All posts by tomgb1

Inspired

August 24, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

Inspired by Written Words

An Excerpt from Mastering Chi by Ni Hua-Ching

What’s so great about doing gentle movement as physical arts? Its so much fun to do!

The education of the Way is great. I have used it and benefited from it. I was born with average intelligence and physical strength. Unlike a genius or person of great wisdom, I needed to learn. In Chinese society, learning usually means studying books. However, broad reading is like hunting for a special object, sometimes you find what you want, but mostly you waste your time and energy.

In addition to reading, however, I was fortunate to have the physical and spiritual training left to me by my ancestors: gentle physical movement and spiritual self development. Conventional scholars would find it hard to imagine that some simple movement could lead a wild boy with a restless mind and put him on the right path of a complete life, but those movements taught me the way, developed my body, mind and spirit, and broadened my sense of responsibility beyond myself to include all of humanity and the universe.

You may wonder what the Way is. The word Tao or ‘Way’, as I adore and live by, can be interpreted as a well balanced and rhythmic life. Sometimes you are still and sometimes you are active. That kind of alternation illustrates the principle of tai chi or subtle universal law. We all live with the subtle universal law, and we frequently need to harmonise ourselves with it inside and out.

These forms of exercise, and indeed all kinds of movement whether mental, emotional or physical are expressions of the subtle universal law. Thus, these exercises are one way to flow with universal movement through our own small movements. I do the simple movement of Tao-In (Taoist exercises) in the morning and the movements Infinite Expansion (Tai Chi Chuan) in the afternoon. This displays the unfolding of the universe. Thus, when I do the exercise, I am the universe. All truth is in my movements,

This Means Alot To Me

Master Ni beautifully points to spiritual truth in so many ways in so few words! This short piece conveys how all change and growth starts within ourself and radiates out. The principles of the universe are in our own experience, nature is within and all around us. The practice of Tai Chi movement is a fun way to discover natural truth.

Books have been a source of great inspiration and insight for me on my path of self development and the author I have read most and who continues to be one of my essential sources is Master Ni Hua-Ching. I often experience that reading a few sentences he has written can transform my state.

Like Master Ni, I was a wild teenager and became a wild young man who found it difficult to balance myself in enjoyment and achievement. I started practicing Tai Chi whilst I was a student, in 1985, and remember the first book I bought – The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity by Daniel P Reid. I read it over and over again – bought copies for my friends and practiced lots of the methods.

My own practice of Tai Chi movement became the foundation for personal transformation and growth. Slow gentle movement has shown me the Way … to a balanced life full of enjoyment – one which I feel proud to be at the centre of.

Now my whole life is ‘practice’ and much of it stems from ‘teachings’ passed to me by Master San Gee Tam. The physical ‘teachings’ are in the movements and are the integration of all he learned from his Tai Chi ‘ancestors’. The mental and emotional work is from Spiritual Masters, such as Master Ni and Osho. I am lucky to have access to a high level source and know the importance staying connected to the flow of knowledge. As I embody what is shown to me I can share this with whoever wishes to learn.

The “Way’ or Tao is elusive and can be felt as a sense of harmony with what is. I can be on the ‘Way’ and live a normal life.

Awareness

August 22, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

Awareness – The Center Of The Self

Awareness is the center of the self and is a doorway to a deeper reality. It is the foundational state of the arts of Yoga, Meditation, Mindfulness and my own practice of Tai Chi. I believe it is a subtle power that is changing the World.

As I prepare to write this I bring awareness to myself and notice my mind making a ‘big deal’ out of it, a difficulty. This awareness enables me to reset so I envision a natural and easy process.

In our changing World we have passed from the Dark Ages, then Renaissance to the Age of Reason – The Enlightenment. Now we have Science, Technology, Information and Globalisation, but what happened to Enlightenment? How do we move in that direction? With awareness!

