World Tai Chi & Qigong Day 2014

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day is an annual event celebrated all around the world to raise awareness of tai chi and qigong. We had a great event this year at Bird Park in Kankakee, IL USA. More than 40 people braved the cold wind to get together and celebrate the event.

We had demonstrations of Sun style and Yang style tai chi and several qigong forms. We practiced as a group starting at 10 AM to participate in the Global Wave of Healing.

Thanks to Gary P for organizing the event.

How was your event? Let us know in the comments.

What Happens When You Practice in the Wrong Place?

I usually practice my tai chi in the same space at home. I always face the same direction. I recently learned that this practice places limits on my practice.

 

One day recently I faced the opposite direction to start my forms. Sometime during the forms practice, I lost track of where I was. I stopped and tried to figure out where I was and how I had gotten there. It took a little time, but I finally figured out that I had made a wrong move somewhere along the line and ended up facing the wrong direction.  

 

Tai chi sets often contain the same forms repeated several times but they move through those forms into something different. Somehow my mind had realized that I was facing the "wrong" way. I ended up moving into the wrong form after one of the repetitions so that I was facing the "right" way.

 

Maybe I need to change things up more often. How do you deal with this?

 

© 2014  by Eric Borreson

Understanding Too Soon

Have you ever thought about your teacher, "Why does he keep teaching this stuff? I already know it." Maybe you need to rethink your position.

One of the most famous and quotable writers to ever use the English language was William Shakespeare. The things he wrote in his plays are often quoted and have become part of the language. If Shakespeare had never lived, the most famous author would likely be Alexander Pope.

"Some people will never learn anything because they understand everything too soon." ~Alexander Pope*

I think children are better at this. They know they don't know anything (at least until they become teenagers when they think they know everything). We are often unwilling to admit that we don't know something. This brings us back from the edge of true understanding. It keeps us from the breakthroughs in understanding that make learning truly enjoyable.

Think about it. Have you ever thought that you knew more than your teacher? How has that prevented you from learning?

© 2014 by Eric Borreson

*This quote is widely attributed to Alexander Pope. However, I can't find where it originally came from. Does anyone know? Leave a comment.