Strong feelings do not necessarily make a strong character. The strength of a man is to be measured by the power of the feelings he subdues not by the power of those which subdue him. William Carleton

MWNN says this is badly shot and edited, but there's a video of the Summer 2009 Ta Chi Retreat on youtube. It has a clip showing me twirling the ( Read more... )

Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events. Albert Einstein

When I was learning the Staff Form on the Tai Chi Retreat, we were given some warm up exercises to do.

Although the exercises were two-handed, they reminded me of a certain scenes from FFL and BY.


( Read more... )

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. - George Edward Woodberry

Today began well with early-morning Hand Form Practice, followed by my memory's version of the Staff Form. I'm now transcribing the u-tube clip into each posture (by name) so that I can memorise the sequence correctly.

It is easy to say how we love new friends, and what we think of them, but words can never trace out all the fibers that knit us to the old. George Eliot

'Tis the final day of the Retreat and we are already loosening the links between us in preparation for our return to our 'normal lives'. There is talk of a shorter Retreat in March 2010, but I'm ( Read more... )

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much. Oscar Wilde

Breakfast had the additional goodness of blackberries freshly picked by a member of the Tai Chi group early this morning.

Retreat is still going well. We've completed the Staff Form in just under 2 days. Now all we need is practice practice practice - and a longer broom handle ( Read more... )

Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect. Vince Lombardi

The retreat house is a former 19C nunnery and just right for Tai Chi. The lungs are even better today, I didn't cough once throughout the whole of this morning's sessions. Not even when we began practicing the Staff Form in Earnest the grounds.


( Read more... )

Life is as good as your travelling companions! - hesadevil, Pont de Vaux, May 2003

It didn't take too long for me to remember the moves of the Hand Form yesterday. Meditation with humming has begun to work wonders on the tricky lungs.

Highlight of the day - Po-faced Men in Frocks heading into the posh dinning room to quaff really good wine at the Latin ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

Off to Tai Chi Retreat tomorrow. Need to iron lots of linen tops and trousers.

I hates i - ron -ing.

Quote for the Day The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. Robert M. Pirsig

That is all.

“I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then” Lewis Carol

Gacked from gillo
( Read more... )