Body Balance Academy will be closed Dec 24 & 25

Enjoy your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Body Balance classes will take place 

on the regular schedule 

for the rest of the week.

New Year's Eve December 31 Tai Chi - just one class at 11am

There will be a special holiday Tai Chi class

on New Year's Eve Day.

The 9am and 4pm classes are cancelled.

Shih Fu Eileen will lead the 11 am class.

All Tai Chi and Qigong students at all levels are welcome 

to this special class.

Enter the Space Between Breaths

Become aware of the movement of the breath.
Without trying to change it in any way,
Watch the breath come in.
Just before the in-breath turns into the out-breath, notice the
small gap.
Then watch the breath go all the way out.
Just before the in-breath,
There is another small gap between the breaths.
Pay attention to these gaps.
Be present in the gap,
and present as the gap.
In this way, you will discover the true nature of silence;
You will know infinity;
You will become the source of all life.

--Arjuna Ardagh, "Leap Before You Look: 72 shortcuts for getting out of your mind and into the moment"

Tai Chi with Tea Saturday December 8, 10am

Our only regular practice and training that is open to the public.

Join us the second Saturday of each month.

Move your chi with ancient Qigong set known as the Ba Duan Jin.

Watch the moving meditation of the Yang Style Long Form Tai Chi.

Enjoy high mountain tea from China.

Learn more about Body Balance Academy.

Kung Fu Performance and Promotion Dec 7 6pm

A benefit

for the 2013 International Kung Fu Tournament in Baltimore.

100% of proceeds for our competition team.

Invite Friends and Family to this Exciting Event.

Only $7 at the door.

Beach Retreat in Costa Rica

Retreat, Rejuvenate and Enhance your practice

with an intensive training

at

Blue Spirit Retreat Center

March 23-30, 2013

For more information contact Summer

Register now to reserve your choice accommodations.

Family Discounts are available.

Children 12 and under are half price!

Body Balance Academy At the Beach

 Come experience the ancient wisdom of Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Kung Fu  as  an intensive  training with Shih Fu Eileen Hancock.  Harmonize the internal and external body with traditional practices for self healing, cultivation and self defense. Heighten your awareness and fully embody your potential as you receive the profound, unique and reserved teachings of martial arts. 

Throughout your retreat there will be time to explore the surrounding area. You will have the opportunity to cross train in various activities, if you choose, such as Yoga, swimming, stand up paddle boarding, surfing, scuba diving and more as you integrate the secrets for lifelong health.

BLUE SPIRIT COSTA RICA

Blue Spirit is a retreat center located in Nosara, on the Northern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Blue Spirit sits atop of a hillside overlooking a three-mile-long white sand beach along the Pacific Ocean. Guiones beach is home to a turtle refuge, which preserves the flora and fauna along the entire length; building is not permitted. The north and mid sections of Guiones beach offer great surfing to beginners and advanced alike. Blue Spirit is located at the quiet South end of the beach, where swimming is easy, thanks to the gentle current. The 700 foot walk (220 meters) from Blue Spirit to the beach transverses lush grounds full of mango trees and coconut palms.

Our purpose is to provide full retreat facilities with high quality accommodations. Providing  beautiful spaces for workshops, movement, yoga, meditation, personal trans- formation, and holistic health. Each year world-renowned teachers choose this beachfront facility for their retreats and programs – allowing the pristine nature, the subtropical climate, the healing energy of the land, and Blue Spirit’s dedicated staff to provide a deeply nurturing setting. The gourmet vegetarian cuisine (fish optional), holistic Spa & Longevity services, elegant classrooms, graceful accommodations, and diverse excursions, can cater to all ages and taste.

We would be delighted to host you on this retreat, and to assist you in making it an unforgettable experience! 

Holiday Class Schedule Nov 2012 - January 2013

Body Balance Academy will be closed on:

November 22 and 23

December  24 and 25

January 1

There will be No Kung Fu class New Year's Eve Day December 31.

Stay tuned for news of a combined Tai Chi class on December 31.
This will most likely be an 11:00am class that is open to all levels.

