We are now using only the Internet Services provided by our XFinity Service provider.
This will cost us $75.00 per month for 5G speed. We use two desktop computers via direct Ethernet cable. The WiFi options work OK thus far.
Been down for a couple of days ... in transition!
I am learning this short Taiji form from Sifu Ken Gullette, from his excellent instructional DVD. I'm still kind of stiff in my movements. Feel I have good ground path connection and shifting weight into sides. No sense of Dantien circling yet. Can repeat, on my own, up to Move 13.
"The Chen 19 Form was created by Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang in 1995 in response to demand from students around the world for a short routine suitable for beginners. The form is composed of 19 movements (and so its name) , divided into four sections. The form is easy for novice to learn, yet offers the experienced practitioner room to express and develop the basic principles, energies and techniques of the style. The form is a combination of postures from the three traditional Chen style taijiquan routines: Lao Jia (Old Frame), Xin Jia (New Frame), and the Xiao Jia (Small Frame). It contains several postures from the Xin Jia style, including Shang Bu Xie Xing, Dao Juan Hong, and Yeh Ma Fen Zhong. These postures are fairly simple, and avoid the complex coils that are the signature of the style. Also included are postures from the Xiao Jia style, including Shuang Tui Shou, Shan Tong Bei, and Liu Feng Si Bi. The remainder of the form (about 2/3) is from the Lao Jia Yi Lu routine."
- Madison Chen Style Taijiquan Studio
The Chen Taijiquan 19 Form of Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang
Research and Study of the 19 Form by Michael P. Garofalo
2018-2023
"This form was developed by Chen Xiao Wang, 19th generation grandmaster of Chen Style Taijiquan. It serves as a good introduction to important moves in the primary Chen form, lao jia yi lu. It is an easy form to begin utilizing Chen Xiao Wang's reeling silk principles. It is also very well balanced with right-side/left side moves. Postures of this form are derived from Chen “first set” forms as listed below: New Frame First set (Xin Jia Yi Lu): Step up walk obliquely (Shang bu xie xing), Whirling upper arms (Dao juan hong), Part wild horse’s mane (Yeh ma fen zhong). Small Frame First set (Xiao Jia Yi Lu): Push with both hands (Shuang tui shou), Flashing the back (Shan tong bei), and Six sealing four closing (Liu feng si bi). Old Frame First Set (Lao Jia Yi Lu) – Remainder of moves. The form is composed of four sections that run back and forth on a straight line, with each section primarily running in one direction."
- Rochester Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan
The Chen Taijiquan 19 Form of Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang
Research and Study of the 19 Form by Michael P. Garofalo
2018-2023
39. Fourteen Acts I Do Everyday at 8o Years of Age
Get Up, Stand, Move; Plan
Eat breakfast; Think
Talk with my wife; Listen
Read; Reflect
Tend to our garden; Smile
Write, Web Publish, Journal; Analyze
Enjoy Walking; Encourage Others
Do some Yoga or Tai Chi; Study Sages
Do Household Chores; Clear Mind
Eat Lunch and/or Dinner; Gratitude
Clean my Body, Drink Water; Purify
Socialize; Communicate for Peace
Mind My Own Business; Summarize
Sleep; Dream
53. Write Sonnets and Quintains
SM8 Sonnet Model 8
Garofalo Sonnet Form
5 2 5 2 = 14 Lines
Quintain Couplet Quintain Couplet
The Couplets are often connected thematically with each other.
Can be rhymed verse, blank verse, or free verse.
Typographically, mostly Left Justied; but with some variations in identation, spacing, layout.
Makes free use of punctuation.
Some use of hypertext and reference links.
A Google drop-down Translation Menu. Read the webpage in over 50 different languages.
Many of these Sonnets are cellphone readable with ease. However, due to the limitations on the width of the lines on a cellphone screen, these Sonnets can appear to be 28 to 45 lines long. Viewed on a larger desktop screen, the same Sonnet can been seen as just 14 lines. Consequently, this cellphone line length limitation affects the writing style.
