Christmas is over and the gym reopens tomorrow! It's a funny time, the space between Christmas and New Year. Sort of like coming up for a short breath before plunging back into a tempestuous sea, except the sea in this case is a maelstrom of alcohol, chocolate and relatives opinions. The gyms are about to get mega busy as many among us delve into ill-fated fitness kicks. It's enough to put the lesser inclined right off! DON'T BE THE LESSER INCLINED, don't wait for the new year or next week or the next Monday to start something new. Start as soon as you can, make new habits. You'll feel weak no doubt, physically I mean. In TCM we associate strength with tendons which in turn is associated with the liver. You've just spent days punching your liver in the liver, it doesn't like you. You want to change things? Do you want to lose some weight in 2017? It's pretty common to think like that around now. Why not go into 2017 already on a good thing? Start now with the fitness. It is easier than you think and you don't need a gym. Not at first anyway, which is good. In about a months time you will need a gym, by then the lesser inclined, the weaker among us won't be there. They'll have sacked it off. You don't get fat overnight and likewise you don't get fit overnight. There isn't a short cut. You have to do it all for yourself, which makes it all the sweeter. 4 weeks from now you will notice a difference, 4 weeks after that your family and loved ones will notice. A further 4 weeks from that everyone will notice. That might put people off instantly but I am only trying to be honest with you. This is a reasonable time scale to expect results.
Take this challenge. This is how I began my programme, it's fun and achievable. Four times a week-five if you can face it, but never work more than two days back to back without a rest. Do 12-14 rounds of HIIT 40sec on 30sec rest.
eg
40 sec High Knees full effort
30 sec light shadowboxing
40 sec Mountain Climbers full effort
30 sec light shadowboxing
40 sec Burpees Full effort chest to floor
30 sec Light Shadowboxing
40 sec Push ups full effort
repeat x3 working to x4
Takes you about 17 minutes. Do it first thing in the morning before you eat. What to eat? Not just what but when. 3 full meals a day. Eating every 2-3 hours. On your training day eat the carbs within the hour of working out, Carb sources are bread, bagel, pasta, rice, potato or oats. Avoid them the rest of the time. Eat clean food you have to cook. Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Salmon and Tuna. In general construct your meal like this:
Protein Source 300g (see above)
Fibrous veg x 2 (90g per veg)
Greens 130g (beans, broccoli, asparagus etc)
Sauce 50g (sour cream, yoghurt, cottage cheese, soy, sweet chilli etc)
If you trained take the carb source of your choice 70-80g
If you have a rest day complete your plate with an additional fat source, foods like avocado, nut butters, nuts or seed, feta, mozzarella, eggs same again 70-80g.
Obviously this is not a detailed nutrition plan and I am by no means a nutritionist. There are plenty of online resources and experts that you can and should consult if you are serious. I offer this to you purely as general advice that more importantly is "Shit you can actually do". Cut out crap food, we all know what that is! snacking twice daily (on nuts, fruit or protein based snacks) plus the increased meal frequency tends to mean you don't eat for the sake of it. Satiety levels are very pleasing eating like this. Cut out sugar in tea/coffee and of course avoid alcohol. Drink water, genuinely at minimum, 3 litres spread throughout the day and green tea anytime. Does it sound hard? It isn't really. It's a good start and you will look and feel better. That is what is most important. Small steps taken with conviction are better that huge leaps taken haphazardly. My strongest advice I could give would be for you to take on an actual programme. Spend the money and invest in yourself.
I can only wish you all a less turbo-shite time in the year ahead. Like I said small steps.....
Monday 26 December 2016
Wednesday 21 December 2016
Get With The Programme
I think that we can all agree that the year 2016 was a giant own goal we will all be glad to see the back of. I wouldn't want to try to trump people with the misery we all faced, but this year was very difficult for me, it included the loss of my father and the break-up of a long term relationship. Between personal and world events I began to opt out of it all for a while, losing sight of the things that keep me happy. Not particularly handling my grief so well, I began to neglect my self. My diet, my exercise, my sleep to name a few, resulting in the embarrassing photo below as I ballooned to 80kg. It took a while and even though I am still working through some stuff I kinda got my act together about 90 days ago and tried to seize back control of the one thing that is genuinely my own and my responsibility. My health!
