Taijiquan Fan

There are many T'ai Chi Ch'uan exercise forms which make use of a fan.   Most are shorter forms, under 25 movements, but some, like the famous Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Form have over 50 movements.  Most are done slowly and softly, but some include vigorous and fast movements.  The majority favor the Yang Style of Tai Chi Chuan.  

Tai Chi Fan: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Notes, Lore, Quotations. Research by Mike Garofalo.  I welcome any comments, suggestions, additions, or ideas regarding this webpage.

One of the most popular Tai Chi Fan forms was created by Professor Li Deyin (1938-).  It has 52 movements.  I includes slow and gentle movements in the first half of the form, then the second half is much more vigorous.  This Tai Chi Fan form is for athletic and intermediate Tai Chi students. 

Here are some instructional resources for learning the Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Form.  

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan. Routine 1, created by Grandmaster Li Deyin (1938-). Instructional DVD, 65 minutes, by Master Jesse Tsao. Tai Chi Healthways, San Diego, California. "The most popular Tai Chi Fan form ever practiced in China. The routine was created by Grandmaster Li Deyin, Jesse Tsao's teacher since 1978. There are 52 movements in the whole routine based on the characteristic Tai Chi posture with the fan's artistic and martial functions. Master Tsao presents demonstrations at the beginning and end. He teaches step-by-step in slow motion, in English. There are plenty of repetitions of movements in both front and back view. It is a good reference for home study, or a resource for instructor's teaching preparation." Cost: 35.00 US. Demonstration.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Instructional DVD by Professor Li Deyin. Narration in English. "A fan routine, created by Professor Li, which combines the gracefulness, centrality and continuity of Taiji with the power, speed and fierceness of Wushu. It is designed as an addition to the exercises for health, and has received massive interest and support throughout the world. In this DVD, Professor Li provides in-depth teaching with Mrs. Fang Mishou performing detail demonstration." Vendor 1. Cost: $35.00 US.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. List of 52 movement names, directions, instructions, and notes by Mike Garofalo.

I compiled the following list of UTube demonstrations of this Tai Chi fan form a couple of years ago.  Some of the videos may no longer exist.  

Tai Chi Kung Fun Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 4:02 min. Lady in white on a stage in Japan. My favorite! "First Form of the Xiyangmei Taiji Kungfu Shan (Taiji Shan). Recorded in Tokyo, Japan when the group headed by Li Deyin went to give an exhibition in 2006." 

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:59 min. Three performers in white outfits.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:59 min. Demonstrated by Patty Lee. Lady in a yellow outfit in a field with a backdrop of mountains.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 4:02 min. Lady in black practicing in a dance studio. What is the song used in many of these videos (by Jackie Chan)??

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:42. A group of Master Fay Li Yip's students performing outdoors.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 3:53 min. A group in black outfits performs outdoors in Madrid, Spain. Some members need more group practice.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video, 5:57 min. Two ladies in red outfits perform outdoors in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. 中國太極功夫扇

Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan, Form 1. UTube Video Subject Search.

Daodejing Concordance

Concordance to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Versions of the Tao Te Ching - Translator's Index

Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Chapter Index to the Tao Te Ching

Taoism: A Bibliography

Daodejing  Chapter Number Index Standard Traditional Chapter Arrangement of the Tao Te Ching Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE Chart by Mike Garofalo
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70
71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80
81

Kronos String Quartet

Listening to string quartet music has been a passion of mine for four decades.  One particular string quartet group that I have really enjoyed is the Kronos Quartet based in San Francisco.   They have been performing for over 40 years, with three members remaining from the original group. 
I have purchased nine of their albums and have seen them twice in concerts in Los Angeles.  Recently, I purchased two more albums by this creative, versatile, and prolific string quartet.  

Alban Berg's Lyric Suite performed by the Kronos Quartet, 2003.   The Lyric Suite is a six-movement work for string quartet written by Alban Berg between 1925 and 1926 using methods derived from Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.  This pensive quartet is less than 30 minutes in length.  