So what is awareness? It is knowing existence whilst existing, doing something (or nothing) whilst seeing yourself doing it, like a mirror within reality, a ‘blackbox recorder’ at the moment of recording. To practice awareness is to become the witness of your life – to bring perspective. The point of awareness is still and unmoving whilst all of you and all around you may be chaotic. With awareness we see how we behave, we notice that in relationships and events we get lost in our opinion and return to ‘unconsciousness’. Awareness is ‘the now’. Thinking is the past or future.

We can use awareness to move in the direction we want to go, for our life, in relationships, with nature and society. To cultivate the universal virtues of; balance, centeredness, creativity, love and harmony we start with awareness.

Understanding awareness gains little, its power is in practice. Tai Chi starts with body awareness as sensation, experiencing breathing, the feeling of pulse and the sensation of each body part both distinct and as a whole. Once physical awareness is stable we notice the emotions and the mind. By continually practicing self-awareness we see more deeply who we are and we develop our health. We can expand our awareness into the space around us, listening to people, nature and the rhythms of change. There is no end to the application of awareness to the experience of life and the journey to enlightenment.

As a long serving instructor in Golden Flower Tai Chi I work under the guidance of the Master of the School – San Gee Tam and his wife, Chief Instructor, Annukka. The material that they have developed inspires me to make my classes fun and full of possibility for self development.

Tai Chi Practice

August 19, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

I started to write some months ago but then my ideas lacked energy Now, having just returned from an amazing two weeks of intensive training at Heavenly Way, I sat down to write this and it came out in one!

Tai Chi is practice for life. Life is the way – the way life is! Life is duality, life is polarity, subject & object, light & dark, yin & yang. Tai Chi is balance. The balance of the interplay of yin & yang within the changing flow of the universe. We can look at balancing two fundamental principles, integration & expansion. Integration means making whole, completing and harmonising. Expansion means growth and development.

Tai Chi practice works on three basic levels, the physical/body, the emotional/energetic & the mental/spiritual. Each of these levels is a realm in which we practice the balance between integration and expansion. For our body, integration is learning to move as one. When one part moves all parts move. We work on co-ordination and whole body movement. Integrity of movement comes out of using our body naturally, creating internal alignment in our joints and external alignment with gravity. From body integration comes readiness for expansion so we move faster for fitness, go deeper for strength and make larger movements for flexibility. Our physical health thrives on the balance of integration and expansion.

At the level of energy and emotion, integration comes with greater sensitivity. We notice and allow emotions and we complete our awareness of all that we feel within ourself and around us. Expansion is the practice of opening up our energy to increase the flow and expand our field. Expansion raises the vibration of our energy. We expand emotionally through communication, sharing what we are feeling and listening to what other people feel. We expand energetically by working with a partner sensing their movement and intention in relation to ourself.

At the most subtle level of our mind, we work on integration through processing the events that make up our reality and uncovering beliefs and negative thought patterns that are holding us back. This is balanced by mental and spiritual expansion through ongoing learning and deeper exploration of our consciousness. Ultimately we move beyond the limitations of three dimensional reality and learn to trust our ‘higher self’.

We can see these principles on a timeline. Integration processes the past and expansion moves to the future. Both aspects meet in the moment …the now, now NOW!

All that I practice and teach comes from participation in the Golden Flower Tai Chi School. Master San Gee Tam and Annukka lovingly lead us on a complete path of self cultivation. We have a lot of laughs along the way.

Change to Transformation

August 17, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

Generally personal growth develops through a process of change. Change is essentially linear and tends to produce only incremental improvement because most things remain fixed. Change is generated from the thinking mind.

Transformation is a multidimensional process that enables a ‘quantum leap’. Transformation is generated from the whole being and feels counter-intuitive. In transformation nothing really changes but everything is different – its a shift.

Tai Chi enables transformation by bringing us totally into the present with a new awareness of reality. This new awareness of reality is grounded in the body is enabled through the calming of the mind and is generated by listening – not with ears … with consciousness.

My own transformation has been inspired and deepened by work that I have done recently with Landmark Education.

Intention

August 15, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

In Tai Chi we practice intentional movement, learning how to apply the mind to the function of the body. As our ability to generate intention grows we apply it to our whole life.