I embarked upon a diet and exercise programme. It is the first time I have tried anything like this; but one character trait to my advantage is that I am generally a well disciplined person, for some obvious and some less obvious reasons my discipline had faltered. It was a great relief to get back to work, not only did the process improve my body, more importantly it allowed me an outlet to take all the "shitty" things that were wrong and focus on putting something right. Basically that's what this blog post is about. Things can only be in the trough for so long before they begin the ascent to a peak, sometimes however you need to take the initiative. Give it and yourself a good kick up the arse! If you are lucky someone else will do it for you but failing that take my advice: wake up tomorrow look in the mirror and ask yourself quietly and privately "what part of your life can you slap back into functionality?" Nothing got beyond your reach, you just grew tired. It's ok. That happens on a daily basis to everyone in your life. Some chat about it openly, others, like me, let it sit and brew. It grows like some kind of malign elephant in the room, people around you know something is not flowing right but you just don't talk about it. Eventually the time comes when you realise the room where the elephant sits is in your fucking house and it isn't welcome anymore. So you do what you can. Each has a talent or a gift, if anything mine is my tenacity. When I have a clear purpose or intention it is impossible to take me away from it. For the past 90+ days I have eaten 3 meals a day, 2 snacks, drunk 3 litres of water. Prepped food, washed tupperware, plates, saucepans countless times. Dragged my arse out of bed at 6am been in the gym by 7am completed hundreds if not thousands of reps, push ups, pull ups, burpees "Arnold Curls"(the most painfully exquisite exercise ever). Over the past 12+ weeks I have shaved off 8Kg bringing myself down to a much healthier and happier existence. The 8 kilos is great but above that I took the reigns again, got back a bit control. Tightened up, sharpened up but more rewarding than that I brightened up. I am ready for the next challenge. I feel good and won't stop. Getting myself back in shape has stirred me to further development. I feel the past 90+ days have brought me to a point which would be a good starting point to begin a greater development.
If people are interested I would like to write about the actual programme I followed. What I learned along the way, what was hard, what was easy, what were the bits folks don't talk about. If you're interested leave a comment.
Merry Fitness!
Saturday 3 December 2016
Experiencing a "Yin" Master
One of the things I particularly enjoy about Martial Arts training is having new experiences. Maybe meeting a new person, learning a new technique or perhaps getting a new perspective. It happens often on my Martial Journey and last night was no exception, although very different. Despite training for 20 years I had never had the privilege of training with a female Master. This isn't something I avoided; it's just that they're not as common in the Martial World. A Master is a Master in Chinese Martial Culture and as such they are called Master, not Mistress; however Master Faye Yip asked to be addressed only as Faye. Her opening words being thus, made me warm to her immediately.
I am no stranger to ladies in Martial Arts, in fact my most senior student happens to be one, so I am aware of the troubles women face in the Martial Arena. My senior has told me the horror of a time I had left her to take care of my kickboxing class. A new student had introduced himself to one of the male junior grades assuming he was the instructor! OOPS! An understandable misassumption given the context or an unforgivable error, you can decide? Regardless we all make assumptions. I made one last night, a workshop around health Qigong led by a female; I had not expected as many men to be present but the majority of the class indeed was male. Obviously this wasn't even worth noting for Master Yip.
We began with quite possibly the greatest warm up exercise I have ever taken part in. Master Yip did the usual: feet shoulder width apart, relax shoulders, head on an invisible string pulled up. Then it became very different: "you are standing on a boat, as the boat rises through gentle waves in your mind rise with the movement of the water. Coordinate the gentle lifting of the arms, the gentle inhale of breath. Exhale and allow the arms to float back to your sides each time." Honestly I could've done that all night, I have never felt such peace and tranquillity. From the very outset Master Yip put me in a place I don't often go.
I am a man, I am completely at ease with my masculinity. I disapprove of the general constraint placed on men in more recent years to adhere to a diluted, soft and more easily managed maleness. It has caused a crisis in masculinity. Through its societal reinforcement it has caused bigger problems for both men and women. Yet here in a simple warm up exercise a divine female energy cut right through my fortified male armour and reminded me of my place in the world. It was for me, that profound. Through her gentle guidance I found a great strength. I was at ease, softened and many things that have been on my mind of late, dropped away.