Philip Glass's String Quartets 2-5, performed by the Kronos Quartet, 2005.    Philip Glass (1937-) is a noted and prolific American composer of music with repetitive structures.  The harmonies in this album are very appealing.  

  

A Crack in the Tea Cup Opens

"But all the clocks in the city
     Began to whirr and chime:
"O let not Time deceive you,
     You cannot conquer time.
"In the burrows of the Nightmare
     Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
     And coughs when you would kiss.
"In headaches and in worry
     Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
     To-morrow or to-day.
"Into many a green valley
     Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
     And the diver's brilliant bow.
"The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
     The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
     A lane to the land of the dead."

-  W. H. Auden, As I Walked Out One Evening, 1937  


Time - Quotes and Poems

Ways of Walking


 

Walking Out the Stiffness

Stepping On to Pleasures

Grown old I groan
At times so stiff and sore
But not stopping, stepping on,
Walking past the pains to gain
Another epiphany before the rain.

Step by step the breath
Finds a pleasant pace
Pains dissipate.

By the third mile, I smile,
Feet flowing, arms swaying,
discomforts dissolved.

Warmed with eyes wide
Trees slide by, doves coo,
Awe opens then closes - no clues.

My pace slowly slows
Avoiding holes in the road;
Filling the unconscious crevasses of my mind
With pleasures deep and kind.

By and by, it's done, I'm saying
"Such a benefit, and beguiled."
I now rest, content.  

-  Michael P. Garofalo,  Stepping on to Pleasures


The Ways of Walking

The Poems of Mike Garofalo


 

Eighteen Hands of the Lohan

Luohan Qigong, Lohan Qigong, Luohan Gong, Lohan Gong, 18 Buddha Hands
Shaolin Buddhist Qigong
Resources, Lessons, History, Links, Bibliography, Notes, Research  http://www.egreenway.com/qigong/lohan.htm
 
  "One tradition is that the Buddhist teacher, Bodhidharma (448-527 CE), a famous Grand Master of Chan (Zen),introduced a set of 18 exercises to the Buddhist monks at the Shaolin Temple. These are known as the Eighteen Hands of the Lohan. This Shaolin Lohan Qigong (i.e., the art of the breath of the enlightened ones), "is an internal set of exercises for cultivating the "three treasures" of qi (vital energy), jing (essence), and shen (spirit)," according to Howard Choy. The Kung Fu master, Sifu Wong Kiew-Kit, referring to the Shaolin Wahnam style, says "the first eight Lohan Hands are the same as the eight exercises in a famous set of chi kung exercises called the Eight Pieces of Brocade." There are numerous versions,seated and standing, of Bodhiidharma's exercise sets - including the related "Tendon-Changing and Marrow-Washing" qigong set. Some versions of the 18 Lohan (Luohan) Hands have up to four levels, and scores of movement forms for qigong and martial purposes."
- Michael P. Garofalo, Eight Section Brocade (330Kb)
 
  For a comparison of some of the exercises in the Lohan Qigong with the Eight Section Brocade see my chart on the topic. 
 
  The Luohan Qigong includes a massage or patting training methods, and this is especially popular among Yin Fu Bagua enthusiasts. Master Xie Pei Qi has a DVD out on the topic. 

Eight Section Brocade Exercise Routine

I frequently teach the Chinese Eight Section Brocade Chi Kung exercise and fitness routine in my Taijiquan class and my Yoga class.  Naturally, I include many comments about Shaolin and Daoist fitness and healthy living concepts. 

This Eight Treasures exercise and fitness routine has a varied and long history with ancient roots back to the Animal Frolics Dao-yin exercises of 300 CE.  Some of the Eight Treasures exercises involve toughening, courage, and fighting and were used in military exercise and conditioning drills.  Many versions of the Ba Duan Jin include 12 exercises or more.   