The classical Chinese concepts for intentional movement in Tai Chi are:

Yi -> Chi -> Li

Yi is the mind or intention. Chi is energy and is what we feel as our body when our eyes are closed. Li is the physical body or strength. The Yi leads the Chi and the Chi leads the Li. This means all change starts with intention moves through energy and manifests into physical reality. With full awareness we ensure that all aspects of the process are conscious.

This ancient concept reveals the essence of the Tai Chi method and requires patience and practice to realise. Before the Yi can successfully lead the Chi, the mind must be comfortable exploring the experience of Chi. This comes through developing a more sensitive awareness of the body – an internal listening. The Yi gets to know the Chi, practicing communication with it and learning its nature.

One way to develop this Yi -> Chi communication is to practice moving your awareness around the body. Start by sitting still and calming down. Steady your mind and let your awareness of the body grow. Focus your awareness on the feeling of one part of your body such as your fingertip and then travel with your awareness up through your finger. Practice this with different parts of your body and notice that as you move your awareness your Chi follows.

In Tai Chi movement the practice of intention also requires that the mind has a clear idea of what form the body is moving into. This idea can be a visualisation, picture or some other conceptual understanding of the position. The knowledge of where you are going is intention. It is similar to the process of life itself. The undifferentiated stem cells of the unformed embryo ‘know’ what the completed body will look like and so each cell changes into its special function such as bone, organ, fluid etc.

The process of intention in Tai Chi is similar to the process of life itself in another way. There is a subtle sense of a higher consciousness working – an inherently intelligent, yet non-existent, universal consciousness. In movement the more we let go and trust the deepest aspect of ourselves the more we become ‘sorcerers’ tapping into the ultimate source. Tao.

In the practice of Yi ->Chi ->Li on a micro level between mind and body we become clearer on how this works at a macro level throughout our life. We practice creating what we want in life with intention and allowing the universe to deliver it to us. Thoughts manifest in reality.

Universal Romanesco

August 14, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

Romanesco and the holographic universe

The principle of the holographic universe is that the complete nature of the universe is contained in each and every part that we observe – no matter how small. This is the nature of a hologram (a 3D light based image) where the whole image is contained within each fragment.

A romanesco cauliflower is like this, each little segment is perfect replica of the whole. Fractals are like this too.

In meditation we get a sense of the nature of the universe by looking inward and deeply examining ourself and our awareness.

5 elements – the virtues

August 13, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

five elemental virtues

In our practice of self cultivation it is useful to consider the five virtues: appropriateness, wisdom, kindness, orderliness and faithfulness. To develop complete virtue we work to balance all five of the aspects of virtue. When we are successful we embody complete virtue and self mastery.

Appropriateness relates to the element metal. When we are appropriate we are artfully correct, full of tact – everything we do is suitable.

Wisdom relates to the element of water. Wisdom is less about knowledge and more about ‘knowing’ – the kind that comes from seeing things as they really are, especially internally.

Kindness relates to the element of wood. Kindness is caring, loving and protecting and is the most important of the virtues.

Orderliness relates to the element of fire. Order helps civilise society and ourself. Wolf packs survive in the harshest environments with orderliness.

Faithfulness relates to the element of Earth. Faith is a sense of trusting that things work out – especially faith in oneself to continue to grow.

The five virtues support each other in the sequence shown in the picture. Kindness supports orderliness which supports faith..etc.

This understanding of the five virtues comes from Master Ni Hua-Ching’s amazing book – The Path of Constructive Life.

Introducing Bagua

August 12, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

The Golden Flower Tai Chi school teaches lineage Tai Chi Chuan and alongside this we practice and teach a highly effective Bagua system. We are not a lineage Bagua school.

Bagua is a Chinese martial art of the ‘internal school’ like Tai Chi and Hsing-I.

The main purpose of practicing of Bagua is to develop flexibility and build fitness, by combining fast movement with deep stances, jumps and extreme twists/turns. At the heart of the Linked Palm Bagua form is ‘walking the circle’ which facilitates development of a meditative state whilst moving briskly.

