Dear Sifu, Julie, and Margo,
I just received my copy of Harmony in Motion and am blown away. It’s brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed.
I am honored to have been part of it and happy to add it to my collection of Taiji books as testimony to this great art, to our deep lineage, to the breadth of students whose lives have been changed, and to you, Sir, our amazing teacher.
Love you all.
Rondi
Thank You Rondi, for All you do for Taiji! ~ Ray
 |
| World Taiji Day, 2025. |
“Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors.”
~Ernest Hemingway
Blessed May! I forgot the April newsletter, but I’ll make it
up to you with this weather! I think we’ll be going outside for classes soon,
and I’ll reach out and give notice when we do.
Our schedule stays the same until we go outside. Don’t
worry, we’ll keep working on the vertical methods!
Monthly Zoom Pushing Hands class, Monday, May 19th.
I ‘ll send out the invite closer to the date.
 |
| Striking Heaven, Piercing earth, from Bagua 8 Inner Palms. |
I’ll be back to filming and creating content this month. My
Pushing Hands book has taken my time and attention, but now I can get back to filming
and writing. I have an idea for some more vlogs, and I have some Taiji classics
to talk about and show. Stay tuned!
Book suggestion- Taoist Mysteries and Magic by John
Blofeld
Brennan Translation- https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/the-taiji-classics/
Thank you all for your support and appreciation for Taiji
and my teachers!
-Sifu Ray
“The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge.”
~ Aristotle
Contact info
my
phone- 1-218-341-9894
email=
skrayhayward@gmail.com
my
Patreon page= patreon.com/rayhayward
blog=
rayhayward.com
website=
mindfulmotiontaichi.com
facebook=
Mindful Motion Tai-Chi Academy
Ray Hayward Enterprises
YouTube=
Ray Hayward, the Inspired Teacher
Mindful Motion Tai-Chi
Academy
Twitter-
Ray Hayward 1988
my
books at Lulu= lulu.com/spotlight/Ray_Hayward
my
books on Amazon= amazon.com/author/rayhayward
Instagram=
Ray Hayward, or, ataoistsufitemplardruidviking
School
shirts-
https://www.zazzle.com/single_whip_chakra_tee-235016484610969225
My
address,
5140
W. 102nd St
#307
Bloomington,
MN
55437
#rayhayward#taiji#taijiquan#taichichuan#bagua#xingyi#sword#qigong#yichuan#wudangsword#qinna#standingmeditation#taoistmeditation#taoistlove#semenretention#masterttliang#wailunchoi#mindfulmotiontaichiacademy#rayhaywardtheinspiredteacher#rayhaywardblog#sanshou#prayingmantis#karambit##pushinghands#fajing#imsak#rosslynchapel#druidry#lulubooksrayhaywardauthor#patreonrayhaywardtheinspiredteacher
I write this review as one of Sifu Hayward’s devoted
and grateful
students, so a certain bias should be expected. The
new book,
Harmony in Motion, is a retrospective of a forty year
career of Ray
Hayward teaching Tai Chi Chuan. Forty years is a full
career in most
professions, though to my knowledge he intends to
continue. This
represents a milestone of one teacher in the eternal
process of learning,
developing and passing on skills to a new generation,
as has been done
since time immemorial. The acquisition of these skills
has always
required a huge amount of time and dedication. As
modernity has
advanced the number of people who can teach these
skills has shrunk
with each generation. Sifu Hayward is one of the few
from the second
half of the 20th Century who have learned those
skills from the previous
generation. He has diligently taught the willing to
produce another
generation.
The bulk of the book consist of essays by his
disciples That represent
the Seventh generation of Yang style Tai Chi Chuan. In
it they describe
their experience of both his depth and extraordinary
quality of teaching,
and that his character and kindness is on par with his
skill. His teaching
has been transformative for many more people whose
voices appear in
the book. The book itself is the product and
inspiration of several of his
disciples who urged the creation of the book and did a
very large
amount of the actual work. As such, it is largely a
testimonial of his
students in honor of their Teacher.
About a third of the book is Sifu Hayward’s comments
and a summary of
his system of teaching the skill of pushing hands. One
of Sifu
Hayward’s many skills is the rare ability to both
perform at a high level
and teach clearly to those who do not have the skill.
His section on
push hands is itself remarkable. It does not reveal
unknown practices,
but does present those skills in an organized
progression. His method is
teach these skills into five progressive stages so
that the drills are
learned in a comprehensive and comprehensible fashion.
I am
unaware of anyone who has laid out push hands training
in this sort of
clear format. This alone may be worth the price of the
book for many
serious students of Tai Chi Chuan.
https://www.lulu.com/shop/margo-bock-and-ray-hayward-and-julie-cisler/harmony-in-motion/paperback/product-84k78q9.html?srsltid=AfmBOoounZPT_AwT3JxUaSRp6Eao1QKh4RSMpeleHN2D5-YiLG7Yklc0&page=1&pageSize=4