Examples in The Gushen Grove Sonnets: #1, # 2, #4, #9.
The Gushen Grove Sonnets. By Mike Garofalo.
Quintains, Pentastich, and Tankas. By Mike Garofalo. Over 750 Quintains.
Tercets, Haiku, Senryu. By Mike Garofalo. Over 1,000 Tercets.
Pulling Onions. By Mike Garofalo. Over 1,000 One-Liners, Quips, Epigrams.
Poetry Research. By Mike Garofalo. Bibliography, Links, Notes, Reviews, Commentary, Research.
Sonnet Poetry Research. By Mike Garofalo. Bibliography, Links, Notes, Reviews, Commentary, Research.
Quintain Poetry Research. By Mike Garofalo. Bibliography, Links, Notes, Reviews, Commentary, Research.
Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu
Chapter 32
Quintain Poems by Mike Garofalo
25 Steps and Beyond
The Collected Works of Mike Garofalo
740.
Reading Ted Berrigan's Sonnets
from 1964— a brainy Bore.
Muddled random tiny thoughts
absent of meaningfulness
scattered around on clumsy round floors.
Ideas popping like green popcorn
on the twisted streets of hip New York
pointless lines on pills of speed
running round dead orange olive trees
bizarre concoctions of decoying imagery.
In some ways silly FUN, like listening
to the confused chatter of a drugged insane
Prophet of impossible dry rain
mumbling inanities before the Cisco Kid.
Berrigan clearly not a clear Billy Collins.
741.
Sleepless in Sunset Suburbs
my mind working overtime:
a speeding bike without brakes
a rolling rock tumbling down
a super-alert consciousness drained
a can't-quit-motor speeding on
742.
Iran Bombed into Itself
Listening to the News
about the war in Iran:
Israel demolished the
Shi'a Regime's military, the
USA bombed it's nuclear sites.
I'm not upset to see Iranian
proxies and the Iranian Shi'a
Regime dismantled. Proxy
terrorists like Hamas, Hezbollah,
Levant, Baathists, [Sunni-Isis-Al-Qaeda]
Have openly stated their aims
to terrorize and destroy
Israel, the USA, and other Nations.
Good Riddance!
Likewise, our own Christian Nationalists
Seek to Rule us Secular Woke Folks.
But we don't need or want
More religious zealots In Charge;
Favoring a separation of Church and State,
Religions are often a violent disgrace.
700.
Common Sense
often not so common
and makes no sense—
the least common denominator
of stupidity simplified
Used to justify
magically the dumbest
meanest cruelest acts
useless false opinions
selfish stupidity and lies
Worshiped by self-righteous
solipsists bereft of any sense
of a real world bigger than 'I'.
Full of 'truths' empty of facts,
willing to Kill to keep
their Fictions alive.
The Fireplace Records, Chapter 21
Shifu Mao Zhang's "Gradual Enlightenment
Xita asked Shifu Miao Zhang, "What is sudden enlightenment?" Shifu Miao Zhang threw his staff on the muddy ground.
Xita asked Miao Zhang, "What is gradual enlightenment?" Shifu Miao Zhang stomped on his staff three times.
Xita said, "Yes! Good! Your understanding is straightening. From now on, Miao Zhang, you will need to continue to clean and polish your staff."
Koans:
Pulling Onions Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo
Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans
Fireplaces, Stoves, Campfires, Kitchens, Pots, Firewood
Brief Spiritual Lessons Database Project: Subject Indexes
Subject Index to 621 Zen Buddhist Koans
Sparks: Brief Spiritual Lessons and Stories
Matches to Start a Kindling of Insight
May the Light from Your Inner Fireplace Help All Beings
Taoist, Chan Buddhist, Zen Buddhist, Philosophers
Catching Phrases, Inspiring Verses, Koans, Meditations
Indexing, Bibliography, Quotations, Notes, Resources
Research by Michael P. Garofalo
The Fireplace Records
By Michael P. Garofalo