Riding the Wave of Tai Chi

"Surfing brings us right up against this Spirit and, when we get it right, when we open our minds, when all the elements come together and we merge with the sea, a door opens and for a few moments we enter God’s home and are one with that great flow of Consciousness. It is then we burst open to something bigger and more expansive, that our deepest desire is satisfied. We stop the search and settle into pure being. We feel peace, rather than anxiety. It is when we tap into this place that the money, time and efforts we spent to go surfing truly pay off." 

"It took myself almost 15 years of dedicated practice before I was able to reconnect to the essence of what I had experienced in my time spent surfing in the ocean. This came through the practice of a unique system of tai chi, which I came upon in China and have been studying ever since. The system is based on the study of nature with the main emphasis being on the way energy and gravity move through the water, manifesting into waves and whirlpools, rising and falling, concentrating and expanding; a constant natural recycling process, nature at work.

This is the true essence of tai chi, and one of which we are all part of from birth to death. Every moment of your lives, you are constantly flowing, changing, and transforming.

This understanding underpins the tai chi system. Asking you to transform yourself into a water type quality, dissolving all the tight contracted areas of the body using wave type motions until a sense of the contracted linear-self has disappeared and is replaced by an expansive flowing, changing, non-linear self, which merges with the outside energetic and natural environment." 

Read more of this post from two tai chi and yoga practitioners who find common ground in the experience of riding waves.

http://www.transformyogaandtaichi.co.uk/surfing_and_waves.html

Tao-Te King, Chapter 49

The adept has no heart of her own.
She makes the heart of the people her own.

To the good ones I am good.
To the no-good ones I am good, too.
Because life is goodness.

To the faithful ones I am faithful.
To the unfaithful ones I am faithful, too.
Because life is faith.

The adept lives in the world in stillness
and opens her heart for the world.
People watch her and listen to her.
And she treats them all with cheerful kindness.

Tao-Te King
Guidance from the Eternal
-translation by Matthias Schossig

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

Rick Hanson, author of Buddha's Brain (one of Shih Fu Eileen's recommended readings) is hosting a free 7-part video series called "The Compassionate Brain" with extraordinary guests that will talk about effective ways to change your brain and heart and life.

Beginning Monday, October 8, 2012, on seven Monday nights, 5-6 pm Pacific time, Hanson will interview a world-class scholar/teacher (in order):

Richie Davidson,
Dan Siegel,
Tara Brach,
Dacher Keltner,
Kelly McGonigal,
Kristin Neff, and
Jean Houston.

Each week, they'll discuss different ways to use the power of neuro-plasticity - how the mind can change the brain to transform the mind - to open the heart, build courage, find compassion, forgive oneself and others, speak and act from both kindness and strength, and heal the world.

You can watch live or see the archived videos if you miss a session. These unique conversations with first-rate experts are freely offered - along with their  practical tools for cooperation, empathy, and kindness. 

It's interesting, solid, practical, convenient, and free.

Here's a link to the series:
http://live.soundstrue.com/compassionatebrain 
and a brief video of Rick talking about the series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyrnZMsVslM&feature=youtu.be

Kung Fu and Tai Chi Performance & Promotion - Friday Sept 21 6pm

September 21st at 6:00pm
Live Music, Food and beverages
$7 at the door
Invite friends and family to this exciting event!
A Fundraiser for the 2013 International Kung Fu tournament in Baltimore 

100% of proceeds go for our competition team

The Art and Spirit of Push Hands

Enjoy this excerpt of a longer article by Marilyn Cooper at Pushing For Peace :

T’ai Chi forms adhere to the laws of physics and human nature. The postures are relaxed, stable, and connected to earth, freeing up the mind and nerves to sense and experience force. Over time and with experience, the T’ai Chi devotee is able to feel increasingly subtle levels of energy, thought and force.

Very deliberately, the mind moves the body in space while energy moves within the body frame. The slow pace gives the mind’s eye time to synchronize many small details, from the top of the head to the bottoms of the feet. Inner strength and awareness is developed slowly but surely – and safely.

