Tai Chi Discouraged

I am feeling discouraged with my Tai Chi training.

There is only one class available per week. I have not been to class in three weeks. The first week, due to a scheduling conflict at the dojo, I needed to teach Okinawa Kenpo instead of attending Tai Chi class. The second week, I received a message from the instructor saying that he needed to cancel.

Last night, I went to the gym and waited for the instructor with another student. We practiced the first section of the form a few times. We then received a phone call from the instructor saying that he was stuck in traffic and would not make it to class. The instructor works near Philly and sometimes traffic is impossible.


It gave me an opportunity to think about my Tai Chi training. One class per week is not enough. I can not seem to remember the pattern of the form. I do not know enough to practice on my own. I have been attending class for eight months.

I know that this is not a lot of time. Am I expecting too much?





Other news: I finally replaced my broken digital camera. I bought a Canon Powershot AS1000IS. The bad news is that the first pictures I took with this camera was the damage to my home from a wind storm. It ripped some siding and trim off my house. The storm wiped out a few shingles from the detached garage and the roof needs to be replaced. We have never made a homeowners claim and is much more involved that I realized. The insurance company gave us half the money for the garage roof. We need to come up with the balance or replace the roof ourselves to save money. I am waiting on quotes from the contractor.


Spin Class kicked my butt. Let's just say the bike seat was as comfortable as concrete. I did not love it...I did not hate it. Jury is still out on this one.

Where Do you Stand?

I literally mean ... where do you stand?

If I was to stand in front of the dojo and close my eyes, I could picture where each student stands on the dojo floor. I can visualize a brown belt in the back corner, a green belt directly in front of him, an adult brown belt in the back row center. I could go on. When I think to my own training at the Honbu, I inevitably stand in the back row close to the entrance. If my training partner is on the floor, we gravitate to the back row near the air conditioner.

Does it matter where you stand? I think it does.

One evening, I was reviewing chounokun with a brown belt student. The student was working on the kata for an upcoming test. I made some minor corrections and suggestions and realized that all the comments were directed to one side of the body. It was the side that could not be readily seen from where the student always stood. The moves were hidden from sight. The end position was fine but the moves in between needed some work. I suggested that the student move to the other side of the room to get a different view.

Last Tuesday was my second Tai Chi Chuan class. I wanted to try again even though I felt dopic the first week. I walked into the room and stood to the left. The instructor does not stand in the center of the room, he stands facing the mirror to the right. I could not see the moves and had to use the mirror to follow the pattern. Eventually, I moved to the back corner of the room so that I could see the instructor from a new perspective. What a difference it made!

If possible, vary where you stand in the dojo. If you cannot see the instructor, move to where you can. It is easy to get comfortable and claim "your place" on the floor. It is important to see the instructor from different angles.

Enjoy your training!

Push Ups Anyone?

I was reading the post 100 Push Ups over at Lady's Sparring Night's blog. She refers to a website One Hundred Push Ups that provides a program to achieve 100 push ups in six weeks. I decided to give it a try. I am not very good at push ups. I am hoping to change that!

Push Ups anyone?