First of all
I’ve been studying martial arts on and off since I was in high school in the US, where I studied Shotokan Karate. Upon my arrival in Taiwan I immediately began studying Shaolin-style Kung Fu, and when I moved to Taipei after graduation I studied Changhong Style forms and stick forms up until I injured my knee pretty badly. I had to have two operations in Hong Kong and was in the hospital for months. As a result, my knee has never been quite the same.
For this reason, plus in my advancing age not being able to jump around like a monkey on coke any more, I began studying softer arts, including Taijiquan, the empty-handed forms, sword forms, Taiji Daoying, and Tui-shou, or pushing hands. I attend class every Wednesday night at the No. 4 park in Yonghe, and my teacher’s name is Xu Wu-long of XYZ Tai-chi/Pushhands. Teacher Xu a short, bald man in his mid 60’s, very friendly with a predilection for “Gilligan” style hats. Not only is he very good at Taijiquan and Tuishou, he seems to be able to explain the art in a way I can readily understand.
The reason I’ve started this journal is not only to keep a tab on what I’m learning and maybe even introduce a little of it to others, but mainly so that the only record of what I’ve learned isn’t in the form of incoherent scribblings in my pocket notebook.
[…] might be the best idea to relate everything we talk about on here. In fact, I started this account almost two years ago as more of an open notebook for recording my progress and stuff I’d learned, so not writing […]
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