A Male Master, although of equal value, would not take you there direct. A warm up is a mechanical process that must be undertaken to avoid injury, yes very true but Master Yip expressed a more expansive idea about the form in which function can take. I think that the female mind can do this with ease. A male seeks the usefulness, utility and straightforward thinking that methodically unveils the many layers that makes up the practise. A woman appreciates the emotional depth that the unveiling of the layers will eventually lead to and moves there as her base of operations. I have learned this particular set of movements that the workshop was on twice before, both times from male Masters. Master Yip approached it completely differently. It was more based on thoughts, feelings and more descriptive than visual. Her phrasing within the teachings was totally different. For example, something that springs to mind, instead of saying "OK, let's do it one more time" she said "OK, I want you to experience it one more time." Although very subtle that particular way of expressing it implies a completely different outcome. It was an excellent workshop and a great pleasure. I will seek her out again. It reminded me that sometimes the receiving of the actual information is not as important as the method in which it is given. On a deeper level the gentler approach employed by a woman can move a man to greater level of self awareness. It is a strong catalyst that will solve our problems.
I am no stranger to ladies in Martial Arts, in fact my most senior student happens to be one, so I am aware of the troubles women face in the Martial Arena. My senior has told me the horror of a time I had left her to take care of my kickboxing class. A new student had introduced himself to one of the male junior grades assuming he was the instructor! OOPS! An understandable misassumption given the context or an unforgivable error, you can decide? Regardless we all make assumptions. I made one last night, a workshop around health Qigong led by a female; I had not expected as many men to be present but the majority of the class indeed was male. Obviously this wasn't even worth noting for Master Yip.
We began with quite possibly the greatest warm up exercise I have ever taken part in. Master Yip did the usual: feet shoulder width apart, relax shoulders, head on an invisible string pulled up. Then it became very different: "you are standing on a boat, as the boat rises through gentle waves in your mind rise with the movement of the water. Coordinate the gentle lifting of the arms, the gentle inhale of breath. Exhale and allow the arms to float back to your sides each time." Honestly I could've done that all night, I have never felt such peace and tranquillity. From the very outset Master Yip put me in a place I don't often go.
I am a man, I am completely at ease with my masculinity. I disapprove of the general constraint placed on men in more recent years to adhere to a diluted, soft and more easily managed maleness. It has caused a crisis in masculinity. Through its societal reinforcement it has caused bigger problems for both men and women. Yet here in a simple warm up exercise a divine female energy cut right through my fortified male armour and reminded me of my place in the world. It was for me, that profound. Through her gentle guidance I found a great strength. I was at ease, softened and many things that have been on my mind of late, dropped away.
A Male Master, although of equal value, would not take you there direct. A warm up is a mechanical process that must be undertaken to avoid injury, yes very true but Master Yip expressed a more expansive idea about the form in which function can take. I think that the female mind can do this with ease. A male seeks the usefulness, utility and straightforward thinking that methodically unveils the many layers that makes up the practise. A woman appreciates the emotional depth that the unveiling of the layers will eventually lead to and moves there as her base of operations. I have learned this particular set of movements that the workshop was on twice before, both times from male Masters. Master Yip approached it completely differently. It was more based on thoughts, feelings and more descriptive than visual. Her phrasing within the teachings was totally different. For example, something that springs to mind, instead of saying "OK, let's do it one more time" she said "OK, I want you to experience it one more time." Although very subtle that particular way of expressing it implies a completely different outcome. It was an excellent workshop and a great pleasure. I will seek her out again. It reminded me that sometimes the receiving of the actual information is not as important as the method in which it is given. On a deeper level the gentler approach employed by a woman can move a man to greater level of self awareness. It is a strong catalyst that will solve our problems.
Wednesday 16 November 2016
The Ranking System
I have personally never been interested in the ranking systems associated with Martial Arts, I appreciate that many are and there is no problem with that. I think that it stems more from the martial culture than the actual practice. The Korean and Japanese arts are more belt driven and to that end I see a greater emphasis placed on the Black Belted students. In Chinese arts, which I predominantly train, it is less ingrained. Nothing wrong with fostering respect; it is after all a tenet of Martial Arts, I am of the mind that respect must be earned and not assumed.
It gets right into the philosophy of Martial Arts, the very idea that we strive and we aim for a goal is ultimately very commendable. That's one of the things that appeals to many about learning a style. I only argue that the goal should not be a black piece of cloth, or a red one or any other colour. The goal should be to understand the teachings. A black belt does not necessarily epitomise that. I have learned many lessons from many people in life and in Combat Arts not every one of them came from a black belt student. Some lessons I have learned from black belt students weren't worth remembering.
