The Primacy of Practice

Who moved my Chi(s)? Chaos, change, evolution, creation. 1.) Day-in-a-life stuff. The stuff of science and nature, and art. 2.) Isolating a moment in time can be unfair to the moment, meddling. 3.) We think with the memory we summon at the moment in question. 4.) How fresh is your practice?

Is T’ai Chi Chih that dull that people need to blend it with restorative dancing, or other T’ai Chi practices, or weights, or anything else? (I had a student who “took TCC to another level” by slowing it down, adding this and that from other forms, and changing the name. Our conversation about it didn’t go well.) Complacency, ego, traits and tendencies, entrenched misalignments… What stops you from experiencing “T’ai Chi Chih doing T’ai Chi Chih”? If you’ve had the experience, why stray?

Wouldn’t it be swell if 20 top teachers spent an entire day together, comparing and contrasting the way they move? I only attended my first conference in 2004, but the differences in people’s movements were big. (Ironically, there’s times when it’ll be a teacher from Albuquerque who looks like the outsider, when, in fact, he or she may have had more lessons with Justin than we’ve had practices.) Can’t agree? No worries, T’ai Chi Chih has a life force of its own. Check back in a hundred years to see what ideas aged well.

We don’t need a hundred years to know that Justin gave us a masterpiece. Healing and growth, what’s not to like? So smile, on 3… Who Moved my 1… 2…