Both art and spiritual practice are dialogues with history. One has to know both traditions in order to first appreciate each of them, to practice them, and then to add to them, Otherwise, practice is arbitrary and unconnected with what has gone before.
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Thinking More About Taijiquan and Fighting
I continue to think about the question of why many Taiji masters can’t fight. If I had to pinpoint one issue, it would be the sheer weight and demand of Chinese culture. Traditionally, it was never enough to just do one thing at a time. It had to be elevated,...
Angel
I’ve first moved to my present house thirty-five years ago. The first person I met was named Angel, a man from Mexico and the patriarch of four generations who lived with him. He died less than a month ago at the age of 103. Angel’s grandson, M devoted years to giving...
Nothing Evolves Once
Look back on evolutionary history, we see that no being evolved once and took lasting form. Each one developed from something else. All species continue to change. Evolution tests many options. The unsuccessful ones die out, the successful ones continue. We can’t say...
Why Taiji Masters Cannot Fight
Why can't Taiji masters fight? Why? Because they don’t train to fight, because many techniques have been lost (in my own lifetime, I’ve seen parts of Taijiquan stop being taught), and because the weight of Chinese culture and its demands for multi-faceted excellence...
