Tai Chi

[morsla]

First Tai Chi class of the year, today. Like any return to training, it's helped me to isolate the things that really need work - unfortunately, after a six month break, almost everything falls into that category... I was surprised how well my knees and ankles held up, but my memory is full of holes. On Thursday I'll re-learn the 18 Fan form from the first half of 2007, and then I'll do my best to pick up the 34 Fan from scratch. The rest of the class learned 90% of the new form while I was overseas last year, so I have a bit of catching up to do over the next couple of weeks.

I tried to count back the years, to work out just how long I've been training for. The best I could come up with was something like this:

1998 - 2002: Kung Fu
2001 (mid-year) - 2004: Wushu
2002 - present: Tai Chi

That means this is my seventh year of Tai Chi, although there have been a few breaks in the timeline (like no training since last July). No wonder I had trouble remembering how many years I'd trained for - the start date was lost in the mists of time, back in the Palaeoundergradic Era.

It's made me more conscious of how I move - where I put my weight, how I shift my balance, that sort of thing. I'm only actively aware of it while training, focussing on the details of how a technique works, and how it links in with other techniques. Apparently something must have bled over into everday movement, though - two people have commented recently that they can pick me out of a crowd by the way I walk, which is a little disturbing. Now I'm worried that I've developed some kind of python-style Silly Walk or something...

Comments

[sols-light.livejournal.com]

It's more the opposite, you move too smoothly, you slide around things that will be there moments before they arrive. Having followed you through a crowd once or twice it's like watching someone do a human Parkour gauntlet.