L3: Protect Your Center Like A Most Precious Jewel

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Casey

I’ll recap what I talked about in the video. When doing push hands a lot of people Continue reading →

Posted in Tai Chi Lessons | 5 Comments

DDJ #02 – All The World Knows Beauty

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Casey

I had an “awakening moment” of sorts AFTER I wrote what’s below. Originally that made me NOT want to continue writing these personal commentaries. Perhaps exactly the opposite is what I need to do! I have a feeling the deep reflection on that first passage was what led to my “awakening.”

What I wrote last week was a reflection of who I was last week (after that experience). What’s below is a reflection of who I was 2 weeks ago (before that experience). What I write from this point forward will be a reflection of who “I” am at that particularly slice of time. :)

Enjoy!

—

All the world knows beauty
but if that becomes beautiful
this becomes ugly 
all the word knows good
but if that becomes good
this becomes bad 
the coexistence of have and have not
the coproduction of hard and easy
the correlation of long and short 
the codependence of high and low
the correspondence of note and noise
the coordination of first and last
is endless 
thus the sage performs effortless deeds
and teaches wordless lessons 
he doesn’t start all things he begins
he doesn’t presume on what he does
he doesn’t claim what he achieves 
and because he makes no claim
he suffers no loss

From Red Pine’s translation.

The first section of this passage is basically saying Continue reading →

Posted in Taoism | 1 Comment

L2: Practical Use Of Potato Sack Technique

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Casey

Questions? Comments? You know what to do. :)

Posted in Tai Chi Lessons | 3 Comments

DDJ #1 – The Way That Becomes A Way…

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Casey

…is not the Immortal Way.

I was going to do this project where I posted my own commentary on each passage of the Daodejing every Friday. Then I had an experience that made me not want to do it… TOO LATE! I had already told my senior student about the idea and he wants to see it happen. So here it is… happening. :)

If you follow the link above it will take you to the first post on this website which happened to be the first passage of the Daodejing. He it is again (Red Pine‘s translation):

The way that becomes a way
is not the Immortal Way
the name that becomes a name
is not the Immortal Name
the maiden of Heaven and Earth has no name
the mother of all things has a name
thus in innocence we see the beginning
in passion we see the end
two different names
for one and the same
the one we call dark
the dark beyond dark
the door to all beginnings

Casey’s Commentary

There’s only one way. Your way. My way. Trying to make your way my way. Trying to make my way your way. The beginning and end are the same. There is no beginning, there is no end.

Couple More Thoughts

My cryptic commentary is a one of the reasons why I didn’t want to move forward with the project. Last week I wrote a detailed analysis of the second passage. The next day I had an experience that made me not want to say anything else about this stuff! lol I’ll edit and post what I wrote last week, but the following commentaries will be short.

Also, something I’ve realized is that the Daodejing is a sacred text for being virtuous. (Dao = Way = How to, De = Virtue, Jing = Sacred text.)

Posted in Tao Te Ching | 1 Comment

The First Video Lesson

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Casey

I’m really not sure what to title this! lol I’ll just add that it’s good to let someone push you around and practice being relax about getting pushed (instead of getting all stiff). I’m sure these lessons will get better with time. Watch the video and if you have questions we’ll do our best to answer them! Otherwise you’re getting something “random” next week. :)

Posted in Tai Chi, Tai Chi Lessons | 2 Comments

A Story About Me, Martial Arts And Marketing

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Casey

I’ve been obsessed with martial arts for as long as I can remember. My first idol was Mr. Miyagi (the old master from Karate Kid). I remember seeing that movie and making a personal vow to myself that I was going to grow up to be Mr. Miyagi. I later graduated to idolizing Jackie Chan (because of movies like Fearless Hyena and Drunken Master). I eventually decided that I thought Huangxingxian‘s tai chi was the “best of the best”, so I decided to seek out two students I perceived as having reaped the most knowledge from him, Master Wang and Patrick Kelly. (It’s interesting to note that Jackie Chan eventually played Mr. Miyagi in the new karate kid. :) )

This is a process that started when I Continue reading →

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ICMAC Chicago Tai Chi Push Hands Tournament Recap

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Casey


Looks at this! Blog posts for 2 weeks in a row! We’re on a roll. :) Looks like it’s going to work out well having Shane in charge of the videos and me in charge of the blog posts.

My First Experience Judging

This was only my second experience with an ICMAC tournament and I experienced it as a judge. I was worried about the rules for push hands kind of sucking but… they’re not so bad. What’s just as, if not more, important as the rules is the head judge. It’s up to him/her to set the pace and tone of the matches.

The acting head judge for most of the matches at this event was Continue reading →

Posted in Push Hands, Tournaments | Leave a comment

New Intro, Weekly Videos And Updates

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Casey

My senior student (and roommate and best buddy) Shane has been harassing about doing regular posts to the website. Looks like it’s finally going to be a reality! We’ve decided to split up the work (him doing the videos, me doing the blog posts).

I’ll let today’s video speak for itself. What we’ll do is create videos and content based on the interactions we get on the blog, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

So comment! (Somewhere :) )

Posted in Class Update | 2 Comments

A Discussion Forum Focused On Push Hands

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Casey

My original tai chi teacher was in town from Taiwan for 2 weeks and before he left he said I should setup a discussion forum for push hands. I didn’t have to think about it very long before I thought it was a good idea as well.

Here it is!

The forum is open to any and everyone. There are more than enough forums out there that discuss tai chi, various martial arts, internal vs. external, etc. I don’t think there are any that focus primarily on push hands. Now there is one. :) I also made a introduction video because… I think it makes it feel a little more human when you can see the face and hear the voice behind the person who sets something up.

See you on the forums!

Posted in Push Hands | Leave a comment

An Open To Everyone Push Hands Group

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Casey

This is just a quick announcement. I’m starting a weekly push hands group open to everyone of any skill level from any school or martial arts background. The goal is to get a day once a week where I can take my instructor’s hat off and just push and get pushed (although I’ll gladly teach a newbie the basics).

I also want to get a list of all of the different push hands groups that meet each month so I can post them to the website (and attend! :D ) I know the T’ai Chi Ch’uan Center of Milwaukee does their push hands sessoins from 7-9PM on Sundays, so I might start an hour earlier in the future to accommodate anyone from that crew that’d like to stop by.

Here are the details:
Sundays, 6-8PM (or so) at Back Bay Park
2100 N. Terrace Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Call me with questions 414-455-0683


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Posted in Milwaukee, Push Hands | Leave a comment