Balcony of Parkland Apartments, Brinchang, Cameron Highlands.
My daughter wanted to see some taiji movements up-close. So I sportingly played around with some movements randomly.
To my surprised using the view in front of the balcony and the solitary pine tree as a focal point and superimposed against a clear blue morning sky as a back drop she captured this poignant moment in transition as I was moving into a particular posture called "Diagonal Fly"
What if you can't find some suitable images from the internet that you want to download for use to tell a compelling story?
No problem. I draw my own illustration using MS Excel's drawing tools and convert the xls image into a jpg image like this picture.
Standing and balancing only on his right leg and using it as a pivot this person will rotate his body anti-clockwise leftward and to his rear for a left heel kick strike to his imaginary attacker who is approaching him from the back.
Although I know this technique like the back of my hand and have successfully done it uncountable times, this morning due to a momentary lapse of mind-body coordination, the power from the torque generated by the body-turn twisted my weak right knee.
The pain in the inflamed knee was so excruciating that I used the shopping cart as an improvised walker when I accompanied the wife to the supermarket. By my hands bracing against the shopping cart handle, I was able to take some pressure off my injured right knee as I walked slowly, painfully, stiffly and with a awkward limp helping my wife to shop for the week's groceries.
Although it is just a sprain it looks like I will have to take things easy for the next two weeks to allow time for the soft tissue knee injury to heal.
At first I thought that learning taijiquan from a book is next to impossible. However with persistence and patience I believe I am getting some where.
After about 3 weeks since I decided to embark on my quest to study this type of taijiquan I have learnt about 50 percent of the 37 postures Wu Style taijiquan from following the text and instructions in the book. My previous background in Chen Style taijiquan probably probably help me to learn the movements in double quick time.
Perhaps the greatest motivation in learning this type of extremely slow motion taijiquan is my desire to improve my health through some form of physical exercise.
My sedentary lifstyle since my retirement from work in June had caused my blood pressure, blood sugar levels and heart beat to rise alarmingly. Sometimes I even experienced shortness of breath, head ache, dizziness, bloated stomach, excessive stomach gas and flatulence, diarrhea and even constipation. Taking too many medicines, watching TV and surfing the internet made me sleepy and lethargic all day.
Alarmed at the worsening state of my health, then one day in July I decided to do something about it. I decided to start with taijiquan exercise first thing in the morning as I felt that the slow, continuous and gentle movements accompanied by deep breathing and relaxation would not tax my low energy level too much.
After only about a month of doing taijiquan in the mornings with some sessions in the afternoons and evenings, I am beginning to feel that my strength, energy and vigour have recovered tremendously. Nowadays I don't feel so tired and sleepy as before. My blood pressure, sugar level and heart beats are now under control.
Seeing the positive effects of taiji on my health I am greatly motivated to learn the complete set by the end of Aug. In addition to taiji I am also adding other forms of physical exercises to my daily life.
Other than practicing this art to regain my health I am also paying more attention to my diet. Gone are the days when I used to load my body with all kinds of toxic foods eg red meat, coffee, tea, milk, sugary beverages, pastries, pasta, deep-fried,oily and spicy foods.