One recent book that provides good documentation on the history of Chinese exercise practices (Chi Kung, Qigong, Neigong), including five illustrated versions of the Eight Section Brocade, is:  

An Illustrated Handbook of Chinese Qigong Forms from the Ancient Texts  Complied by Li Jingwei and Zhu Jianping.  London, Singing Dragon, 2014.  No index or bibliography, 325 pages.  ISBN: 9781848191976.  Many excellent line drawings are included to illustrate the postures.  VSCL. 
 
Back in 2002, I created the webpage titled:  The Eight Section Brocade Chi Kung.
  

The Ba Duan Jin Qigong form includes eight basic exercises to help you keep limber, become stronger, improve your balance, and increase your stamina.  There are opportunities for squatting movements and postures to strengthen the legs.  

  The entire Eight Beautiful Tapestries Chi Kung form is normally done while standing, although there are some versions done in a seated posture for meditative purposes or for frail persons. 

There are numerous versions of this popular Chi Kung form.  There are many good books, instructional DVDs, and UTube videos to choose from on this topic.  My webpage includes a long bibliography on the Eight Section Brocade Chi Kung with citations for resources, links, videos, books, and instructional DVDs on the subject.  

  I make a number of comments about each of the eight movements, including comments about the movement variations, physical training targets, muscles worked, attitude, internal alchemy (Neidan), benefits, options, comparisons with yoga asanas, and breathing patterns.  

 

I offer my own version with fairly detailed comments on each of the eight movements.  Here is my one page class handout for the Eight Section Brocade Chi Kung class.  


"The name “Ba Duan Jin” has been found as early as the Northern Song Dynasty. According to Hong Mai's (洪邁) Yi Jian Zhi (夷堅志, Song Dynasty), Zhenghe Seventh Year, Emperor's Chief Secretary, Li Shi-Ju, lived a simple life.  He spent a large portion of his time in his mediation room practicing Daoist Monk’s exercises expanding like a bear and stretching like a bird. In the early hours, he is often found breathing and massaging, practicing the so-called Eight-Section Brocade (Ba Duan Jin). This passage reveals that Ba Duan Jin has been developed and practiced since the Song Dynasty as a general health-keeping regime. 
    Both sitting and standing forms have been found in the history of Ba Duan Jin (八段錦),. Standing forms were developed into two schools (northern and southern styles) in the Qing Dynasty. The Northern School, said to have been passed down by Yue Fei (岳飛), has tougher forms, and the Southern School, claimed the lineage from Liang Shi-Chang (梁世昌), focuses on softer trainings. Quite a few verses has been passed down during the period from Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, but all verses for the standing forms have evolved from the passages recorded in "The Chapter of Wonders, Pivot of Dao" (道樞·眾妙篇, Dao Shu, Zong Miao Pian, Song Dynasty) and verses of the sitting style from the forms recorded in "TheTen Books of Daoist Practices" (修真十書 Xiu Zhen Shi Shu, Ming Dynasty ).  or "The Methods of Curing"(活人心法, Huo Ren Xin Fa, Ming Dynasty). Sets Ba Duan Jin forms are not always limited to the number of eight. The number of forms in a set range from a single form to tens or as many as a hundred; nevertheless, they are all exercise regimes designed for health-keeping, preventive, and therapeutic purposes, and, liberally saying, all exercise regimes designed for such purposes are part of the Ba Duan Jin system."
-   Lee Chang-Chih,  A Brief Introduction to Ba Daun Jin.  "Reinterpreting Ba Duan Jing From the Theories of the Eight Extra Meridians" 2005 

I Walk Through Fire and in All Beauty

"Today I walked on the lion-coloured hills
 with only cypresses for company, 
 until the sunset caught me, turned the brush
 to copper
 set the clouds 
 to one great roof of flame 
 above the earth,
 so that I walk through fire, beneath fire,
 and all in beauty. 
 Being alone
 I could not be alone, but felt
 (closer than flesh) the presence of those
 who once had burned in such transfigurations.
 My happiness ran through the centuries
 in one continual brightness.  Looking down,
 I saw the earth beneath me like a rose
 petaled with mountains,
 fragrant with deep peace."
 -  Elizabeth Coatsworth, On the Hills, 1924  

Walk Like a Mountain: The Handbook of Buddhist Walking Practice  By Innen Ray Parchelo.  Sumeru Press, 2012.  206 pages.  ISBN: 9781896559175.  

