Brooklyn Ball Factory

There is a little place in Brooklyn, NY called the Brooklyn Ball Factory. It is a restaurant and the balls in question are meatballs. The restaurant is located in the middle of a block of old brick buildings that has seen better times – if they saw them even then. Google map it at 94 Montrose Ave, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY to see just how humble the area is.

The fare is simple, tasty and affordable. The decor is a cross between early 20th Century Industrial and the kind of fusion restaurant decor you would find in pricier places west across the River in Manhattan proper. The owner took out the sun roof and put in stairs to a roof deck patio he built himself.

It seems like a nice place to go after a gentle practise of qigong and Tai Chi.

…Tai Chi has its roots in the country villages and temples of old China. The Tai Chi of today is mostly practised in crowded mega-cities and their not much smaller relatives. Brooklyn is a “little” place compared to its bigger sibling on the other side of the East River. It is like the cities of long ago and far away where the buildings weren’t all that tall and the bamboo groves and country fields not all that far away.

I know there are Tai Chi studios in Brooklyn. Patience Tai Chi is one such group and has a venerable history associated with Prof. Cheng. I wonder if they ever go to the Brooklyn Ball Factory after practise. Very often, talking about practise over a nice meal and cups of green tea is as good as practise itself.

Sometimes…even better.

*Read the review and see more pictures in The New York Times:

The Way of Bart Simpson

The young Everyman sage of our times, Bart Simpson, once observed:  “A Simpson never gives up unless he tries at least one easy thing.”  As amusing as that sounds, there is more than a hint of truth in the statement.  That’s why it is funny.

The Old Teachers have a generally wry, if not wholly dim, view of people who undertake the internal arts – or for that matter, any serious endeavour.  The dropout rate of even the physically less demanding disciplines like Tai Chi is very high. 

The reason for this, in large part, is that many people today lack the capacity for sustained endeavour or commitment.  As the aikido adept, Morihiro Saito, bluntly put it:  “Most people just don’t have the guts.”

It certainly seems that way for many aspects of modern life, not just esoteric arts.  A kid doesn’t feel like showing up for his part-time job so…he doesn’t.  He doesn’t even bother making an excuse.  He just doesn’t show.

Scientists fake results to get grants.  Divorce rates are on the increase (though apparently not at the disastrous 50% rate.  See:  http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/jan/28/divorce-rates-marriage-ons).  So on and so forth.

Today, I learned that two start-up restaurants in our little town have folded.  One place had set their prices a little high.  High enough to NOT compete with the already existing Chinese-Canadian buffet place or the local pizza joints.  The owners also were gouged by the landlord re: their share of the utilities.

The second place seemed to specialize in overdone dishes.  Why go out to pay for food that is overcooked when you can do that just as easily at home?

Now, it’s back to fast-food outlets and whitewashed versions of ethnic food.   Part of the problem, is the large elderly population here.  For starters, retirees typically do not have much disposable income.  They will try something once (at best) but, if it is not actually tip-top, the first visit will be the last.

Second, many of the residents here are NOT from cultures known for their cuisines.  Think: heavy on the red meat, uninspired vegetables, and lots of starch.  So, it was a bad mix to begin with: restaurants not willing to meet the few customers they did manage to get, and a populace that couldn’t be bothered supporting new business as they go through their start-up periods.

Long-timers in the internal arts see this all the time.  Most people are unwilling to help themselves much less help each other.  It is a little like trying to teach people how to swim who want YOU to move their arms and legs through the water.  Not a good idea.

The Long-timers just learn to muddle through.  To carry on and, let’s be frank, not get too worked up over those who fall by the wayside.  Certainly, there are legitimate reasons for being unable to continue.  Work commitments, family issues and so forth.  But the Long-Timers have faced these as well…and dealt with them so they can continue.

These are the ones who deserve to be taught.  In fact, in practical terms, we can ONLY teach those who show up. 

Now, for us here in this little township, we just have to figure out where we can go for tea after practise.

(Source: Google images)

Absolutely nothing to do with Tai Chi…really?

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This is a marvellous story of a teen girl (with braces on her teeth no less) who made a discovery about Lionfish.  She found out that these beautiful but dangerous fish can tolerate much lower salinities than previously thought. Long … Continue reading →

The Humanist: Professor Cheng Man-ch’ing

Professor Cheng Man-ch’ing was a pioneer of Tai Chi in America in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.  He was a direct student of Yang Cheng-fu, a prominent (some would say “foremost) leader of Yang style Tai Chi.   Professor Cheng was a scholar of the traditional mode.  He excelled in calligraphy, poetry, painting, and medicine in addition to the internal arts.

In one of his later books – Tai Chi Ch’uan: A Simplified Method of Calisthenics for Health and Self-Defense – he outlines his hope that practitioners of tai chi will develop the art so that they will do good works in the world by extending what they value in themselves to others.

This is bit of a loaded wish these days where it is not clear to the Old Teachers that what most people value is all that “valuable”.  But, it is safe to believe that the Professor was referring to the classical virtues of all the great ancient cultures.  These include benevolence, civility, honour, familial devotion, good citizenship, reason, and humility/self-awareness.

This is done through leading by example.  Live such a life, don’t just tell others to live it.  Be the model, not the pedant. 

Self-sacrifice is involved, the Professor says.  A close approximation of his words are: “Subdue the the prideful self to nurture benevolence.  Develop one of the Virtues of caring for others, creativity, or harmony.  Extend to others by enlarging your sphere of goodness by helping others to do good as well.  …Would it not be a tremendous boon if such personal commitment could obtain some universal benefit for all society?”

Sages and prophets have said as much over the millennia.  Given our knowledge of today, we need not restrict ourselves to the human condition. Other species, the Earth itself, could benefit from active benevolence on our part. The tasks are many, the enterprise is ongoing.

 

(Source: patiencetaichi.com)

What Matters?

(Source: http://www.polariswushu.net)

There are many reasons for studying the internal arts. Two of the usual reasons involve training for: (1) martial proficiency and self-defense and (2) health and wellness. These two lines becomes streams become rivers become vast oceans. In the photo here, we see an example of the first approach. The American martial historian and practitioner, Robert W. Smith, is shown punching the rather formidable abdomen of the internal arts adept Wang Shu Jin.

It is a very impressive photo. But what are those who follow the “Health and Wellness” approach meant to think? Could even a reasonably fit Tai Chi person of the HW line take such a punch? Doubtful. Nor should they.

There is an old saying that goes something like this: “The Mountain does not think less of the River because it is lowly. The River does not think less of the Mountain because it cannot move.”

Or, as my father used to say, “It takes all kinds to make a world.”

The trick, so to speak, is to figure out what you are. Mountain or River? Rose or Redwood? Then, move forward accordingly.

Master Ma Yueh Liang on nature and benefits of tai chi

Master Ma was 91 years old when this was filmed. He lived to be nearly 100. His longevity, I’m sure, he attributed to his many years of practise of tai chi. In the clip he is shown demonstrating the opening postures of the Wu Family Tai Chi Fast Form.  Master Ma was the son-in-law of the founder of that style: Wu Chien Ch’uan.  Master Ma’s wife – Wu Ying-hua – was also a master.

Take home message:  Practise every day – however much OR little is up to you.  Some days you will feel up to a lot of practise.  Other days not so much.  But do SOMETHING and bit by bit the gifts of tai chi practise will be bestowed upon you.

NB:  The YT link connects to many videos related to Master Ma.  The first one is the one of interest but you may find the others informative as well….