.  It seems the risk assessment may have been overstated.  In fairness to the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, who sounded the warning, the jury is still out and it’s better to be safe than sorry when dealing with some issues.  However, according the article, “… there’s been no spike (yet) in rare head and neck cancers.”  This despite there being around 2 billion cell phone users World-wide.

I remember people being concerned about those big scary looking Power lines. You know the one with massive metal towers cutting pathways across the landscape.  Hell, I was one of them.  But alas, there’s apparently no evidence of increased illness due to living in proximity to these big silver monsters.  I wonder how much money was awarded in court cases around that one?

According to the LiveScience.com article, Billions of dollars were spent disproving the power line controversy.  Well our news stations need material for their broadcasts, and scary stuff is sexy.  Too bad it cost the shareholders a portion of their retirement funds.  Wait, aren’t the shareholders the same people who allowed themselves to be panicked?  Never mind.

To paraphrase Joe Lavin’s humor column, “but I digress”.  This is supposed to be a blog dealing with tai chi after all.  Therefore it’s my turn to sound the alarm bell.  TAI CHI CAN HELP YOU AVOID CANCER! Wait, that’s good thing.  So maybe this slightly unsubstantiated bit of health trivia won’t make the lead on the 6:00 news, but if you’re worried about developing cancer from holding your cell phone up to your ear, it might just help you sleep a bit better tonight.

And now for a bit of flagrant plagiarism - no not really, citing the aforementioned article of course:

No one has gone sterile from microwaves; no one has gotten cancer from their computer monitors. But people do get cancer from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation (UV).   Rare cancers have a way of revealing themselves. Lung cancer is rare outside of smoking, so causation was an open-and-shut case once half the U.S. population lit up. Industrial hazards are similarly identified when clusters of workers contract rare tumors.

Tai chi and chi kung have been linked to good health and a lack of cancer for sometime now.  So if you’re a member of an at-risk group, I prescribe tai chi.  After all chi kung is nice, but it’s not nearly as cool as learning to kick butt at a pace that would leave a snail green with envy.

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  If you’d like to read the LiveScience.com article:  http://www.livescience.com/health/cell-phone-radiation-cancer-100118.html

Do Aliens Play Tai Chi?

Today I’m going to do something I haven’t done for a while.  Just for the fun of it I’ve picked a subject and I’m going to compare it to tai chi.  Yea, maybe I do need to get out more but that another subject.

Today’s subject is aliens, thus the title.  Not the type of aliens we keep hearing about in the American media and who hang out in large numbers around Home Depot, but the kind from outer-space.  Before anyone starts in on me for saying Home Depot is an alien magnet, I’d like to say I’d hang out there myself if I couldn’t speak the language and needed work because there were no good options in my country.  I’m very fortunate and I know it.

Back to aliens and tai chi.  If you think back, just a short time ago few people knew anything about tai chi and many had never even heard of it.  Now it seems to be everywhere.  How does this compare to aliens?  Good question.

Our government doesn’t seem to want publicly admit there are aliens among us, but has also done something rather strange if they really think they don’t exist.  I’ll get to that in a sec.  ;-)>  If you think about it, until recently our government ignored illegal aliens too.

Aliens, whether little and green or big and gray, have been talked about, and drawn, and painted for millennia.  Now aliens are widely accepted as a fact of life, despite little in the way of tangible evidence.  Tai chi has existed for millennia, yet has only recently been talked about outside of specific families.  Also although a larger and larger number of people accept that tai chi works with energy, there’s little in the way of proof.

In the movies aliens used to mostly be portrayed as malevolent, but are now portrayed with more fairness.  After all everyone knows aliens, although mysterious, can have good or bad attitudes; Men In Black made that clear.  In the movies tai chi used to mostly be portrayed as a calming exercise done by eccentric loners, or aliens of another kind.  Now it’s more often portrayed as a mysterious martial art done by weird, but cool, people.

I could go on and on here with astute comparisons, but I think you get the point.  Let’s get back to the strange behavior of governments, the American government in this case.  I came across this “fact” while surfing the web.  No I didn’t verify it; it’s in print so it must be true, and we are after all talking about government.

“If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?”

To finish I’d like to leave you with one final thought… about seat belts.  The source of this seat belt wisdom is a very well thought out bumper sticker, and just plain good advice.  “Buckle-up, it makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car.”

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this weird factoid here:  http://www.superlaugh.com/1/wfact.htm

I found this great pic by DECLAN MCCULLAGH PHOTOGRAPHY here: http://www.mccullagh.org/photo/1ds-7/alien-mannequin-exhibit