“True life is lived when tiny changes occur.” (Leo Tolstoy)

Push Hands has various structured drills that stimulate internal energy and can evolve into spontaneous style or natural boxing. Players learn how to relax and lower their center of gravity, to meet hard (Yang) with soft (Yin), and to image an opponent during solo form practice. When based on the actual experience of doing forms with a training partner, imagination and memory are both engaged.

The more receptive and relaxed you are, the more you move with the force being delivered, and the harder it is for your partner to find your center. This is because you are responding to her or his searching rather than initiating. Push Hands helps you to become more centered and relaxed, one who stays calm, aware and patient, no matter how great the stress.

T’ai Chi develops sensitivity; the ability to listen to energy. Listening energy trains the ability to feel force as it materializes, which is the first step towards being able to neutralize that force. Before it is fully realized, by sticking (constant adhering) to the ground-swell, force can be received within ones frame and effortlessly recycled back at the giver of that force.

The mind should be empty and the body in a state of non-rigid readiness. This is no different from most sports — except that the poised, aware state is the entire modus operandi of T’ai Chi and Push Hands. A lapse in awareness, a moment of distraction will be felt by the more alert player, and is an opportunity for a gentle push, pull or combination of the two.

Doctor calls Tai Chi "Medication" in Motion

George Harrison's "The Inner Light"

THE INNER LIGHT

Without going out of my door,
I can know all things on earth
without looking out of my window,
I can know the ways of heaven.

The farther one travels
the less one knows
the less one really knows.

Without going out of your door,
You can know all things on earth
without looking out of your window,
you can know the ways of heaven.

The farther one travels
the less one knows
the less one really knows.

Arrive without travelling,
See all without looking,
Do all without doing.

Fire is the element of summer

Fire

What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.

So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between,
as much as to the wood.

When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how
it is fuel, and absense of the fuel
together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it want to
burn
can find its way.

-Judy Brown

The universe is a vast net of energy rays

Fifty-Seven

The universe is a vast net of energy rays.
The primary ray is that which emanates from the
     Subtle Origin, and it is entirely positive, creative,
     and constructive.
Each being, however, converts the energy of this
     primary ray into its own ray, and these lower rays
     can be either positive or negative, constructive or
     destructive.

An individual who is not yet fully evolved can be
     adversely affected by negative energy rays in the net
     around him.
For example, the combined influence of several
     negative rays might cause an undeveloped person to
     believe that his life is being controlled by an
     invisible, oppressive ruler.
Such a misconception can be a significant barrier to
     enlightenment.

To attain full evolution and the status of an integral
     being, you must be aware of this intricate net and
     its influences upon you.
By integrating the positive, harmonious energy rays
     with the positive elements of your own being, and
     eliminating the subtle negative influences, you can
     enhance all aspects of your life.

In order to eliminate the negative influences, simply
     ignore them.
To integrate the positive influences, consciously
     reconnect yourself with the primary energy ray of
     the Subtle Origin by adopting the practices of the
     Integral Way.
Then all the rays in the net around you will merge
     back into harmonious oneness.

Recommended Summer Reading: The Healing Promise of Qi

The Healing Promise of Qi: Creating Extraordinary Wellness Through Qigong and Tai Chi
by Roger Jahnke, O.M.D

Here is an excerpt.

"Ancient Qi masters developed a formula for health and longevity based on the Qi:

Inner Harmony = Qi Flow = Health and Longevity

This formula is the foundation of all Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and herbal medicine. Concepts in Western science such as coherence, resonance, and integrated body/mind function are parallel to the concept of harmony in China. In the West science points to numerous forms of flow including blood, lymph, brain chemical distribution, nerve transmission and the movements of ions.
When they added the capacity to purposefully cultivate inner harmony through personal practices the ancients created this formula:

Practice + Intention = Inner Harmony = Qi Flow = Health and Longevity 

Exploring Qi and Qigong is like opening a marvelous Chinese puzzle box--boxes within boxes, secrets within secrets. Think of yourself as having just reached a gateway where, only a moment ago, no gate was visible. According Chinese tradition, if you open this gate and enter the realm of Qigong--with sincerity--a multitude of practical benefits will be yours."

Kung Fu Leadership Team Enhances Their Chi

Here's what chi looks like after whitewater rafting!  The Kung Fu Leadership Team paddled The Gorge on the South Fork American River on Friday the 13th of July. (Yes, Friday the 13th! We aren't superstitious.)

