MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher:
Here’s Stan reading from the Classics:
The whole body relies on the Ching Shen (spirit),
not on the ch’i (breath).
If it relied on the ch’i,
it would become stagnant.
If there is ch’i,
there is no li (external strength).
If there is no ch’i,
there is pure steel.
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher:
30 Years on Saturday mornings in Doyle Park:
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teachers:
It looks like Karen is praying or perhaps meditating. What you can’t see is she is using her hands and mind to internally study her headtop, her root, and center. Our Tai Chi Classics tell us: The upright body must be stable and comfortable to be able to support the eight directions.
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Orchid in the Empty Valley by Professor Cheng Man Ching
Professor wrote a poem to his students:
One’s life only reaches 100 years,
the body begins to deteriorate when you pass 40.
How good is it to fight for both fame and money
if the body can not take?
Just enrich your knowledge by reading
and improve your skill by diligently practicing this art.
Be an orchid in an empty valley,
its fragrance will attract admirers.
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher:
~ Rumi Quote
And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?
~The Essence of Tai Chi Chuan
Practicing the form every day is the kung fu (way of practicing) of knowing yourself.
Push hands is the kung fu of knowing others.
Know yourself and know others: in one hundred battles you will win one hundred times.
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, August 14, 2015
Poem:
The back foot goes
where it needs to be,
so the waist gets
to the place
its suppose to be.
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This is the energy of ‘Roll Back’
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher:
George Washington Carver said, “Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough.” If you love Tai Chi and want her to yield her secrets, consider spending a little more time with her.
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, December 31, 2013:
The Tai Chi Classics states: “People mistakenly give up the near to seek the far.” The Confucian classic on adult education (The Great Learning) states: “The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their heart/mind. Wishing to rectify their heart/mind, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts …… “
For this year, the magic word is COURAGE – The courage to be vulnerable and look deeply inside ourselves. In the words of the poet and mystic Rumi: “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
Is there anything left to be said?
Happy New Year
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher:
“The form is like that
of a falcon about to seize a rabbit,
and the shen (spirit) is like that
of a cat about to catch a rat.”
The Essence of Tai Chi Ch’uan
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Stan Greenberg wrote:
MT’s recent teachings from Confucius’ Doctrine of the Mean emphasize correct behavior in our relationships with others (family, friends, tai chi class, society). They encourage us to look closely at ourselves and our relationships to cultivate a just community
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
“The space between heaven and earth is like a bellows, empty and yet inexhaustible; Move it and even more comes out.” LAO-TZU: “My words are very easy to understand.”
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
Heaven is long lasting and earth is enduring.
The reason why heaven and earth can live long and endure is
that they do not live only for themselves.
Therefore, they can produce perpetually.
This is why the Sage puts himself behind yet ends up ahead,
Considers himself an outsider yet finds himself in the mainstream.
Is it not because he is selfless that his Self can be realized?
LAO-TZU: “My words are very easy to understand.”
Lectures on the Tao Teh Ching
by Cheng Man-Ch’ing
Translated from the Chinese by Tam C. Gibbs
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
“Whatever remains unconscious emerges later as fate.” Carl Jung
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS. Can you explain this quote by blending your understanding of Tai Chi principles and the following quote from Chung Yung of the Doctrine of the Mean … “There is nothing more visible than what is hidden and nothing more manifest than what is subtle. Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself when he is alone.” Nothing else is needed.
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
The Eight Methods of Professor Cheng Man-Ch’ing offers an opportunity to practice substance without the constraints of mechanics: (1) Wearing the Moon for a Cap, (2) Walking on Thin Ice, (3) Fording the Stream, (4) Standing at the Precipice, (5) Sculling, (6) Chasing the Clouds, (7) Parting the Wind, and (8) Setting the Sail.
The Eight Methods are about the mind and our ability to fully express the movement. We don’t pretend to “Wear the Moon for a Cap”. We don’t pretend to “Walk on Thin Ice”. People who don’t understand this haven’t studied the Eight Methods. They are not Tai Chi Chuan. They were developed by Professor Cheng Man-Ch’ing to bring the benefits of Tai Chi Chuan to people with physical limitations. Who among us is not vulnerable or frail?
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
Most people mistakenly give up the near
to seek the far. (Wang Tsung-yueh)
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
“Emotions as soft as water,
devotion as strong as rock.
Above the rocks and below the water,
the two swim and play.
Forever united in heart,
unchanging.” (Man Jan Hsieh-yi)
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy. (Sun Tzu, Treatise IV, Chapter 3)
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MT (Steven) Rose, Teacher, wrote:
Life can only be lived moving forward and can only be understood looking back.
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