Yesterday was the 5th Memorial of my teacher, Gabriel Chin. We got together at The Cube at 4 o’clock to practice Tai-Chi and then we all went over to TK Wu for dinner (a Taiwanese Restaurant. Gabriel was personal friend with the cook and owner of the restaurant. He help the owner set up the restaurant. They are family).
It was great to see all the people. Before we started the White Crane Chi-Gong and Tai-Chi, we were catching up with each other. Before it was time to start, one of the original members came up to me and said “Isn’t it interesting that it been 5 years since Gabriel left us, and we are still getting together here to celebrate the legacy he left us. Makes you think about what’s important in life. I think you should mention that before we start.” (This was Joseph Staron blaming the idea on Jeff Nofts. Between the 2 of them, you can never know.). It does make you think about life doesn’t it?
I was chewing on this big thought more this morning and I thought it was interesting that 1/3 of the people that gathered never new him. They were new students. They just got together because Gabriel had shared something with us that we can share with them.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Spirituality?
When you are in martial arts one thing becomes apparent to you very early on. There are things that work and things that don’t work. And there is a tremendous difference between doing it right and not right. If you have the right leverage, and you have captured the opponents balance properly, it is effortless. But even if you are off by a hair, if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.
I used to liken it to a house made out of a deck of cards. It’s either standing or it’s not. It’s all in the balance of things.
This experience teaches us there is a proper way to do things and that if things are done in that manner things come to you in a rich and rewarding, but effortless way. To me spirituality is recognizing and working on that effort to be in the flow with the guiding forces of life. Often times, I think we make spirituality too difficult. It becomes too abstract and too conceptual. I think spiritual experiences are found not only in the grand things but more often in the small things, in the more tangible things of life, such as looking at a snow flake through a magnifying glass with your kid, or if you are a kid with your mom or dad.
Spirituality is not just nice, but it deals with all aspects of life. It is like air. It’s everywhere. It is subtle and often times we don’t know it is their, but when it’s not there it becomes a stark reality. It is subtle but it is powerful and it is a reality even though it is not obvious.
We learn how to breathe so that we can recover when we are sparring and we feel out of breath and our lungs are burning, our muscles slack from fatigue. Then at some point, we realize that we got fatigued because we weren’t breathing to begin with. So, we start on breathing more often. Then we realize that most of the time we breathe but when the pressure is on we still hold our breath. Then we learn how to exhale when the pressure is on so that we still keep on breathing and we relax more so we don’t get exhausted. At some point, we learn how to breathe so that we store energy ahead of time in anticipation of the energy that will be used so that when we start the activity we don’t run out of breath. Then at some point, we learn that the rate of breathing and the depth of breathing matters. This story of breath continues, for there is much more to be told about breath and its secrets, and it is a wonderful story.
The situations of life can be tough. Air itself is there just to give you life. It is there to support you. It is always there. It never leaves you. But you do have to learn to let it support you. When you learn how to let the air support you, it is possible that the toughest situations in life can be taken with a breath. Spirituality is this journey not unlike the journey of breathing to a martial artist. It is this relationship you develop where you learn to trust it and the more you learn to trust it, it teaches you more. But you cannot learn it until you are willing to learn from it. It seems there is truth to the saying, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
I used to liken it to a house made out of a deck of cards. It’s either standing or it’s not. It’s all in the balance of things.
This experience teaches us there is a proper way to do things and that if things are done in that manner things come to you in a rich and rewarding, but effortless way. To me spirituality is recognizing and working on that effort to be in the flow with the guiding forces of life. Often times, I think we make spirituality too difficult. It becomes too abstract and too conceptual. I think spiritual experiences are found not only in the grand things but more often in the small things, in the more tangible things of life, such as looking at a snow flake through a magnifying glass with your kid, or if you are a kid with your mom or dad.
Spirituality is not just nice, but it deals with all aspects of life. It is like air. It’s everywhere. It is subtle and often times we don’t know it is their, but when it’s not there it becomes a stark reality. It is subtle but it is powerful and it is a reality even though it is not obvious.
We learn how to breathe so that we can recover when we are sparring and we feel out of breath and our lungs are burning, our muscles slack from fatigue. Then at some point, we realize that we got fatigued because we weren’t breathing to begin with. So, we start on breathing more often. Then we realize that most of the time we breathe but when the pressure is on we still hold our breath. Then we learn how to exhale when the pressure is on so that we still keep on breathing and we relax more so we don’t get exhausted. At some point, we learn how to breathe so that we store energy ahead of time in anticipation of the energy that will be used so that when we start the activity we don’t run out of breath. Then at some point, we learn that the rate of breathing and the depth of breathing matters. This story of breath continues, for there is much more to be told about breath and its secrets, and it is a wonderful story.