Bagua literally means 8 changes and is rooted in the ancient Chinese book of wisdom – I Ching, The Book of Changes. One interpretation of these 8 changes or states is:

State Practice Meaning

Heaven Intent Consciously creating what you do

Earth Non-action Achieving without doing – minimal effort

Fire Application Bring movement to function – defence

Water Sinking Internal softness and relaxation.

Thunder Movement Action and flow. Motivated energy.

Wind Breath Gentle opening, bring ‘airiness’ inside.

Mountain Structure Stability, alignment – upright posture

Lake Gathering Focus on centres (chakras). store energy

Ancient Principles

August 10, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

Tai Chi is very simple – you just do it. Over time, with regular practice, you start to embody TAO ‘The Way’ and come into a natural state of harmony.

Tai Chi includes a complete set of tools to work on your whole self (including body, emotions, mind and spirit), manage your health and gain understanding of life. The principles of Tai Chi were developed centuries ago by Masters who had a deep understanding of the nature of life. This understanding came from looking inward – by understanding themselves they understood the universe. This approach is summarised in Lao Tzu’s Tao Teh Ching:

Without going out of your door,

you can know the ways of the world.

Without looking through your window,

you can see the Way of Heaven.

The farther you go, the less you know.

Thus one of deep virtue knows without going,

sees without looking

and accomplishes without doing.

Tai Chi is represented by the Tai Chi symbol (see What is Tai Chi). In this symbol the two opposing aspects of Yin and Yang are in a state of flow, creating balance and harmony.

In Tai Chi practice we bring awareness to the two opposing aspects (or yin/yang) of our own life and work to restore balance. For the body we can begin by balancing exercise with rest and move on to exploring improved postural alignment whilst letting go of tension … becoming softer. For the mind we can start by balancing external awareness with internal awareness (switching away from a focus on what’s going on around us to watching our mind, feeling our emotions and ‘being’ in our body). We can move onto balancing incessant thinking with quiet meditation.

The process of becoming more balanced is ongoing. To practice Tai Chi is to constantly transform oneself and to create a simple constructive life.

Golden Flower Tai Chi operates around the world with an established school in Oxford. Classes generally cover the four ‘pillars’ of Tai Chi: form, standing, pushing hands and meditation. Form focuses on flowing movement through a series of postures, standing is about alignment and stillness. Pushing hands allows students to test themselves with other people and introduces self defense applications – in a calm way. All the practices involve meditation, slowing down and becoming fully present.

I am lucky to study with a Master who embodies the principles of Tai Chi whilst being very generous with his knowledge and clear in his communication. Master San Gee Tam supports me in my process of development and this flows into the classes in Oxford. I enjoy working with people and helping them to work on themselves in an ongoing process of self cultivation…moving towards harmony.

Why learn Tai Chi?

August 7, 2014 tomgb1 Leave a comment

With its unique combination of meditation and martial development – Tai Chi helps us to become more deeply aware and so to deal more effectively with obstacles.

For most of us life does not progress on a smooth path, and when we hit obstacles we may get into trouble or get stuck. Tai Chi teaches us that obstacles are an opportunity to learn and develop, to become still and gather ourselves instead of complicating matters with impatience and struggle. We learn to see/feel what is really going on, and adapt our response to what is appropriate. Sometimes we need to wait until something else has shifted, other times we have to change ourselves before we can progress.

Obstructions can be obvious external issues such as financial problems or illness/injury – or they may be more subtle emotional attitudes such as inflexibility, lack of discipline or negativity. Either way, fighting an obstruction directly may not work and paradoxically we find that by letting go and ceasing to struggle we find solutions. As we develop, by practicing Tai Chi, overcoming obstacles becomes ‘having breakthroughs’ … opening ourselves to a higher level of existence.

This article was inspired by ‘Reading’ I Ching – (Hexagram 39 Jien=Obstruction) – Master Ni Hua-Ching translation.

Golden Flower Tai Chi Oxford