What a team!  What good captains--Shih Fu Catherine (on far right) and Shana Maziarz (second from left).  And Shih Fu Eileen solo paddled an inflatable kayak. She now has a river story to tell about swimming Lost Hat Rapids and Satan's Cesspool.

"I'd paddle with the Kung Fu Team anytime!" says Shih Fu Catherine.

How to Stay Cool

"The summer is associated with the Fire element in the Chinese system. The organs ruled by this element are the heart and small intestine as well as the functions of circulation and heating in the body.

Diet and exercise are very important to keeping the Fire element strong. Proper nutrition is vital to maintaining a healthy heart and for providing fuel and heat for the body.  So our diet could be changed by eliminating refined foods, tea, coffee, alcohol and tobacco, and by cutting down on animal fats...

Summer is the time to recharge those internal batteries with solar power. Keep the Fire balanced with Water inside and out, and keep the body loose, getting good exercise. It is a time for growth and coming forth."
--Elson M Haas, MD "Staying Healthy with the Seasons"

Practice Independently on July 4th

There will be no classes on Wednesday, July 4th.
Classes resume on Thursday, July 5th.

Tai Chi increases brain size, benefits cognition

Scientists from the University of South Florida and Fudan University in Shanghai found increases in brain volume and improvements on tests of memory and thinking in Chinese seniors who practiced Tai Chi three times a week, reports an article published today (June 19, 2012) in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.


This was the first trial to show that Tai Chi plus stimulating discussion led to increases in brain volume and improvements on psychological tests of memory and thinking.

Previous trials have shown increases due to more aerobic types of exercise. The group that did not participate in the interventions showed brain shrinkage over the same time period, consistent with what generally has been observed for persons in their 60s and 70s.

"The ability to reverse this trend with physical exercise and increased mental activity implies that it may be possible to delay the onset of dementia in older persons through interventions that have many physical and mental health benefits," said lead author Dr. James Mortimer, professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida College of Public Health.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-tai-chi-brain-size-benefits.html

Where will you take your Tai Chi this summer?

Tai Chi blending with the energy on Waimanalo beach, Oahu. 

David Parry-Jones

Tai Chi Happy Hour - Fridays @ 4pm - Body Balance Studio

Got chi? Come on over to Body Balance Academy every Friday from 4-5pm for open practice.  It's not a class. It's time for all students at all levels to come practice their forms in our beautiful Bamboo Studio. Enjoy the flow, whether you are learning fundamentals, Yang Long Form, Straight Sword, Ba Gua or Xing Yi.  The doors will be open. See you there.

Dancing in the chair - Dr. Zibin Guo's Wheelchair Tai Chi Chuan

Applied Taiji is the name for the modern application of the ancient principles of Tai Chi. Dr. Zibin Guo developed this seated Tai Chi form for people who use wheelchairs or who cannot stand for the duration of the form for any reason.  Think of it as a way to continue to gain the benefits of practice during illness or injury (as I learned so well over the past year after I broke my left ankle).

Wheelchair Tai Ji was demonstrated at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Here are photos from the Applied Taiji website.

Here's a video of the 13 posture Applied Taiji form.

Now you don't have to imagine how the ancient principles may be available to all, whether seated or standing.

If you want to study further, this page  includes information on using Tai Chi to reduce pain. It has a chart that describes the muscles involved in back and neck pain compared to the muscles used in several Tai Chi forms. You'll see how and why the relaxation of Tai Chi can work to rehabilitate these muscles.

Tai Chi Benefits to Parkinson's Patient

Early Monday evenings, when other folks are rushing home from work, a group of 10 men and women who are in their 50s or 60s quietly learning the art of tai chi.

At St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Ill., Ron Taylor takes his spot in the front row, right next to his instructor Yi Karpen. He moves slowly and deliberately, just like all of his classmates. Yet in his eyes, a look of quiet determination shows he’s here for a serious reason.

