Mid Atlantic Erg Sprints

Not a Tai Chi, but fitness oriented post.

The Mid Atlantic Erg Sprints (http://www.ergsprints.com/) will be held Saturday, 30 Jan 2010. First events kick off at 0800 and run till about 1600. I've signed up for the Veterans (55-59) 2000 meter. I expect to come in last, since I've only been rowing seriously about 10 months so I haven't developed sufficient technique or fitness to start producing really competitive times yet. However, the experience will be worthwhile and next year maybe I can move up...

The Mid Atlantics are one of the satellite regattas for the CRASH-B.sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships (http://www.crash-b.org/) to be held in Boston,MA on 14 Feb 2010.

So if you are in the DC area during that time, come on out and see the events or perhaps sign up to compete.

Goal Setting and Patience

On 27 October 2009, I achieved a personal goal to row 1,000,000 meters on the Concept2 indoor rowing machine in 2009. I set this goal back in January, after reading an article by my friend Jeff Decker (http://www.ultimatefitnessforu.com/) who advocates setting a large goal and then breaking it down into smaller quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily efforts to make the bigger goal more manageable. It works. You can get there one step at a time.

With respect to such activities as rowing or other strength endurance sports, a level of patience and persistence has to be demonstrated. The research on improving performance in endurance sports suggests that up to 4 years of consistent and increasingly intense training is the minimum time required to become reasonably fit and proficient enough to be truly competitive. The breaks out as (Stephen Seiler Phd, The Time Course of Training Adaptations, http://home.hia.no/~stephens/timecors.htm):

• about 1 year to maximize your VO2max potential
• an additional 3-4 years to maximize your lactate tolerance
• concurrently about 4 years to develop technical efficiency through sports specific training and repetition (note that efficiency through improved technique does not seem to plateau as VO2max and Lactate tolerance do)
  

To paraphrase the great British rowing coach Terry O'neill, "Rowing is really a very simple activity, it's just very, very, very hard work." Now apply this to the much more technically demanding and variable art of Tai Chi boxing (or ju jutsu or other arts).

In the case of arts like Tai Chi, it is the one of the basic tenets that you must practice daily and only after a long time, usually several years of steady training, will you achieve a real difference in your life and abilities. As one master said, "We are the school of 10,000 repetitions." My ju jutsu sensei reminds us that at least 1000 correct repetitions are necessary to say one has "learned" a particular technique or skill. In traditional Tai Chi training the timetable would look something like this:

• about 1-1.5 years to learn the Yang Long Form
• an additional 1-1.5 years solo form practice and push hands work to be considered minimally proficient in the solo form
  
• additional decade of training to become relatively proficient in the practical application of Tai Chi
• Continued regular, correct practice will continue to improve technical skill throughout one's lifetime
  

In this context, that oft quoted saying about a long journey beginning with a single step becomes much more meaningful. In Tai Chi we want to take the long view. Be patient with ourselves but "practice daily without stopping." Recognize that the abilities and progress we seek is going to be a lifelong process. Don't consider how long the road, simply take and enjoy each individual step.

Endless correct repetition is the key to success.

Why Tai Chi?

"If asked the purpose of Tai Chi, it is to achieve long life and never aging youthfulness.

If asked the method of Tai Chi training, the mind and energy come first, the muscle and bones come second"

-- Poem of the Thirteen Postures

It has always struck me that the essence of Tai Chi is contained in these two short verses.

Why else do we exercise and play, than to remain youthful and vigorous in mind and body and more fully enjoy life? There are many approaches to exercise and physical culture. The approach taken by Tai Chi (and this is what differentiates so called "internal" and "external" systems of martial arts training) is to train ourselves to be fully present in mind and spirit in each and every movement and action. As we achieve this awareness, we will also come to live better in our bodies and begin to develop strength, flexibility, balance and co-ordination. This forms a positive feedback that builds on past training to improve our Tai Chi experience.

Once, when the noted Tai Chi master T.T. Liang was asked, "What is Tai Chi?" He replied, "Tai Chi is a Chinese system of calisthenics for good health and self defense."

Whether we want it or not, we are in a fight for our good health and well being everyday of our lives, and Tai Chi will help you achieve success in that daily battle.
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Hopefully, we will see more of you at class this month. ;-)

Mother Earth and the end of life?

I have a long fascination with historical events. This includes archeology and paleontology. It seems we humans often overestimate our importance and permanence on the Earthly scence. As a consequence, we don't take climate change seriously, and when we respond, it may be in inappropriate ways. I ran across a few articles of interest lately and this book which you might enjoy.

Under a Green Sky, by Peter Ward.

Peace and joy in Tai Chi!

Thoughts on Fitness

In Yang's Ten Principles (with his commentary) we read:

Use the mind instead of force.

In the "Tai Chi Chuan Treatise," it was said the one should use the mind instead of force. While you practice Tai Chi, you should relax your entire body without using any clumsy strength to leave in your tendons, bones, and blood vessels. The strength will only tighten up your body. Without using strength, you can change your steps with agility, lightness, and turn easily. Some people may hesitate with the thought of not using force, wondering how to increase human strength.
...
It was said from the "Tai Chi Treatise", "extremely soft, then extremely hard and strong." If one masters Tai Chi Kung-Fu to a high level, their arms and shoulders will be like steel wrapped with the appearance of cotton (hidden extreme power). It is a big difference from those who practice some "outer academy". While they are using strength, they have strength. If they don't use strength, it is like floating. You can see that "outer force" does not last long, and it's not released from the internal body's jing."

