The mind settles like dew
On the grass, and the woods open
A path ahead of me
Where the sun lifts aside
The darkness, and the day begins.

The arms ascend
To mobilize the ch'i.

The sparrow calls and I step
Through the thick brush, looking
To the left, then right,
Until framed in green, I find
His capture within my grasp.

Ward-off,
Roll-back,
Press and Push

A sudden wind gathers
To strike with force the trees
That sway and bend their branches
Down and back, to hook and guard
Their place still rooted.

The spirit
Manifests itself
In Single Whip.

My spirit rushes into awareness,
The life waking in time and space
From tan t'ien and upward,
To bring together into oneness
The duality of self.

Invite Tiger
And Return to Mountain.

Along the path, I forget
The traffic and the noise
Of the town, and my thoughts empty
And push away
Their holding fast to the world

Step Back
And Repulse Monkey.

A clearing shows in the woods
Where the noonday
Illumines a changing of patterns,
Shadow and light, inside
And out to fill the void.

Wave Hands in Clouds,
Wave Hands in Clouds.

"And they shall be two
In one flesh." The pair of opposites
Balance the logic and emotion
That each hand feeds the other,
And continues the tradition.

Golden Cock
Stands on One Leg.

The journey unfolds
Toward evening, and the hill
Rising beyond the woods
Tells me to persevere to the last,
And reach that high place.

Step Forward
To Seven Stars.

A circle of lights, in the air
Surrounds me in the aura
Of ancient mystery,
And the centers whirling,
I accept the work of the Masters.

Turn Body
And Sweep Lotus With Leg.

How far from heaven
Spins the earth? How near
To the ground hangs the sky?
From the top of the mountain
To the town gate the day ends.

The arms crossing
Embrace the ch'i...
And descend to Conclusion.

Meru Groen
1985

Posted by aikitaiji.com at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Against a mere four ounces of desire
The Master demonstrates his martial art.
The woman understands his outstretched hand to be
An invitation to a sort of dance and so
Relaxes with his lead. She only knows
She's floating when her body jars the earth
With force to push the memory of breathing
From her lungs.
He is a perfect teacher
Sensing this the proper moment for
Instruction. Acknowledging the terror in her eyes
He kindly issues up the secrets of the art:

"Listen, now," he whispers down at her
"Three truths that you must easily see here -
One, you never touched me but became
Unbalanced in that effort. Two, "( he has
To chuckle here,) "you know you did it
Only to yourself, and Three, the most
Important one is that it happens just this way
In every case. Its guaranteed. It Never
Ever fails because you are a woman and
Just like every woman you collapse
Beneath the weight of your own wanting."

She weakly sucks his honesty like ragged air
Grateful just for that, she asks for nothing
Not even grace to breath wthout awareness
Of the miracle of oxygen exchange.

At night her broken places wake her up.
She touches her own skin with fingertips
To test two ounces at her mouth, one ounce
Too delicate at her own breast and here
She knows the weight of hunger in her eyes
Is plenty good enough to risk her life.

The Master also wakes to once again
Caress his tattered black belt,
Mouth the drug that keeps him company,
Burrow deep into his self-denial,
Feeling clean.
Only moonlight shimmers off the cold floor
In the empty house where his bare feet
Throw down roots through gleaming hardwood, raw
Cement, through bedrock and calamity.

Against a current of devotion he stands strong;
Against the whispers of a lover he turns with
Stunning quickness, safe in his perfect chi,
His worthy unbendable heart.

Pam Bradshaw
December 29, 1996

Posted by aikitaiji.com at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The teacher begins. As I turn my attention away from the distractions of the day, I subdue my needs and wants in order to absorb the energy, the ch'i, that he demonstrated. While I watch, I remember when I was first learning the Form: the overwhelming desire, the impatience to progress that took hold of me. "All desires, if not subdued by reason, will lead to strife." My eyes accompany his movement into Grasp Sparrow's Tail, the soothing roundness of the arms and hands, the body's weaving through the air. Ward-off, Roll Back, Press and Push. I learn here to guard against depressions, to yield to others, to perservere towards the goals I set for myself over the days and years, and the power of right thinking.

I find the patterns of life changing, giving up bad habits for good ones. "Investment in Loss"...I try for the selflessness that the philosophy asks for. "You must accept failure many times over and tolerate the bruisings necessary before mastery comes." I must know myself as I really am and not as I think I am. In push hands, if I react in a negative way, I see in myself some flaws that normally stay hidden. "Yield and Overcome" makes itself understandable, and I see how soft and weak can overcome hard and strong.

The teacher moves through the form with grace and discipline. As I watch, I am reminded that life contains the pairs of opposites: birth and death, love and hate, light and dark, east and west, and how they apply to me. I realize that being an observer now, I can meditate on the way t'ai-chi relates to living. As Shakespeare beautifully put it: "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together."

I am a Weaver, both from my grandfather's name and from my interest and desire to work with spinning and fabrics, tapestry and the loom. I am a weaver of time from my beginning to my conclusion. Mastery in life as with t'ai-chi comes with having faith that after years of study and practice, my technique will become skillful.

The teacher draws back, shifting to the right and turning to the left, meshing the postures and the state of mind, and watching. I too work at shuttles. How can he keep teaching, giving of himself, his time, his affection? "Through selfless action the teacher attains fulfillment."

After Cross Hands, during the moments of meditation, the energy fills me with commitments renewed. I stand, inhaling slowly. I raise my arms upward...

Susan Groen
1985

Posted by aikitaiji.com at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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