The unscrupulous teachers have exploited people over these sought after bits of cloth. "fast track" courses and other bullshit marketing ploys. These are the things that destroy the combat sports by reducing them down to single factors. You train hard, you put the effort in to make it work, you listen to the right people. That is also the reward.YOU do these things. I don't know what the going rate for a grading is your style but when I look around I see the "awards for 2nd 3rd 5th 9th degrees" all go up in price on the scale.
People still ask, what grade are you? This assumes the capability and depth of understanding of a student which I would like to see us all move away from. It more likely illustrates how much a student has paid for.
As I've said in this blog before, the more important thing to look for in an instructor is "are you insured to teach". Things are certainly improving but be aware that a black belt does not make a person a qualified fitness trainer, it also doesn't assume that they are not, but I would be more inclined to ask your local gym staff for fitness advice over your martial arts instructor.
For me personally what holds more value and parity to my actual knowledge, is not my black belts but the burst noses, the fat lips and all the times I've been dumped on my arse along the way. Never be afraid to ask a white belt to a multicoloured 15th degree "Go'n show me how you fucking did that?"
It gets right into the philosophy of Martial Arts, the very idea that we strive and we aim for a goal is ultimately very commendable. That's one of the things that appeals to many about learning a style. I only argue that the goal should not be a black piece of cloth, or a red one or any other colour. The goal should be to understand the teachings. A black belt does not necessarily epitomise that. I have learned many lessons from many people in life and in Combat Arts not every one of them came from a black belt student. Some lessons I have learned from black belt students weren't worth remembering.
The unscrupulous teachers have exploited people over these sought after bits of cloth. "fast track" courses and other bullshit marketing ploys. These are the things that destroy the combat sports by reducing them down to single factors. You train hard, you put the effort in to make it work, you listen to the right people. That is also the reward.YOU do these things. I don't know what the going rate for a grading is your style but when I look around I see the "awards for 2nd 3rd 5th 9th degrees" all go up in price on the scale.
People still ask, what grade are you? This assumes the capability and depth of understanding of a student which I would like to see us all move away from. It more likely illustrates how much a student has paid for.
As I've said in this blog before, the more important thing to look for in an instructor is "are you insured to teach". Things are certainly improving but be aware that a black belt does not make a person a qualified fitness trainer, it also doesn't assume that they are not, but I would be more inclined to ask your local gym staff for fitness advice over your martial arts instructor.
For me personally what holds more value and parity to my actual knowledge, is not my black belts but the burst noses, the fat lips and all the times I've been dumped on my arse along the way. Never be afraid to ask a white belt to a multicoloured 15th degree "Go'n show me how you fucking did that?"
Monday 28 March 2016
A Referee can only ever be 50% right....
...that's what my Instructor used to say, and he was always right! Well except when he was refereeing my fights and scoring the other way. Wait! That was his point entirely of course. On Saturday passed we witnessed one of the best Boxing matches I have seen in a long while between Nick Blackwell and Chris Eubank Jnr. After the 10 rounds of magnificent sporting combat things took a turn for the worst and young Nick Blackwell collapsed in the ring. It lead to consternation and condemnation across the board. Detractors of Boxing and Combat sports alike became more vocal, aligned behind seemingly reoccurring events. Ultimately though; the place were most of us receive our daily dose of abuse, hatred and ill informed opinion, trumped all those reasonable concerns and firmly splattered into the realms of "Talking Shite". I of course refer to Facebook, the platform none of us wanted, the apogee of the electronic soap-box. "Talking Shite" and imprudent status update its mainstay and constant talking point.
"Blackwell's corner are responsible for it", "The referee should've stopped it sooner", "Boxing proves we aren't as civilised as we claim to be" amongst the things written. Combat Sports are constantly maligned along with the people involved in them too. It is good to talk about issues raised but we should try our very best to remain informed and be less quick to jump to conclusions especially if we don't hold the authority to make such claims. What happened on Saturday is a tragedy but it is not as common as you may be lead to believe. I was reading The Observer on Sunday keen to find out any news on Blackwell's condition. I flicked to the "Sport" section. Football-Football-Football, Cricket, Rugby league......nothing. On the Saturday Luke Campbell (M.B.E by the way) claimed the Lightweight Commonwealth title, Eubank Jnr beyond the incident took the British Title, Kell Brook demolished a mandatory challenger for the IBF World Welterweight and the British Heavyweight Champion of the world's cousin was fighting. There was literally nothing in the paper, not even news of Blackwell's accident. On the front page however was news of Mo Farah placing third in an Olympic Warm up in Cardiff?! Soon though the papers would be running the story of the Boxer who collapsed in the ring. In the month of March there were 45 shows that passed without incident, 12 apparently since the Friday night! Yes it is important to report on Blackwell's collapse but there is without a doubt a subtle demonising of the sport when it comes to mainstream reporting, that is of course when they bother to report on it at all.