The situations of life can be tough. Air itself is there just to give you life. It is there to support you. It is always there. It never leaves you. But you do have to learn to let it support you. When you learn how to let the air support you, it is possible that the toughest situations in life can be taken with a breath. Spirituality is this journey not unlike the journey of breathing to a martial artist. It is this relationship you develop where you learn to trust it and the more you learn to trust it, it teaches you more. But you cannot learn it until you are willing to learn from it. It seems there is truth to the saying, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Art of Worship
3/24/10
Hello my fellow friends!
For us, practicing Tai-Chi and using it to live out the Biblical principles as best as we can according to our understanding is a joy in our life. For us Tai-Chi is our art of worship. Some people use art, some people use music, we have learned Tai-Chi is a wonderful way to come closer to God.
This blog is intended to share our experiences with anybody who likes to see how we apply our understanding in our lives, and is in no way intended as a means to convince anyone. Rather, we would like to spur ideas as to how you could utilize your understanding of your own spiritual journey of whatever your back ground you come from in tangible ways.
I have been having a real exciting spiritual journey recently. I woke up this morning tired and groggy. I could feel my whole body is off, and I could feel my meridians are not flowing and my energy was stuck. Not getting enough sleep recently doesn’t help. I am grateful at these times that I can identify some of what’s off with my body. Otherwise, I would just think that I am tired and would feel there is not much I can do about my condition besides resting.
I started the morning by moving as if I was doing the form, and my joints started feeling better. I started relaxing my brain and I relaxed them further by relaxing my facial muscles. I softened my eyes, and I slowed my breath so that I felt pleasure in my breath.
On days like this, it seems I take more delight in God’s creation. I started taking things at pace. I relaxed my body, and I found my center. I stopped all rushing. I found myself in a meditative state. I started feeling the energy starting to flow in my body, my body resting. I felt that I started moving slower than my body was expending the energy. Now I feel my body receiving the energy and I am resting in God’s embrace that is available everywhere. It is on these days I feel most thankful and most restful. It is amazing even when I have no energy how everything gets done. It seems like the body when stressed starts rushing to get things done sooner, but by stopping this process, there is infinite energy available. I think the hardest part is to remember that the energy is always available, and it is already there. We can just receive it.
While I am waiting for the computer to turn on, I read a few passages. I figured I might as well put this time to good use. I am reading proverbs, and chapter 8 is Wisdom itself talking to us. In Chapter 8, verse 22 - 23, It says,
The LORD made me as the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old.
I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began.
Wisdom is his way. I felt that we are learning to live by wisdom, not just thinking it. By reading all of chapter 8, I got the distinct understanding that Wisdom is having the knowledge and understanding of how God’s law works, including the laws of nature. The following lines gives an even better idea (Proverbs 8:28 – 31).
When he placed the clouds in the sky, when he opened the springs of the ocean
and ordered the waters of the sea to rise no further than he said. I was there when he laid the earth's foundations.
I was beside him like an architect, I was his daily source of joy, always happy in his presence---
happy with the world and pleased with the human race.
I realized that I feel this joy that Wisdom feels because she resides in me when I align myself with the laws of God that He wrote in this world. When my body is obeying and following the law, it receives Wisdom.
When I came across the following lines in Proverbs 8:53:
Those who find me find life, and the LORD will be pleased with them.
Those who do not find me hurt themselves; anyone who hates me loves death."
I was reminded of the principle that ‘We are always training whether we are aware of it or not’. Which leads us to a sister principle ‘We are either growing or dying’. If we do things right for our body we go towards live, and if we do things misaligned we go towards death. For instance, a lot of us using the computer have stiff upper backs and have slight hunch. Most people don’t think in these terms but we are training to have a hunch. Over time, we get stiffer and stiffer in this position so we can perform our jobs better and more efficiently. We get what we practice. We are practicing to get a hunch back. Now while we are practicing to get a hunch back, other muscles are atrophying. This is because we typically sit 8 hours in front of a computer yet, most of us don’t do anything outside of sitting in front of the computer. So, all the other muscles are becoming weaker while our hunchback is becoming stronger. We all know that a stiff upper back is not a way to go. Our life is becoming more and more limited, less and less movement. In Taoist thinking, not moving is death. Anything that has life has movement. I think this is a very simple yet powerful principle that is demonstrated in all aspects of life.