Taylor isn’t taking tai chi only for the benefits of relaxation — he’s in the class because he is doing his best to beat Parkinson’s disease. While reading one of his Parkinson’s publications, he found an article touting the benefits of tai chi. Right away, he decided to try it out.

Taylor, who lives in Pleasant Plains, Ill., is dealing not only with Parkinson’s but also a crushed vertebrae and neurological problems with his left leg.

Read the full story here.

Jean Kono Black Sash Celebration

Wow! If you missed Jean Kono's Black Sash performances Friday May 4th at Body Balance Academy, you missed multiple and repeated demonstrations of his power, grace, internal and external strength, speed and talent. The Double Broad Sword and Broad Sword Vs. Open Hand were my favorites.

Every one of the Kung Fu demonstrations was stellar from the kicking Kung Fu Kids to the white sash forms all the way to the brown sashes and black tips. Stay tuned for photos from the event.

Thanks very much to the parents, family and friends of Body Balance students who support and encourage us to pursue our practice.

Xie xie to Summer Lujan for producing the event.

And finally, much gratitude to Shih Fu Eileen Hancock for creating this amazing community of Tai Chi and Kung Fu practitioners and holding up the Tien Shan Pai Kung Fu traditions.

Tai Chi Practice: "Doing Wrong" by Matthias Schossig

Thanks to Matthias for addressing the fear expressed to me by several students that they might somehow practice "wrong" at home. Read more tips about practice from David Parry-Jones. --Catherine

As to the question of your student, what one can do wrong, I have a few thoughts based on my own experience.

First of all, the student who asks this question already knows the answer, or else she/he would not have asked it. She probably just needs a confirmation. I am not sure if my thoughts will provide that confirmation.

I have learned from my study of music with Christiaan Boele, my singing teacher, and Bill Douglass, with whom I have studied the bass, that there is no such thing as a "wrong" note. The alternative is not wrong and right, it is conscious or unconscious, aware or unaware. If I practice Tai Chi or Chi Gong, I work with my whole body, with my external and internal senses (hopefully) turned on and not too much distracted by my thoughts. We are in the fortunate position at Body Balance to have teachers who are demonstrating and teaching very clear and consistent forms in various disciplines. Each and every student who is exposed on any level of instruction at Body Balance will learn in their own way, regardless what age or shape we are in. Lao Tzu says "The adept works for the internal body and not for the eye." Although there is something like an "objective form", towards which we strive in our practice, each one of us takes their own path and will approach and manifest the form in a different way. "The Lotus has a Thousand Flowers", and each one is different. None is rejected. So, my short answer is: No, you cannot practice wrong. The main thing is to turn on your internal senses, follow the flow of breath and chi in your body, take the suggestions and corrections your teacher is offering to heart and enjoy what the approach of your body to the form is doing for you.

Practice Poem for Shih Fu by Catherine Stifter

When you do this,
you align the three centers.
When you do that,
the three centers align.
Doing this or that,
the san jiao
becomes aligned.

In the beginning
do this.
To continue on the path
do that.

As breath enters the body,
expand.
As breath leaves the body,
contract.
Expanding and contracting
open the door.
Inhaling and exhaling
clear the way.

Practice is simple:
return to the source.
Inhale this.
Exhale that.
Over and over
again.

-1.28.11 

Tai Chi Practice Tips from David Parry-Jones

Thanks to PJ for these great ideas about practice. Read more about practice from Matthias Schossig.  Let me know if you'd like to contribute! --Catherine

Practice - Am I doing it wrong?
Practice at home is like practice at the studio when Shifu is working with someone else, or not watching you :) You are working towards a visual/mental ideal you have formed based on your instruction. You know that you are not quite achieving the goal, but you are trying and getting closer all the time. You can achieve that goal sooner if you augment your class learning with home practice.

Practice
To me the term practice means doing an activity to achieve an improvement. Therefore practicing Tai Chi is slightly different from doing Tai Chi - although you obviously learn each time you "do" Tai Chi - practicing implies a specific focus on certain areas to achieve technical or mental "perfection."

