Springtime Quotations, Poems and Sayings

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Time for Resting

After months of discomfort and tenderness in my abdomen, I decided to have surgery to repair the problem. On May 8th, Dr. Robert Taylor repaired my umbilical hernia at St. Elizabeth's Out-Patient Surgery Center in Red Bluff.

So, for the next few weeks, I'm on the mend ... lots of reading, writing, resting, listening to music, and gentle indoor activities. No lifting. No teaching yoga. No serious gardening. No vigorous martial arts. No CUESD work.

Hopefully, by this Thursday, I will be watering the garden, walking, and doing easy Taijiquan.

I've been working lately on The Ways of Walking website, the Sun Tajiquan 73 Competition Form, and the webpages on May and June.

The Practice of Walking

"Gongfu is an ancient Chinese term describing work, devotion, and effort that has been successfully applied over a substantial period of time, resulting in a degree of mastery in a specific field. Although the term is synonymous in the West with martial arts (though it is most often rendered as Kung Fu), it is equally applicable to calligraphy, painting, music, or other areas of endeavor."
- Andy James

There is a difference between "a practice" and "to practice." Those of us who played competitive sports sometimes were not enthused about a going "to a practice." Practice meant repeating fitness and skills drills, listening to yelling coaches, pushing ourselves to new physical limits, competing with others, doing extra pushups for inattention, etc. Having a practice, a long-term fitness avocation, a mind-body engagement, a spiritual gong-fu, a ritual for well-being, an engaging and enriching pastime, a self-determined commitment to good healthy activites, a non-competitive and non-judgmental path to inner and outward growth ... now this kind of practice enriches both body, mind and spirit for a lifetime.

"Allow walking to occupy a place of stature equal with all the other important activities in your life. As difficult as that might seem, here's how to do it. Make it a practice. That's right. Turn your walking into a vehicle for personal growth as well as for fitness. This will add a higher level of integrity and intention to your approach because you will find that it is a way to deepen and upgrade your relationship to your body. Instead of merely giving your legs a good workout, you'll be practicing to relax more, to breathe better, to expand your vision, to open up your range of motion, to increase your energy, to feel and sense your body. The list is exciting - and endless. With all of this to look forward to, your walking program will take its place alongside everything in your life you value most, and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to schedule time for something you really love to do."
- Katherine Dreyer, Chi Walking, p. 56

Chi Walking: The Find Mindful Steps for Lifelong Health and Energy. By Danny Dreyer and Katherine Dreyer. New York, Simon and Shuster, Fireside Books, 2006. Index, 258 pages. ISBN: 0743267206.

Sun Style Taijiquan Traditional Sword Form

Sun Lu Tang's Internal Martial Arts: Xingyiquan, Baguaquan, and Taijiquan.

Here are two works in progress:

Sun Style Taijiquan Sword Form. Being developmed now. It will include an introduction, information on the history of the traditional Sun Taijiquan Sword form, a detailed bibliography, extensive links, references to video resources, a large collection of quotations about Sun Taijiquan, recommendations on the best media resources on the topic, and suggestions for learning the Sun Taijiquan Sword Form. A detailed list of the names of each of the movements will be provided, with source references, and the movement names will be given in English, Chinese, Chinese characters, French, German, and Spanish. This webpage will include detailed descriptions for each of the movements with black and white photographs illustrating each movement sequence along with commentary and comparisons. Many additional nomenclature lists and section study charts in the PDF format, photographs and graphics will be provided. This webpage will be the most detailed and complete document on the subject of the traditional Sun Taijiquan Sword Form available on the WWW. Expected completion date: September 20, 2008.


Sun Style of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Standard Competition 73 Movements Form. Research by Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.. Webpage: 450Kb, July 2008. This webpage includes an introduction, information on the history of the Sun Taijiquan forms, a detailed bibliography, extensive links, references to video resources, a large collection of quotations about Sun Taijiquan, recommendations on the best media resources on the topic, and suggestions for learning the 73 competition Sun Taijiquan form. A detailed comparative list of the names of each of the 73 movements is provided, with source references, and the movement names are given in English, Chinese, Chinese characters, French, German, and Spanish. This webpage includes detailed descriptions of each of the 73 movements with black and white illustrations for each movement sequence along with commentary and comparisons. Many additional nomenclature lists and section study charts in the PDF format, photographs and graphics are also provided - over 1 MB of information. This webpage is the most detailed and complete document on the subject of the Sun Taijiquan Competition 73 Form available on the Internet. This document was published by Green Way Research, Valley Spirit Taijiquan, Red Bluff, California, 2008. URL: http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/sun73.htm.