Back to Facebook, and the nonsense being offered up by the "Fans". Victor Loughlin, the ill-fated referee, has become the principle player in this tale of evil and exploitation of a young man coerced and seduced by the world of boxing. I did, unlike many who offered wisdom, watch the fight. I listened to the "horribly biased" commentary. I saw the fighters go into the 5th round, 2 rounds a piece on the official score card. I saw Eubank Jnr begin to pull away. I also saw Blackwell take some big punches (especially that uppercut). I noted how he sat back on the ropes in double guard much like Muhammed Ali did against George Foreman, I saw him take a huge percentage of Eubank's strikes on the gloves and arms and I saw him smile, goad and throw back his own shots every time. I saw him rise from his stool and bound to the centre of the ring first, at the start of every round. I saw a young lad, backed by a great corner who had come from a darker past of unlicensed matches, a troubled tearaway saved by boxing relish every moment of his title defense. HIS TITLE. I did not see a negligent official. I saw Victor Loughlin defer to the ringside doctor in the 10th round and act upon his advice to halt the fight.
The press seem to be running with the story of how Eubank Snr. may have saved Blackwell's life, the quote
"If the referee doesn't stop it, then I don't know what to tell you, but I will tell you this: one, if he doesn't stop it and we keep on beating him like this, he is getting hurt; two if it goes to the decision, why didn't the referee stop the fight. I don't get why?" People are keen to link this with compassion displayed by the champ, or to put it down to guilt he may hold after Michael Watson (ask the "fans" about him) I don't doubt for a second that Eubank Snr. is a gentleman or that he was concerned about his son's opponent on a purely human level. However I believe this to be tactical chat from a seasoned veteran. Like I said I watched the fight, what does not seem to be reported is that in this same quote Eubank went on to say something along the lines of. "You only fell a tree by hacking at it's trunk" to which Eubank Jr. replied "ENOUGH!" To me this would seem that Eubank Snr had noted how much fortitude of the chin Blackwell had and had been telling his son to work the body for some time. Something that the Son had grown tired of hearing as in "Yes Dad, I know you were a legend but this is my fight and I fight my fight my way"
Think what you think of course, but the way I see it if anyone is to held accountable for saving Blackwell it is not Eubank but the very people some are keen to discredit. Namely the referee, the Doctors and the Cornerman. Many will play a part in Blackwell's recovery, the medical staff where he is now, his friends and family and ultimately himself. If he fights with even a quarter of what he displayed on fight night he will be back stronger than ever and I wish him all the best. The latest reports say that he may be taken out from his induced coma within 24 hours and we all hope to hear good news on his condition.
"Blackwell's corner are responsible for it", "The referee should've stopped it sooner", "Boxing proves we aren't as civilised as we claim to be" amongst the things written. Combat Sports are constantly maligned along with the people involved in them too. It is good to talk about issues raised but we should try our very best to remain informed and be less quick to jump to conclusions especially if we don't hold the authority to make such claims. What happened on Saturday is a tragedy but it is not as common as you may be lead to believe. I was reading The Observer on Sunday keen to find out any news on Blackwell's condition. I flicked to the "Sport" section. Football-Football-Football, Cricket, Rugby league......nothing. On the Saturday Luke Campbell (M.B.E by the way) claimed the Lightweight Commonwealth title, Eubank Jnr beyond the incident took the British Title, Kell Brook demolished a mandatory challenger for the IBF World Welterweight and the British Heavyweight Champion of the world's cousin was fighting. There was literally nothing in the paper, not even news of Blackwell's accident. On the front page however was news of Mo Farah placing third in an Olympic Warm up in Cardiff?! Soon though the papers would be running the story of the Boxer who collapsed in the ring. In the month of March there were 45 shows that passed without incident, 12 apparently since the Friday night! Yes it is important to report on Blackwell's collapse but there is without a doubt a subtle demonising of the sport when it comes to mainstream reporting, that is of course when they bother to report on it at all.
