Apr
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Tai chi Retreat 2010 Diary Part 1 of 3
April 6, 2010 | 1 Comment
Thanks to Kaustav Guha for writing this wonderful 3 Part diary on Taichi Retreat 2010!
This diary was floating inide the academy group for some time. After seeing our students likes we have shared this with you all.!
Kaustav Guha is our Instructor for our Bangalore branch.
Cast
GrandMaster Fu Sheng Yuan and Master James
Sifu and Simu
G9- Gandi
DS- Devraj Sanyal
S- Sirish
PS – Priya Srivastava
RS- Rohit Srivastava
KG – Kaustav Guha
G – Ganesh
M – Mala
N – Neelima
S and S – Sathya and S
SFDN – Saifuddin
SK – Sachidev Kumar
SS- Sarvanakumar
NL- Nischol
Day 1 (5 March 2010)
The Tai Chi retreat had been a great experience and I do not quite put words to what touched me most but nonetheless I would take a shot at it. Why have we come to love the art of Yang Taijiquan? The reasons may be varied but we all have to come to love it. In my experience the practice of 85 forms has become an indispensible part of my life style and is a necessary ritual for me to function in this literally mad hectic world. It charges the body in the morning and there is enough energy to enjoy the simplest things in life at the end of the day. But the retreat tops all that. I am not alone in smiling at anything and everything and cracking the dumbest jokes for the heck of it like an idiot while and after the retreat. So many ridiculously passionate arguments over nothing! Thinking about which I smile and I knew that the grand ultimate Qi was flowing through my meridians like grade 1 white water torrent. I would share all those nonsensical-non-nonsensical gibberish that transpired in the course of my fooling around with that unfortunate lot who had to put up with me, juxtaposing with what transpired in the sessions.
The WarmUp
After the drive from Central over the beautiful ECR with G9 by me side, PS and RS at the back seat the entry to Temple Bay was “HERE IT IS- I am finally here and despite &^@%$%$$ I made it YES”. G9 was almost a devotee of Sifu and shared some of his earliest experiences and about driving. That was short intro and pretty much sometimes you meet very interesting people and then they are unknown again. Sifu and Simu were really on the swords edge and this was to be pretty much throughout the retreat first of which is happening right there when I called my wife and extending commiserations – “How Sad that you couldn’t make it” and “I miss You”. The property is beautiful and as a Bengalurite I found Chennai COOL not that the beautiful Firangs who greeted us with a “Vanakkam” had anything to do with it. The rooms weren’t ready and I suspect that with their 5 ishtarr procedure of cleaning up the room for 80 odd people is a rarity.
Day 1 went pretty much in serious registration and registering the moments of GrandMaster Fu Sheng Yuan and Master James’ presence amongst us. The session had primary focus on the warm exercises and the clarification of push hands most notably the Tin-Jin and single hand push hands. It looked like a large ball room dance with dancers at their romantic worst. We got to see Master James at his hilarious best when he poked fun, though good fun, at our exercise. Seriously it was really good stuff some very good insight into the principles of 13 forms, push hands. However Day 1 was just a breaking the ice day serious Tai Chi was still due.
“DS: Can you see an ELECTRON?”
Thus began the night one of the retreat. This was an argument that had been simmering for quite some time given my philosophical disposition regarding fundamental aspects of life in general- the author of this statement does not believe any system that will lead us to the truth be it organized religion or science. Any system is a pair of crutches that we rely on to understand what truth is but we can never stand the truth unless we forsake those very crutches. Obviously with the flowing Chi in our meridian (KG, DS and S) decided to have a serious intellectual head butting. So much so that the Chi spilled over the balcony of room #136 rattling unsuspecting passersby of which G and M responded and there Qi rattled us back. The gist of it
KG: To understand electricity one cannot rely on mere abstractions in physics
DS : So can you see an electron?
KG: Electron is a mere abstraction but not what IS
G and M: Who’s UP THERE?
DS, KG: Oh uhh errrr sorry did we bother you ?????
Bangalore Crowd
We at Bangalore come to the Tai Chi Class like a thief and leave surreptitiously. Its almost like a secret society so secret that our very presence in the class is a secret to ourselves. The retreat thawed this super-cooled chill amongst us, more on that later. The Day 1 was super good.
Comments
1 Comment so far
Leaves from Tao
wow.. i’m very
enjoy reading your post. great.