For many people who are used to traditional approaches to physical fitness such as weight training and running, this can be one of the more difficult notions of Tai Chi practice. I think that the key here is to realize that Tai Chi asks you to try a completely different way of activating and accessing the muscles systems of the body. In doing so, you must change your mental attitude and learn to "unclench your muscles" and "let go."

For me, there is not an exclusive, either or, relationship between Tai Chi and "external methods." It is certainly neccessary to organize one's training so that the "external" methods do not interfere with learning the "internal" methods of Tai Chi. It is also important to realize that most of us have spent most of our lives devoted to "external" methods and have entirely neglected the "internal" approaches.

Keep these things in mind:

Do your Tai Chi training before weight training or intense aerobics activity or on alternate days. These "external" activities, while generally good for you, will directly interfere with your ability to settle, relax and let go, if done before your Tai Chi session. On the other hand, Tai Chi will warm up your body and settle your mind. I find this improves results from strength and aerobic work.

Over time, try to increase the time you devote to Tai Chi practice (or other mind body practices if you prefer). The mind body link will likely have been, the most neglected and therefore the weakest aspect of your physical training throughout your life, and it always pays most to work on weaknesses first, rather than continue to do the familiar and easy.

Ready for Spring Activities

Spring has finally arrived and with it, the green is back on the grass and trees. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the warmer weather. Now we will be out working in the yard and doing those things that we haven't all winter. Time to consider the need for physical conditioning year round and safety in movement and daily activities.

The most common issue people experience is back pain. Much of this is related to a largely sedentary life style in the modern world all week long, coupled with poor postural habits when lifting, and indulging in "weekend warrior" sports activities for which we have not prepared through regular exercise.

Central to Tai Chi is maintaining good posture, flexible hips, and strong legs. Here are some tips for lifting safely.

Keep the head, neck and upper spine erect and well centered over the hips.
Keep the load close to the body by not extending the hands too far.
Keep the lower back erect, lifting with the legs.
Learn to keep the knees aligned with the toes and generally behind the big toe.

We'll examine these ideas going forward and show how these Tai Chi posture principles apply in work and sports (even weightlifters who lift enormous weights follow these principles).

Balance, Yielding and Flexibility

Today it seems like Spring, however, there is a weather outlook for some precipitation, possibly including snow. I can recall several really heavy snowfalls in February and March in our region. With that in mind, let me remind you of Gold's Gym Fredericksburg foul weather policy:

Weather Policy for Gold's Gym Fredericksburg

Kids Club and Group Exercise classes will be following the City of Fredericksburg Schools.

If the City of Fredericksburg schools are closed or on a delay, Gold's Gym will also be on a delay as follows:

Kids Club will open at 10:00 am.

All Group Exercise classes before 10:00 am will be cancelled. All classes after 10:00 am will run as regularly scheduled.

If the weather is questionable please call the front desk at 540-368-0032 for the most current information.
While we want you to use the gym. it's important to be safe.

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Speaking of safety and bad weather, Tai Chi has long been noted for the great improvements in balance that you can achieve. This anecdotal evidence has also been demonstrated in several modern clinical trials. It has also been shown in modern clinical trials that balance, like physical strength and cardiovascular health, requires regular training as we age or it will steadily deteriorate.

Tai Chi has been clinically demonstrated to significantly train and improve balance in participants. This is especially important in the season of icy sidewalks.

Let me share the following literary passage.
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Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Trees and grass are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus, whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.

The hard a stiff will be broken,
The soft and supple will prevail.

---Tao Te Ching
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The hallmark of Tai Chi is to yield and be flexible.
Steadily advancing without directly confronting force with force.
The training encourages the development of physical and mental flexibility in the activities of daily living.

Exercise

So far as exercise and diet goes, keep it simple and keep it daily. Do something for yourself and push back against the forces of age.

We do not stop exercising because we grow old - we grow old because we stop exercising.
-- Dr. Kenneth Cooper, founder of Cooper Institute.

Exercise and temperance can preserve something of our early strength even in old age.
-- Cicero (106 BC-43 BC) Roman orator and statesman. An Old Age, X.

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.
-- Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby (1826-93), British statesman. The Conduct of Life, address at Liverpool College, 20 Dec 1873.

Goals

It's a dream until you write it down, and then its a goal.
-- Anonymous

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. 
-- Aristotle (Greek Philosopher)

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
-- Epictetus (Greek Philosopher)

The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.
-- Juma Ikangaa (Modern Marathoner)

The key is not the will to win... everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.
-- Bobby Knight (NCAA Men's Basketball Coach )

The quotes above need little amplification from me.
Sit down with yourself and set one goal.
Start with something small.
Write it down.
Then do what you have to do.
When you achieve that goal, and you will, set another and achieve it.
Make it a habit one day at a time.