Walking Practices: Bibliography, Resources

Ways of Walking

Walking Meditation Methods

 

End of World War II - VE Day

The Second World War ended in Europe on May 8, 1945.  Victory in Europe Day!! 

It is estimated that 60 million people died as a result of that horrible world wide war. 

Let us never forget that incredible outpouring of Power and Grief.  

Hitler, Hirohito, Stalin, and Mussolini led the charge of the true believers intent on remaking and possessing the world and killing all opposition. 

We Are Better Satisfied in Particulars

"Science and psychoanalysis apart, the most profound development in thought since Nietzsche, as far as we are concerned, is the phenomenological approach to the world.  Mallarmé sought "words without wrinkles," Baudelaire cherished his minutes heureuses and Valéry his "small worlds of order," as we have seen: Checkhov concentrated on the "concrete individual" and preferred "small scale and practical answers," Gide though the "systematizing is denaturing, distorting and impoverishing."  For Oliver Wendell Holmes, "all the pleasure of life is in general ideas, but all the use of life is in specific solutions."  Wallace Stevens considered that we are "better satisfied in particulars."  Thomas Nagel put it in this way: "Particulars things can have a noncompetitive completeness which is transparent to all aspects of the self.  This also helps to explain what the experience of great beauty tends to unify the self: the object engages us immediately and totally in a way that makes distinctions among points of view irrelevant."  Or, as Robert Nozick, who counseled us to make ourselves "vehicles" for beauty, said: "this is what poets and artists bring us―the immense and unsuspected reality of a small thing.  Everything has its own patient entityhood."  George Levine call for "a profound attention to the details of this world."  
-  Peter Watson, "The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God," p.536

"The idea of one overbearing truth is exhausted."  
- Thomas Mann, translated by James Wood  

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
-  Albert Einstein

"To study the self is to forget the self.  To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things."
-  Zen Master Dogen

"The more we understand individual things, the more we understand God."
-  Benedict De Spinoza

"God is in the details."
-  Mies Van Der Rohe

"After appreciating and understanding thousands of the details, a common variety God is really superfluous."
-  Mike Garofalo

"Caress the detail, the divine detail." 
-  Vladimir Nabokov

"Details are all there are."
-  Maezumi Roshi

"We think in generalities, but we live in details."
-  W.H. Auden

Gardening and Spirituality

Gardening and Religion

It's Gone Past Already

Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings.
By Andy Ferguson. Foreword by Reb Anderson.
Boston, Wisdom Publications, 2000. Glossaries, name lists, bibliography, index, 518 pages. ISBN: 0861711637.

A monk asked, "What is Tongan's arrow?"
Daopi said, "Look behind you."
The monk asked, "What's back there?"
Daopi said, "It's gone past already."
- Zen's Chinese Heritage, p. 257

I started reading the literature of Zen (Chan) when I was fifteen. Fifty three years later, I still can sit up straight after grappling with a clever retort, a puzzling non-sequitur, a zany twist on some allusion, a bold example, an illogical brain-lock, or a slap of cold water on the face provided by a confident Zen man. I still like to smile when pondering the mystery of whatever "It" is. I treasure the Chan playfulness, practicality, humor, and seriousness.

Anyone studying Taijiquan and Qigong will quickly come into contact with the legends and lore of Taoism and Chan Buddhism (Zen). A quick look at the sidebar of this blog points to some of my own studies in these areas. 

