Movements of Magic

Imagining this Universe to be more vast than our society seems willing to admit, I realize that in a way I am not alone. My experience has so far led me here (to desire).. Wanting to be engaged more fully by life in the way my spiritheart craves.. Not sure how to be or move on from here..  Since child hood I've been enchanted by the possibilities of being an expression of a loving, healthy, balanced & peaceful connection with source & all creations. Moving through life as a natural free-flowing healthy spirit, being in the "flesh". Yet, here I am now, a 30 year old novice of even myself.. I have no desire to be, by way of hard will, finding it flat out boring. I wish to be directly guided through the practice of that which peaks my interest.. as if it were my job to be taught personally by the masters of the universal way of being the flow of spirit. Sure, maybe I am too far out there  & just need to get out of my own way.. I just figured this would make for interesting conversation... As a student of Tai Chi, I am not always able to attend class as life appears to get in the way, even in regards to my personal practice.... I suppose I am just wanting more of myself...

Master Klein, how would You guide me through over coming my own self defeating obstacles, while learning Tai Chi Kung Fu, If you & I were in a one on one Student/Teacher setting?

Welcome to this forum.  The private classes, of course, are geared to your specific needs.  Yet everyone begins by learning chi-gung and Yang form with an emphasis on the basic principles and their applications to everyday life.  How does the mind and body work together?  How do you become aware of your mental, emotional and physical habits and be able to shed those that interfere with your life?  How have you armored yourself? How can you replace that emotional armor with developing your full potential as a human being?  These subjects are inherent in learning each step of Tai-chi.  In my classes, I also bring in writings from other cultures and show how these cultures approached the same issues of healing from their own perspectives.  This helps to clarify why we do the things we do in Tai-chi.  We also learn about the history of our own Western perspective of life (our "world view") and how that has affected us emotionally, mentally and physically.  By understanding how we got here we can both appreciate the advances we have made and be better able to shed those aspects of our "programming" that hurt us.  And there is also an emphasis on physically getting into shape, including better aerobics, toning, flexibility, better breathing, coordination and joint strength.  As you can see, this is a thorough type of training.  For those people interested in self defense, we can, at a certain point start that training.  For those interested more in healing, such as massage, we can then learn healing.  The private classes are tailored to your interests.  In the group classes, of course, each class is for a specific subject, such as Yang form, or chi-gung or self defense, etc.  Again, welcome to our forum and feel free to continue contributing to it.

Bob Klein

Thank you for your response. I'v been trying to let it sink in for the past couple of months.. My current challenge is the inability to consistantly attend a legitimate class, where corrections are able to be made by an instructor such as yourself.. There are Times in my past when I was able to practice with Very qualified Teachers.Yet when ever I was alone, & even still now after practicing for 3 years,  I feel that I lacked the personal sense of self importance that would allow me to practice on my own without falling apart on the inside..

I practice on my own when ever I can manage a healthy enough internal environment; Both a seemingly rareYang style long form & a Cheng Man Ching Yang style short form.  Though it feels good & obviously bennefits me to practice, My heart & body aches for a tai chi community where I can interact with practitioners at various levels of achievement...  Seriously I don't know how I manage sometimes, nearly being brought to tears during some solo or group tai chi sessions.. Due to very limited time, money & transportaion, I am unable to receive further traing at the moment. So I am learning to accept what I cannot change. & Sumon the strength to practice an art that I love, but energetically manages to stir up old baggage that I can barely face without the proper help. I keep trying to remind my self of all of the wisdom you offer in "Movements of Magic".. Not sure how to explain my "dilema".. I don't know if you have any advice for me or someone experiencing similar challenges, But I invite your honest input...

I am not giving up...  It's embarassing for me to confront the desperate longing for healthy, kind, knowledgeable & honest guidance... Still, this inner/outer challenge can't last forever... Be well.. Thanks for all you have so far offered..  

I was in a similar situation for many years.  I simply found good, sincere people to be around.  They weren't specifically interested in Tai-chi, but perhaps in ecological issues, or they may have studied other types of healing systems.  It would be great to have a real thriving Tai-chi community but sometimes you have to create your own little community of people you just like being around.  That is one of the main reasons I started my school in the first place.  Some of my students and I just returned from the Tai-chi Park festival where Tai-chi teachers and students gather to learn from each other.  Read the blog on this.  I would love to have some kind of yearly festival on Long Island but the amount of work and money to pull it off and finding a facility, holds me back.  Until then, the books and DVD's provide training for people who can't attend classes.