The View From Space

Happy Chinese New Year to all!
According to the Chinese Zodiac it is the year of the Dragon. More specifically the Water Dragon.  (It is interesting to note that the true Chinese Zodiac is based on a 60 year cycle (12 animals x 5 elements) rather than the 12 year cycle typically celebrated here in the west)

Dragons in general are said to be passionate and driven.  A leader.

The water element is said to calm the dragon’s fire and promote a more balanced personality, one that can see other points of view.

Great qualities for a future leader.

Been listening to / watching those Kaiser Permanente commercials about finding your motivation and figuring out what type of exercise best suits you. While hilarious, they also ring true to me.

After being on and off with my martial arts training throughout the years I can relate to the lady in the commercial as she tries various forms of exercise. Having earlier trained in Kenpo Karate, Choy Li Fut and Hung Gar, I now spend my lunch breaks practicing Chen Taijiquan. Like running and high impact exercises, the earlier styles I practiced were external and extremely hard on my body. And, similar to the lady in the commercial, I couldn’t keep up and soon lost interest (I too passed on pole dancing).
Finding Taijiquan was a blessing (as my aging body will wholeheartedly attest to). The movements may look slow and gentle but they belie the inner strength and martial skill behind it. As an added benefit, numerous studies have shown that performing Taijiquan (or Tai Chi for you westerners out there), provides a myriad of health benefits, from arthritic pain relief to overall physical fitness and increased balance in the aged.

And as an exercise for both my brain as well as my body, I’ll be documenting my Taijiquan journey here on my blog.  Hopefully you’ll be able to join me (even if only vicariously).

The Chinese New Year brings about a chance for one to start anew with many things in their life.
To help folks start improving their health, my Sihing (Older martial arts brother) has started a new Qigong school in Pearl City.

The school is called Hawaii Wild Goose Qigong and Kung Fu Association.  It’s associated with the Tse Qigong Centre (run by our Sifu, based in England).

Also check out the article on the school at K5 The Home Team and the associated video