Tuesday, July 11, 2023

MMTCA July Newsletter 2023

 

Master Wu Tu-nan 

“Be aware of over-training. Anything done in harmony with the law of nature is liable to bring you good results, and aging s a natural law. Don’t take yourself as young when you are already old, or becoming old. In my own case, I used to train not less than three hours a day when I was a youth. The whole program was strenuous: stances, kicks, stretches, doing Tai-Chi under a table. Then I trained two hours a day ibn my middle age. After sixty, about one-and-a-half hours. Over seventy: one hour. Over eighty: less than an hour. Over ninety: about thirty minutes. Now I only do about fifteen minutes  early every morning and sometimes another fifteen minutes before going to bed and I have kept myself all the time fit and healthy.”

-Wu Tu-nan, at age 108

 

July class schedule remains the same as last month. Monthly zoom Pushing-Hands will be Monday July 17th. We'll review the 15 Minute Pushing-Hands Workout and dive into 10 Long Power Techniques.


Tuesdays 6-8PM=St Sahag backyard

Wednesdays 630-730PM=zoom

Thursdays 6-8PM= East River Flats Park

Saturdays 900-1100AM= East River Flats Park

One Monday a month Pushing-Hands = zoom

(St Sahag dance studio is our rainy-day or bad weather option.)

 

 


I attended the Master Paul Gallagher Celebration of Life Ceremony in Massachusetts last month. A beautiful venue with lots of stories, photos, remembrances, and a few tears. Rest in the Tao my dear Brother...

 

Master Paul Gallagher, The Monkey King, 1944-2023.




I’m beginning a monthly Pa-Kua lesson on YouTube and Patreon covering the 8 Palm Changes from Yin Fu. I’m including application ideas and a two-person sensitivity to go with each Palm Change lesson.

 

Dr. Leung Kay-chi, Pa-Kua, 1979.


Check out my guest blogger this month, Sifu Mike Cain. Mike gives a remembrance and insight about Paul Gallagher that I know you will love!

http://www.rayhayward.com/2023/07/guest-blogger-sifu-mike-cain.html

 

I taught a seminar while I was out in Massachusetts last month and took two classes with Sifu J Richard Roy. I also had many great conversations and insights from so many long-time practitioners. Here are three lessons I’d like to share with you:

 

1.       From Sifu Richard. “Instead of focusing on the leg that the weight is being shifted or transferred to, the substantial leg, focus on the leg that is becoming soft. Feel that leg release or take a rest. The outside will look the same, but the inside will feel different.” I felt this profoundly! Thank you, Richard!

2.       From a conversation with Sensei Jeff on the action in the feet being on the toe or heel. We looked at heels for power and rooting, and balls of feet for mobility and movement. Jeff noticed that in many places, if the focus was on the ball of one foot, the other foot’s focus would be on the heel. Teaching Tai-Chi Spear with the follow-steps, I saw clearly the pushing off the back foot with the heel being the last part of the spring, and the front heel landing first! And the reverse was true for going backward. I’m now looking at my heel/toe relationship more closely. Thank you, Jeff!

3.       I taught some inner working of the Taiji qigong, also known as the “21.”  I asked why it’s called the 21 because there are more than 21 breaths and movements. One of Paul Gallagher’s old-time students and advanced practitioners, Rob Zilin, gave me the answer. Rob brought in a copy of the qi-gong from Chen Yen-lin’s book, and it had…21 illustrations! Thank you, Rob!

 

 

With Sifu Richard Roy in Massachusetts, 2023.

Book suggestion- Get Off Your But by Sean Stephenson

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6438949-get-off-your-but

 

 

Paul Brennen translation- From Master Choi’s Taiji lineage:

https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2016/05/04/the-taiji-manual-of-yao-fuchun-jiang-rongqiao/

 

Enjoy your outdoor practice!

-Sifu Ray

 

“Never believe a prediction that does not empower you.”

-Sean Stephenson

 

Contact info

my phone- 1-218-341-9894

 

email= skrayhayward@gmail.com

 

blog= rayhayward.com

 

website=  mindfulmotiontaichi.com

 

facebook= Mindful Motion Tai-Chi Academy

 

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Business address,

P. O. Box 28295

Oakdale, MN 55128

 

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