Adversity can make or
break us.
If we do not learn from adverse conditions we will be broken.
(I Ching)
Less than perfect
Most adults
do not have perfect health.
Invariably they suffer from poor sleep, stress, fatigue and various other
ailments.
Often, they are overweight and may experience varying degrees of
depression.
Tai chi is not the solution. It will not serve as a
cure-all. To imagine this to be the case is naive.
What tai chi offers is a way in which to work with what you have and
improve your situation considerably.
It helps you to reconsider how you live, and your relationship with the world
around you.
The tai chi enables you to
cope.
To live a good quality of life despite
hereditary illnesses or accidents you may experience through living.
How you live
One of the most important factors concerning health is the question of what
you choose to do about it.
Many people simply give in and get worse and worse. Others do what they can to
improve their quality of life.
Maybe you cannot fix things. But you might make life a little more bearable.
Here are some possible things to consider:
Diet
- vegetarian diet
- no caffeine
- no nicotine
- no alcohol
- no drugs
- avoid additives, colourings, preservatives, sugar and fat
Exercise
- tai chi
- neigong
- qigong
- massage
- constructive rest
- psoas exercises
- cycling
- yoga
- walking
- pilates
Awareness
- alexander technique
- meditation
Study
- tai chi, tao, zen, physiology, psychology, philosophy, martial
theory
- alternative health
- nature
- tao/zen-inspired arts and craft
Living with imperfection
A broken
egg cannot be sellotaped back together again.
When your body has been damaged, diseased or injured, it may never fully
recover.
You may never experience perfect health again.
Whether you have suffered a specific illness or simply poor usage/'wear and
tear', you may not have perfect health.
This is quite normal and part of the process of living.
Our culture entertains some mad notion that we can be forever young, and the
world is filled with
aging adults who dye their hair, work out and
dress young in the hope of recapturing youth.
This is simply naive.
Martial arts and aging
Think of the martial arts...
A 20 year old can usually cope with the demands of
kickboxing or Thai Boxing, they can handle the
throws or aikido or ju jitsu.
But should a 40 year old adult start these arts? It is questionable.
Karate people regularly damage their spines and their knees. Punching and
kicking thin air creates joint damage and they hold an incredible amount of
residual tension in their bodies.
How often do you hear of wing chun being a brilliant form of exercise for
health? Never.
The only art that is ever considered by doctors and medical researchers is
tai chi.
It is milder on the body than yoga, and far more functional than pilates.
Tai chi people seldom suffer the injuries experienced by external martial
artists, and when they do, it is usually because they are performing the art
improperly.
An imperfect world
Rather than trying to be
Bruce Lee, you can be the best that you can
be.
You can be you.
Rather than seeking to look like a 18 year old, you can look like a
healthy 50 year old.
We live and we age and we die. This is an inevitable process and cannot be
changed. It is the
way of things.
What we can and do have a choice about is how we live our lives.
Are you lazy and indifferent?
Do you expect to be spoon-fed?
Can you find the motivation to realise your dreams?
Is regret a problem for you?
Do you spend a lot of time feeling sorry for yourself?
Will you find an excuse not to do something rather than put yourself out in
order to accomplish it?
Making the best of it
Some of our students drive 70 miles every week to attend an evening class.
Others cannot be bothered travelling within the same locale on a regular basis.
No matter what your health, you should aim to make the best of your life.
Maybe you won't run a marathon, cure cancer, become the next Yang Lu-chan, but
then who cares?
Nobody is
perfect.
You only have a brief time on Earth... why not enjoy it?
Why not make the best of what you have?
Your life in many ways is what you have made of it. No lies. No excuses.
Page created 25 February 2001