My practice thoughts:

• Practice daily, if possible, and at a time where you can be mentally and physically focused. Privacy is good also.
• Have a specific practice goal for that day/time: complete a specific part of the form you have just been shown; improve execution of a move/form; achieve an even flow of  movements; breathing, relaxation, etc.
• Make sure you are relaxed: do some Qi Gong to enhance your focus and relaxation.
• Practice the fundamental "drills" frequently in your practice - slow them way-down, looking for  fluid movements and a gradual weight shift.
• Break difficult moves down into smaller parts:
• Go over the starting and ending positions and the sequence of events between the two. Reviewing/understanding the elements of the move (block, strike etc) will help you "find" the interim positions
• Section 3 example: practice bending down and gathering and shifting weight to one foot utwitho performing the kick.
• Just do waist and arm movements without steps until you feel comfortable.
• Focus on the weight shift for a move without the arm movements (like the Tai Chi walk) - feel your center and weight shifting as you "ground" yourself.
•  Practice some strength building exercises: Qi Gong, Horse stance, Ba Gua
• Have fun - create your own "drills" piecing together some parts of the form that you enjoy or that challenge you - maybe that's all of the form :)
• Take the time to do some Tai Chi separate from practice. Complete the whole form or select something you have learned, and know quite well, and perform that the best way you can - closest to your ideal.
• Recognize the effort you have made and recognize your successes.

Chapter 8 Tao Te Ching

Shang shan jo shui

Best to be like water,
Which benefits the ten thousand things
And does not contend.
It pools where humans disdain to dwell,
Close to the Tao.

    Live in a good place.
    Keep your mind deep.
    Treat others well.
    Stand by your word.
    Keep good order.
    Do the right thing.
    Work when it's time.

    Only do not contend.
And you will not go wrong.

--from a translation by Stephen Addiss & Stanley Lombardo

Tao Te Ching Chapter 48

In pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.

True mastery can be gained
by letting things go their own way.
It can't be gained by interfering.

--from a new English version by Stephen Mitchell

Q&A with Matthias Schossig, translator of first publication of Tao Te King by Body Balance

Chapter 33 of the Tao Te King

translated by Matthias Schossig

Who knows others is smart.

Who knows himself is wise.

Who conquers others has force.

Who conquers himself has power.

Who achieves has will.

Who knows how to be content, is rich.

Who does not lose his place, endures.

Who is not going under in death, lives.

-o-

"I humbly add this version of the 'only book in the world that has more translators than readers' to the endless flow of ever new versions, which all have their merits. May this effort be for the benefit of all practitioners of the gentle energy arts everywhere." --from the forward to the book

-o-

BODY BALANCE: How did you encounter the German version of the Tao Te Ching by Richard Wilhelm and Arthur Rouselle, the consciousness pioneers?

MATTHIAS SCHOSSIG: I actually studied many translations in my youth, from Bachofen, which I think was the first ever in the 1800s, all the way to contemporary translations, like the Psychedelic Prayers, by Timothy Leary, who picked the most experiential bits of the Tao Te King and turned them into a handbook for inner journeys. Each of these translations has their own merits, some are more scholarly, some emphasize the ethics, some strive to be precise, others are more poetic. I was always attracted by the meditative, experiential aspects of this book, which I consider one of the best things ever written - right next to De Ente et Essentia, by Thomas Aquinas, or Tractatus Logico Philosophicus, by Ludwig Wittgenstein. The author comes right to the point, right from the beginning, by defining the task: to talk about that, which cannot be named by words. There you have it. And this is why I thought it was a good idea to add one more translation to the long line of translations of the only book in history that, someone said, has more translators than readers.

What motivated you to translate their version into English for Body Balance Lotus Group and to publish it on-demand?

We had started some in-depth discussions of individual chapters in our Lotus Group, and listened to Didi Ananda Lalita who demonstrated how much music this language has by reading chapters to us in Mandarin Chinese. What struck me in these discussions was how much the Tao Te King is a manual for the correct practice of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is much more than a martial art or a series of physical postures. It radiates and transforms our entire lives. And the Tao Te King can be used as a manual for Tai Chi Practitioners how to apply their inner work to their lives.

Editor's note: The book is available on-demand from Lulu.com. 
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/tao-te-king/18794930

How did you come to be a translator and what topic areas do you usually work with?