I find it a fascinating journey to read the scriptures and be able to see it not only in all aspects of my life, but that it also helps specifically with my Tai-Chi, and practicing Tai-Chi allows appreciate the bible even more in a tangible sense. It is a wonderful practice to be able to intellectually ponder the word of God but at the same time feel you can appreciate them in a concrete and tangible manner.
Hello my fellow friends!
For us, practicing Tai-Chi and using it to live out the Biblical principles as best as we can according to our understanding is a joy in our life. For us Tai-Chi is our art of worship. Some people use art, some people use music, we have learned Tai-Chi is a wonderful way to come closer to God.
This blog is intended to share our experiences with anybody who likes to see how we apply our understanding in our lives, and is in no way intended as a means to convince anyone. Rather, we would like to spur ideas as to how you could utilize your understanding of your own spiritual journey of whatever your back ground you come from in tangible ways.
I have been having a real exciting spiritual journey recently. I woke up this morning tired and groggy. I could feel my whole body is off, and I could feel my meridians are not flowing and my energy was stuck. Not getting enough sleep recently doesn’t help. I am grateful at these times that I can identify some of what’s off with my body. Otherwise, I would just think that I am tired and would feel there is not much I can do about my condition besides resting.
I started the morning by moving as if I was doing the form, and my joints started feeling better. I started relaxing my brain and I relaxed them further by relaxing my facial muscles. I softened my eyes, and I slowed my breath so that I felt pleasure in my breath.
On days like this, it seems I take more delight in God’s creation. I started taking things at pace. I relaxed my body, and I found my center. I stopped all rushing. I found myself in a meditative state. I started feeling the energy starting to flow in my body, my body resting. I felt that I started moving slower than my body was expending the energy. Now I feel my body receiving the energy and I am resting in God’s embrace that is available everywhere. It is on these days I feel most thankful and most restful. It is amazing even when I have no energy how everything gets done. It seems like the body when stressed starts rushing to get things done sooner, but by stopping this process, there is infinite energy available. I think the hardest part is to remember that the energy is always available, and it is already there. We can just receive it.
While I am waiting for the computer to turn on, I read a few passages. I figured I might as well put this time to good use. I am reading proverbs, and chapter 8 is Wisdom itself talking to us. In Chapter 8, verse 22 - 23, It says,
The LORD made me as the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old.
I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began.
Wisdom is his way. I felt that we are learning to live by wisdom, not just thinking it. By reading all of chapter 8, I got the distinct understanding that Wisdom is having the knowledge and understanding of how God’s law works, including the laws of nature. The following lines gives an even better idea (Proverbs 8:28 – 31).
When he placed the clouds in the sky, when he opened the springs of the ocean
and ordered the waters of the sea to rise no further than he said. I was there when he laid the earth's foundations.
I was beside him like an architect, I was his daily source of joy, always happy in his presence---
happy with the world and pleased with the human race.
I realized that I feel this joy that Wisdom feels because she resides in me when I align myself with the laws of God that He wrote in this world. When my body is obeying and following the law, it receives Wisdom.
When I came across the following lines in Proverbs 8:53:
Those who find me find life, and the LORD will be pleased with them.
Those who do not find me hurt themselves; anyone who hates me loves death."
I was reminded of the principle that ‘We are always training whether we are aware of it or not’. Which leads us to a sister principle ‘We are either growing or dying’. If we do things right for our body we go towards live, and if we do things misaligned we go towards death. For instance, a lot of us using the computer have stiff upper backs and have slight hunch. Most people don’t think in these terms but we are training to have a hunch. Over time, we get stiffer and stiffer in this position so we can perform our jobs better and more efficiently. We get what we practice. We are practicing to get a hunch back. Now while we are practicing to get a hunch back, other muscles are atrophying. This is because we typically sit 8 hours in front of a computer yet, most of us don’t do anything outside of sitting in front of the computer. So, all the other muscles are becoming weaker while our hunchback is becoming stronger. We all know that a stiff upper back is not a way to go. Our life is becoming more and more limited, less and less movement. In Taoist thinking, not moving is death. Anything that has life has movement. I think this is a very simple yet powerful principle that is demonstrated in all aspects of life.
I find it a fascinating journey to read the scriptures and be able to see it not only in all aspects of my life, but that it also helps specifically with my Tai-Chi, and practicing Tai-Chi allows appreciate the bible even more in a tangible sense. It is a wonderful practice to be able to intellectually ponder the word of God but at the same time feel you can appreciate them in a concrete and tangible manner.
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