Here on Okinawa now and training at the Kenbukan under Kuba Sensei.   I hope to start with Shinjo Sensei soon in Tomari Shorin Ryu. So Mon, Wed and Fri I will train Go-Ju Ryu and Tues and Thurs Tomari Shorin.   In the mornings I go go a near by park and practice Tai Ji Quan (Tai Kyoku Ken, Jp)  there are 4 others that meet with me there and we practice Chi Gong and then im showing them 13 form,, they are doing very well and I hope they have the 13 form down before I leave.

    Our plans are from here to go down to the Philippines, whe I hope to do some Tai Ji down at the Univ of the Philippines, and then after a month return here to Okinawa for another month or so..we will see how that works.

Hello???? Anybody out there???   Do not see much activity on Tai Ji Friends,, thats too bad.

"In everymovement the entire  body should be light an angile and all of its parts connected  like a string of pearls" Cheng San Feng, 13th Century.  Translated by T.T. Liang.

   Welp, Wed my wife and I will fly out to Calif.  Will visit my my daughter see some old friends, then we will start our adventure of trying to fly via military standby to Okinawa.  We will visit my son there for a couple of months and then down to the Philippines. 

  Return to Okinawa after a month,, spend a little more time there , then if were lucky we will fly over to Xiamen China where my brother lives with his family.   Hope learn more about Tai Ji in the Phil and China,, will train Karate in Okinawa,,but will practice my Tai Ji Daily,, may be find someone there to do Tai Ji with me.

    Hello Blog site,,,dats about all I can say as it seems there isnt much activitiy in here,,but just by luck may be some one will venture by and be curious.  :-)

     Does any one that may read this do Tai Ji Form 13.  We have, I mean my class, have been learning Tai Ji 13 from Sifu Wu for about 2 or 3 months now,,its a very interesting form,,and I have not seen it before..

    The 13 comes from the 8 directions and 5 elements.

  But there are some very interesting and very martial type moves in it.. such as elbow strike,, from a deep horse stance and Kau, a defense move covering the face and lower part of body in a horse stance. 

  I like the form very much,, although there are no leg maneuvers in it,, its still a very nice form,, I like it as much as i like 37 ,, and better than 42 as its a little shorter..

Anyway,if someone knows the form that read this I would like to read your comments about the form..oh yes,,this is a Yang Form,,its not the tradtional Wudang 13 form.

Charlie Mike B.

   Ive been trying to add photo's to my blog,,, everything I try to put,,it says my file is too large,,,there is no help on this web site,, can anyone out there help me.???

     Some thoughts....

     Not my writings , but thoughts of others that I have taken note of..

   From the Tao Te Ching,,, Dao Der Jing.

    Man, born tender and yielding,

    Stiffens and hardens in death.

    All living growth is pliant,

    Untill death transfixes it.

    Thus men who have hardened are "kin of death"

    and men who stay gentle are "kin of life."

   The tonal richness comes from there being a certain freedom of movement, a certain relaxation, at the ends of the core.  It's the same with people.  In lif, we mus have flexibility.  Our spirits must be able to move freely.  To be too stiff and rigid is to be brittle and lacking in responsiveness.

    Tai ji training can be serious, but not run like a military drill camp.  Nor is it particularly intended to condition the body for improved aerobic or anaerobic performance.  It is primarily skill and spirit heart training and training of the chi, and the master who guides me does so expertly.  Her method of training is comparable to the steps used to forge a fine sword blade:

repeated heating , folding, and pounding.  I often feel that just as I am beginning to feel some sense of competence in searching the form, my sifu will identify a weakness and I will spend days, if not weeks or months on practicing the technique within the form.  Endless repitition and a concerted effort toward refinement yields a sense of relative improvement.

    Then sometimes this relative improvement is punctuated by periods of confusion, in which sifu instructs me to reevauate and alter the performance with which I thought i was already competent.  This wave like pattern of progress and apparant backsliding can be frustrating, but is tremendously effective in developing not only technique, but such attributes of mastery as persistence, patience, and self discipline, and nourishing a storehose of these attributes of the mind/heart/spirit.

   So through this process of struggle , confusion, and improvement we forge stronger and more refined selves.

   This is traditonal Martial Arts.. This is Tai Ji Quan,, The Supreme Ultimate Fist.

,, Wow,, I came onto this blog site today,, and saw that someone had bookmarked my site... WOWEEE,,  I was excited,, went to check out who my new friend might be.  and LOL,, it was me>>> How did that happen???  Sometimes this HI TEK stuff can be exasperating. 

     Last week end I attended an Ancestral White Crane siminar at my friend Russ Smith Sensei,,his guest was Erc Ling of Malaysia.  Russ Had gone over to Singapore last year for a couple of weeks to be part of a week of Martial Arts with many old and revered Sifu's of China.   They did a very good Video.

   Eric Ling is now in the States,, trying to bring attention to the many aspects of Kung Fu, not often seen here in the states,, such as Ancestral White Crane, Singing Crane, and so on.

     My initial reaction to the Ancestral White crane,, was its close similarity to Tai Ji Quan,, but with much Fa Jing,,(did I spell that right).,, lots of explosive energy,, I enjoy that very much.

    I'm still making plans for my trip to Okinawa,, financially its going to be a burden, but it will be well worth it. 

   In May an organization that I belong to (Brotherhood of Veteran Warriors), is having or 4th Annual Gashuku,, I will miss it this year,, :-(.   I surely hope to have it here in Florida next year,, its a wonderful experience we try to get as many different teachers from different systems and arts as possible to attend.  Anyway,, if anyone reads this drop me a line.

Hi ,,,

   I just came on to see if I could figure this stuff out.  It takes a little time for this old mind to absorb a lot of this Hi Tek stuff.  I put my daughters picture on here,, I thought I had some pics of my sons on my computer,,but I dont.. Sorry Guys. Also an old Pic of my first Karate Sensei,, Marcello Umipeg Sensei.  Hope both pictures show up on here.  I would like to add some music to my site,,is that possible?? Anybody know how???

  Well I tried to add my daughters and sensei's picture,,but it said the file was too big,,so I put on a Card I painted for my daughter last year.

 I dont like this,,it wouldnt take that either,, said the file was too big?? whats wt dat??.

Hey!!!!! You guys suckered me into this.  I came on this site to get a free Tai Ji Quan Screen Saver,, and here I am posting a blog!!!!   Whats wit Dat???    I got another blog site,,,,I usually blog on there,, and cover most of my mis adventures,, if u want to call them that.   But I guess I will do some posting in here and see if I cant make some nice Tai Ji friends.   Right now I am getting ready for my trip to Okinawa,, Hope to spend 4 to 5 months there training G0-JU Ryu with Kuban Sensei,,of the Kenbukan.  Then hope to get down to the Phil for at least a month and train Yang Tai Ji at the UP in Manila,, there is a group there that I have been receving e-mails from,,it seems like a nice bunch of people and seem to really know their Tai Ji,, I look forward to learning from them

  If I am lucky and have the money,, I will travel to Xiamen , China where my brother lives.. and hope to train some Tai Ji there also..

  Lucky him to live there,,but he does not train,, too bad..