Risley Ranch

Babies and Tai Chi

I had a great weekend.  So good, in fact, I didn't want to do any work, blog, twitter or anything else except soak in the sun.

Saturday Joe took his testing for karate.  We've had him enrolled in the local ATA franchise for close to six months now.  He practices twice a week with other 5-6 year olds.  It really is neat to watch him go through the moves, and I'm impressed with the positive, confidence-building and respect-generating nature of the program.  I studied Goju Ru karate in college and loved it.  My karate career ended when I destroyed my little finger in a sparing match and had to have reconstructive surgery on it.  Even so, I'd like to encourage Joe to follow martial arts for its mind-body-soul attributes, as well as the need to learn self-defense.

Also on Saturday, I finished an eight-week course in introductory Tai Chi.  I found the Lawrence Academy of Tai Qi through a reference, and decided to make it part of my "Tao Makeover," which I started back in February of this year.  The instructors -- Trish, Adam, Katie and Travler -- are wonderful folks.  They've been practicing this Taoist martial art for at least 10 years each, and it shows.  They teach a derivative of the Wu style, which is one of the five traditional schools of Tai Chi, all of which originated in China.  You probably think of old people in a park doing slow, long movements in unison when you think of Tai Chi.  It is a "soft" martial art; however, it requires all the things I'm trying to better in my 40-year-old self: balance, concentration, stamina and positive energy.  I'm definitely going to continue the training.

On Sunday we headed into Kansas City for the local March for Babies event.  The March of Dimes is a Barkley client, and one of the many brand-changes we helped them with was changing the name of their signature event from Walk America to March for Babies.

It was a gorgeous sunny day, and thousands of people descended upon the Power and Light district for the 1- or 3-mile walk.  We opted for the 1-mile, which went right past the Barkley building, which was decorated to the hilt to show off our passion for this client.  My hat's off to everyone who helped organize us for this event -- especially the MOD team and Jennifer Cawley, who put in all kinds of time organizing and rallying us.

Technorati Tags: March of Dimes, March for Babies, Tai Chi, Barkley

Tao makeover - Chapter 27

You would think I'd be overwhelmed by the presence of the Tao is China, the birthplace of Taoism more than 2500 years ago.  I wasn't.  Quite the opposite, actually.  The Tao was absent.  I guess it was the overwhelmingness of Shanghai with its millions of people, thousands of skyscrapers and billions of dollars in commerce.  I'd have to get out into the hinter-lands of China to find the Tao. 

So I haven't read the Tao Te Ching in some time, but I picked it up last night.  Chapter 27 is about the "effortless of true competence," as Dalton puts it.  Not necessarily what I wanted to read at the end of a stress-filled week -- how true sages make everything look easy.  But anyway...

"The greatest competence leaves no trace of its activity.  It uses all its resources to produce a perfect and economical result," is Dalton's explanation of this chapter.  Of course, that's easier to say than do.  I tend to live more like a bit of pop philosophy I read once:  "Be like a duck: calm on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath."

Technorati Tags: Taoism

Tao Makeover - Chapter 26

Like chapter 16, chapter 26 encourages us to find "calm stillness" in our lives.  Sometimes I think that's just impossible in 21st century America.  But rather than be frustrated with our busy lives, I guess we need to look for those few moments when we can achieve stillness, even if it's only for a moment. 

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says there is a space between stimulus and response, meaning, whenever we are confronted with something, it doesn't cause our response...we have a choice on how we can respond to that stimulus, whatever it is.  I think chapter 26 is saying that too (who knows, Covey could have been inspired by the Tao Te Ching).

Tao Makeover - Chapter 25

The last stanza in chapter 25 I really like:

"Man imitates earth.
Earth imitates heaven.
Heaven imitates Tao.
Tao imitates itself."

Like chapters 1 and 34 and a couple of others, chapter 25 attempts to further explain the Tao and Tao process.  This stanza explains from where we come -- it illustrates the notion that we are it and it is us and it's all related.

Tao Makeover - Chapter 24

Ego.  The self.  Man is self-centered, no?  Chapter 24 warns us of the dangers of ego.  Center Tao has an outstanding review of the chapter.

But what does it mean to ME? I think it relates to my post yesterday...listen more, talk less.  "Just be" more; strive less.  Appreciate more; whine less.  Be grateful more; be stressful less.  In short, be more humble.

Technorati Tags: Taoism

Tao Makeover -- Chapter 23

Dalton titled this chapter, "Brief Speech, High Expectations," and I love it.  The two stanzas in this chapter seem completely unrelated -- the first is about the dangers of talking too much, and the second is about getting what you expect out of life.

"Brevity in speech emulates nature," is Dalton's translation of the first line. 

"To talk little is natural," is English's and Feng's. 

My interpretation:  "Listen more, talk less." 

There's an epidemic of talking in our society, don't you think?  Talk shows, talk radio, people that talk over you...talk, talk, talk.  Almost nobody listens.  And just because someone has their mouth shut doesn't mean they are listening -- most likely they're formulating in their head what they're going to say next.

We have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

Tao Makeover - Chapter 22

This chapter speaks to the importance of being flexible.  I personally like this chapter because it's a great reminder for how I should manage affairs both at work and home:

"Yield and become whole,
Bend and become straight,
Be empty and become filled,
Be exhausted and become renewed.
Have little and receive much,
Have much and be confused."

Another little nugget of wisdom I picked up somewhere (maybe it's in the Tao Te Ching in a future chapter) is this:  "Be like bamboo; bend, but do not break."

Tao Makeover - Chapter 21

This chapter, like many others, attempts to explain the Tao (which is unexplainable).  From Center Tao:

"The Taoist path is essentially a path of following. When I slow down enough to notice my every movement, I can respond to reality as it is. When I'm not following reality, I take charge and push my idealized notions of how reality SHOULD be. Of course reality moves at its own pace and never matches my ideals. I waste a lot of energy for nothing. This inspires me all the more to follow the way things are so I can enjoy the contented state of appreciation."

Technorati Tags: Taoism

Tao Makeover - Chapter 20

I had a hard time deciphering chapter 20.  Dalton has named it "Being Different."  So I went searching for some sites to help me better understand it.  I found this one, run by Carl Abbott.  His commentary for chapter 20 is here.

Technorati Tags: Taoism

Tao Makeover - Chapter 19

You can call this chapter "Plain and Simple."  A portion from Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English's translation:

It is more important
To see the simplicity,
To realize one's true nature,
To cast off selfishness
And temper desire.

And William Martin's short explanation in The Parent's Tao Te Ching was very powerful:

You do not have to teach the outward niceties.
In have to recognize the inward realities.
You do not have to make things turn out well.
You have to recognize that all is well.

Think about those last two lines for a second.  How often do we as parents struggle to get things just right with our kids.  To make sure we're on time.  To make sure the house is clean and free of kid-clutter.  How often do we stress about their behavior and try to force them to listen to us?  I spend too much time trying to "make things turn out well," which is sending a signal to Joe that I can control him and the world.  Instead, I need to spend more time recognizing that "all is well."  My serenity and optimism and passion will teach him more than my words.

Technorati Tags: Taoism