Rhythm of Thinking

"The rhythm of walking generates a kind of rhythm of thinking, and the passage through a landscape echoes or stimulates the passage through a series of thoughts. The creates an odd consonance between internal and external passage, one that suggests that the mind is also a landscape of sorts and that walking is one way to traverse it. A new thought often seems like a feature of the landscape that was there all along, as though thinking were traveling rather than making."
- Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

"Thoughts come clearly while one walks."
- Thomas Mann

Ways of Walking

Walking Quotations

Memory Improvement Techniques

Tamin Ansary gives us 12 Memory Tricks:

1. Pay Attention

2. Understand

3. Repeat and Apply

4. Group Items Together

5. Create Meaningfulness

6. Look for Patterns

7. Visualize

8. Connect with Humor

9. Connect it with Song, Melody, Rhymes

10. Associate with Something You Know Well

11. Link Learning to Environment

12. Relax

Five Animal Frolics

"The Bear is a great winter exercise. Slow, ponderous, but very strong, it warms the body, strengthens the spleen, and builds vitality. The Bear's twisting waist movements massage and invigorate the kidneys. The Bear is an excellent preventive against osteoporosis, as it is known to fortify the bones."
- John Du Cane, Power Qigong

The Five Animal Frolics Qigong: Bibliography, Links, Quotes, Resources, Lessons. By Mike Garofalo. This is a very old Chinese exercise system for fitness, good health, and longevity supposedly developed by the Chinese physician Hua Tuo (110-207 CE). In the Wu Qin Xi, the Five Animal Frolics, the five animals are the bear, tiger, monkey, deer, and crane.

Making beneficial exercises interesting and enjoyable has always been a challenge to creative people. Hua Tuois one of the famous physicians of the Han Dynasty. In The History of the Later Han, Hua Tuo wrote:

"Man's body must have exercise, but it should never be done to the point of exhaustion. By moving about briskly, digestion is improved, the blood vessels are opened, and illnesses are prevented. It is like a used doorstep which never rots. As far as Tao Yin (bending and stretching exercises) is concerned, we have the bear's neck, the crane's twist, and swaying the waist and moving the joints to promote long life. Now I have created the art called the Frolics of the Five Animals: the Tiger, the Deer, the Bear, the Monkey, and the Crane. It eliminates sickness, benefits the legs, and is also a form of Tao Yin. If you feel out of sorts, just practice one of my Frolics. A gentle sweat will exude, the complexion will become rosy; the body will feel light and you will want to eat."
- From: Drawing Silk: A Training Manual for T'ai Chi, p. 6.

I have registered to attend a Five Animal Frolics weekend workshop by Kenneth Cohen on September 13 and 14, 2008, in Sacramento, California. I got an email from karonga which said,

"You will learn China's oldest healing exercise (qigong) system: The Five Animal Frolics, based on the movements of the Crane, Bear, Monkey, Deer, and Tiger. The Five Animal Frolics are a gentle and highly enjoyable way to improve energy and well-being. With regular practice, you develop a deep sense of harmony with nature.
In this intensive seminar, you will learn the Crane and Bear Frolics, approximately 20 postures and movement patterns. The Crane develops balance, relaxation, and inner stillness; complemented by the bear for strength, rootedness, and healing presence. You will also learn the basic movements of the monkey, for agility; Deer, for beauty & grace; and the Tiger, for strength.
Cost: $275 per person, to be paid by June 30, 2008. Make check payable to Fair Oaks Personal Power Center. Send payment to, Fair Oaks Personal Power center, P.O BOX 669, Fair Oaks, California 95628. We will mail you the detail information of location after June 30, 2008."

Mike Garofalo's Class Schedule Changes

Class Schedule
Yoga, Tai Chi Chuan, and Qigong Indoor Classes
Instructor: Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.

Class Schedule Changes for this week:
Major Changes!!!

Mike Garofalo will not be teaching any Yoga classes or any Taijiquan classes at the Tehama Family Fitness Center from April 22, 2008 until June 17, 2008. Mike needs to have some abdominal surgery in early May. He will return to TFFC to begin teaching again, assuming a speedy and full recovery, on June 17th, Tuesday.

Ginger Olds, Program Coordinator at TFFC, will try to find a substitute yoga and taijiquan teacher during the time that Mike is out for the surgery. Call TFFC with any questions: 530-528-8656.


Location: Tehama Family Fitness Center (TFFC)
2487 South Main Street
Red Bluff, California 96080
530-528-8656

Classes Taught by Mike Garofalo:

Yoga Tuesdays, 5:30 - 6:45 p.m.

Yoga Wednesdays, 5:30 - 6:15 p.m.

Tai Chi Chuan Wednesdays, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Yoga Thursdays, 5:30 - 6:45 p.m.

Tai Chi Chuan Saturdays, 9:30 - 11 a.m.

Yoga Saturdays, 11 - 12:15 a.m.


Instructions, Lessons, Information, and Resources for Mike's Classes:

Yoga: Hatha and Vinyasa Style of Yoga

Standard 24 Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) Form in the Yang Style

Yang Family Taijiquan Long 108 Form

Taijiquan Sword Standard 32 Sword Form

Cloud Hands Website

Kevin Weaver's Taijiquan Classes at TFFC


Blog Notes on my Class Schedule

Changes or Cancellations of Mike's Classes at TFFC



Other Taijiquan or Qigong Classes that Mike Teaches

Private Taijiquan or Qigong Lessons from Mike Garofalo