Back to Facebook, and the nonsense being offered up by the "Fans". Victor Loughlin, the ill-fated referee, has become the principle player in this tale of evil and exploitation of a young man coerced and seduced by the world of boxing. I did, unlike many who offered wisdom, watch the fight. I listened to the "horribly biased" commentary. I saw the fighters go into the 5th round, 2 rounds a piece on the official score card. I saw Eubank Jnr begin to pull away. I also saw Blackwell take some big punches (especially that uppercut). I noted how he sat back on the ropes in double guard much like Muhammed Ali did against George Foreman, I saw him take a huge percentage of Eubank's strikes on the gloves and arms and I saw him smile, goad and throw back his own shots every time. I saw him rise from his stool and bound to the centre of the ring first, at the start of every round. I saw a young lad, backed by a great corner who had come from a darker past of unlicensed matches, a troubled tearaway saved by boxing relish every moment of his title defense. HIS TITLE. I did not see a negligent official. I saw Victor Loughlin defer to the ringside doctor in the 10th round and act upon his advice to halt the fight.
The press seem to be running with the story of how Eubank Snr. may have saved Blackwell's life, the quote
"If the referee doesn't stop it, then I don't know what to tell you, but I will tell you this: one, if he doesn't stop it and we keep on beating him like this, he is getting hurt; two if it goes to the decision, why didn't the referee stop the fight. I don't get why?" People are keen to link this with compassion displayed by the champ, or to put it down to guilt he may hold after Michael Watson (ask the "fans" about him) I don't doubt for a second that Eubank Snr. is a gentleman or that he was concerned about his son's opponent on a purely human level. However I believe this to be tactical chat from a seasoned veteran. Like I said I watched the fight, what does not seem to be reported is that in this same quote Eubank went on to say something along the lines of. "You only fell a tree by hacking at it's trunk" to which Eubank Jr. replied "ENOUGH!" To me this would seem that Eubank Snr had noted how much fortitude of the chin Blackwell had and had been telling his son to work the body for some time. Something that the Son had grown tired of hearing as in "Yes Dad, I know you were a legend but this is my fight and I fight my fight my way"
Think what you think of course, but the way I see it if anyone is to held accountable for saving Blackwell it is not Eubank but the very people some are keen to discredit. Namely the referee, the Doctors and the Cornerman. Many will play a part in Blackwell's recovery, the medical staff where he is now, his friends and family and ultimately himself. If he fights with even a quarter of what he displayed on fight night he will be back stronger than ever and I wish him all the best. The latest reports say that he may be taken out from his induced coma within 24 hours and we all hope to hear good news on his condition.
Thursday 11 February 2016
Why Tai Chi
“A CT (computerized tomography) scan is a series of X-rays used to create cross-sectional images. In this study published in the Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, researchers used in-line phase contrast CT imaging with synchrotron radiation on both non-acupuncture points and acupuncture points. The CT scans revealed clear distinctions between the non-acupuncture point and acupuncture point anatomical structures.”
What they conclude was this :
“Acupuncture points have a higher density of microvessels and contain a large amount of involuted microvascular structures. The non-acupuncture points did not exhibit these properties.”
What does it mean?
Microvessels are the smallest blood vessels in the body that allow and promote the circulation of blood around the body. We know that without this process there can be no life. What we refer to as Qi (or Chi) in Tai Chi is, in simple terms life or vitality. Effectively what western science has achieved through CT and MRI scans is the mapping of the meridian system. Further Studies of the Fasciae (the connective tissue structure around the muscle) is under way and the awaiting results are equally interesting to both the Tai Chi community and the scientific community.
There has been a huge increase in numbers seeking alternative treatments throughout Europe and America and some are even lucky enough to be prescribed Tai Chi by the NHS! It does make me ask what do we mean by “alternative treatment?” Bearing in mind that it was Western Medical Science that came second to the methods practised in the East for hundreds of years. Slowly we are realising the connection between energy cultivation and balanced living. The published documentation of health benefits from Tai Chi is vast and easily accessed. I’m not really one for reading about things though! If in fact you wish to learn something the best thing to do is to put the book down and begin training. We can believe anything, but the moment we experience something it no longer needs to be a belief. It becomes a truth. Tai Chi is a truth that I will happily share with anyone. I will let you experience what it feels like to have your energy system temporarily disabled and I will let you feel what it’s like to have your energy system work overtime. Both experiences are distinct and unquestionably real, not only that they are easily achieved through practise and that for me is what it is all about!
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