I started out in the eighties as a translator of non-fiction literature. I translated many esoteric and self-help books. I actually came to translating out of an interest in books, which were only available in English. I really wanted these in German, so I approached German publishers and asked if they were interested in these books. When they were, my next question was if they pay me to translate these books. This way, I became a translator/literary agent. Some of the books made their publishers and their authors very rich. Like John Gray, the author of "Men are from Mars - Women are from Venus" - a great book by a great guy. Anyway, for me, there was not so much money in translating books - translators are bottom feeders in the literary world. Although their work is very important, it is not generally recognized. Have you ever read the review of a foreign novel, in which the translator was mentioned? I haven't. It is kind of a blind spot.

You are both a dedicated tai chi practitioner and a dedicated singer.  How do those aspects of your life complement one another?

I am studying singing with Walburga Ziegenhagen, my wife, who teaches a special kind of singing, which is known as the School of Uncovering the Voice. We like to say that singing is 90% listening, and only 10% production of tones. It is like in Tai Chi, which I think is 90 % inner focus, and 10% physical effort. We "listen" to the flow of Chi in our bodies, just as we listen to the vibration of sound in singing. And our work is tuning in. The breath moves the blood, and the blood moves the Chi, as Shih Fu Eileen says. In singing, the breath moves the tone, and the tone drives the musical form.

Matthias by Tom X

We are all arrows in mid-flight...

The Zen saying "If you want to climb a mountain, start at the top" is a way of summing up how we break the fetter of doubt. Doubt is unclarity and an unwillingness to commit. It's fear and confusion. Doubt is allayed by our developing a clearer vision of where we're headed in life. When we're going anywhere, we have to start with a sense of where we're headed. First we start at the top of the mountain, keeping our goals in mind, and then we begin the journey. We of course have to fully accept that we're also starting from where we are, but we also have to accept that where we are is not a place. We are all arrows in mid-flight; where we are is a moment on a trajectory, not a position at rest.

--from "Living As a River" by Bodhipaksa

In Support of Tresa Honaker's Healing and Recovery UPDATED

One week ago, Tresa Honaker of AirAligned Aerial Dance Group (She is also a Kung Fu student at Body Balance Academy) took a 15 foot fall from the silks at rehearsal and broke her back and several ribs.  She's been through surgery for the spinal cord injury and will be moving to rehab in San Francisco.

UPDATE 1/30/12: Tresa has started a six-week rehab program in San Francisco. Read her reply in the comment below this post.

From her Facebook page:

In all honesty, the pain has been immeasurable. No words. Pain medications do what they can, but the rest is your body's response to trauma and you learn to trust it more allowing the pain to move through you rather than fighting it. At this point, it looks like my ribs are healing quickly, some problems that I've had with my lungs beginning to collapse are being resolved, my spine is healing from my surgery, and in a few days I should be ready to move to a rehabilitation center in San Francisco. Then I will begin to learn how to dance in a new way.

Thank you so much to everybody. A special thanks to Joe who hasn't left my side. Calls, questions and emails are all welcome.

If you would like to contribute to Tresa's Recovery Fund there are several ways to do so:

UPDATE: Tresa has a Fundrazr on Facebook that is easy to contribute to and share. It has a looooong link, so I made this tinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/7mrqb96  Please feel free to share it.

Through PayPal : benefittresa@gmail.com

Julie Lang for the Benefit of Tresa Honaker at Citizens Bank of Northern California, 305 Neal Street, Grass Valley, CA 95945. If you have any questions for the bank directly to make sure your donation gets to the right account, their number is 530-478-6000.

Please "Like" AirAligned aerial dance group on Facebook to stay current with Tresa's healing process.

Student Appreciation Event - Feb 3, 6pm

Please join us for this all school event on 

Friday, February 3 at 6:00pm

-- Black Sash Forms by our most advanced Kung Fu students --

-- Tai Chi Straight Sword demonstration --

-- Tao-inspired dance and music performed by Bill Douglass, Anya Devi and Joe Fajen --

Light food and beverage buffet to follow

Please RSVP at the studio by Monday January 30th

Celebrate the Year of the Dragon!

See you there!