 

I am very interested in the interrelationship between Taoism and Buddhism that resulted in Zen.  Read the "Tao of Zen" by Ray Grigg.  
"Looking behind you" is used as a metaphor for considering your past, being ready for surprises, seeing if somebody has got your back, something we cannot do easily, etc.  

At another level, "looking behind you" or keeping attention on what is behind you is important in martial arts practice.  Consider this:

"When you are in a matching situation with your opponent, there are three circles of offensive and defensive domains or territories. These circles are large circle (Chang Ju, i.e., long range), middle circle (Zhon Ju, i.e., middle range), and short circle (Duan Ju, i.e., short range). These circles are also called rings. In a battle, you should not stay in the same rign, which allows your opponent to set up a strategy against you easily. Your rights should be variable, random and confusing to your opponent. Not only just the size of the rings, but also the height of defensive and offensive actions should vary as well. When this happens, you will generate more confusion for your opponent and this will allow you to execute your techniques effectively and efficiently."
- Yang, Yu (Ban-Hou) 1837-1892
Translated by Yang, Jiwng-Ming, Tai Chi Secrets of the Yang Style, p. 24
Most people doing Tai Chi will be concerned about the following three circles. The first circle is the area in which you are standing. Where are you rooted? How is your footing? Are you stable, balanced, and in control? Are you safe? It includes the spherical area your arms and legs can extend to while keeping at least one foot rooted. What is the surface like upon which you are standing?  Is it soft, hard, slippery, uneven?  

 

The second circle is the area into which you are stepping next. Is it safe to step? Will you be able to stay stable, balanced, and in control as you step into one of the eight directions? It includes the spherical area your arms and legs can extend to as you step and move in a new direction. Will the first circle support your full weight on one leg as you move into the second circle? What is behind you?  What is the surface of the ground like ahead, behind, and to either side.  

 

The third circle is the area into which you can walk, move freely, and move around in safely. It may be the whole area of a park, the dojo or kwoon, your backyard, your back porch, or as far away as you can walk. 

Months and Seasons

Months and Seasons Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Verses, Lore, Myths, Holidays Celebrations, Folklore, Reading, Links, Quotations Information, Weather, Gardening Chores Compiled by Mike Garofalo
Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
January	April	July	October
February	May	August	November
March	June	September	December

  

Virtues Cultivated in Martial Arts Training

"Philosophical ideals in the martial arts:

1. To strive for perfection of character

2. To defend the paths of truth

3. To foster the spirit of effort

4. To honor the principles of etiquette

5. To guard against impetuous courage."

- Herman Kauz, The Martial Spirit: An Introduction to the Origin, Philosophy and Psychology of the Martial Arts.

Seven Essential Principles Of Bushido (The Way Of The Warrior):

1. GI: the right decision, taken with equanimity, the right attitude, the truth. Rectitude.

2. YU: bravery tinged with heroism

3. JIN: universal love, benevolence toward mankind. Compassion.

4. REI: right action - a most essential quality. Courtesy.

5. MAKOTO: utter sincerity. Truthfulness.

6. MELYO: honor and glory.

7. CHUGO: devotion. Loyalty.

- Taisen

"It is said that a calm and stable mind can achieve anything. This is an idea that I hold strong to. If we are not thinking with our wisdom mind then we are thinking out of impulse and reaction, like most animals do. This thinking out of impulse is known as the "emotional mind" (xin). The martial arts are very much a tool to shape reaction, both mentally and physically. Through diligent practice, and study of the martial virtues one can begin to act from the wisdom mind.

The virtues fall into two categories; morality of action, and morality of mind. Of those that are associated with action, there is:

Humility

Respect

Righteousness

Trust

Loyalty

as well as those which are associated with the mind:

Will

Endurance

Perseverance

Patience

Bravery."

- R. Scott Moylan, Wu De Quan

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thought. With our thoughts, we make our world."

- The Buddha

• Cheerfulness
• Dao De Jing
• Dharmapada Sutra
• Five Precepts
• Friendship
• Gratitude
• Lifestyle Advice
• Patience
• Simplicity
• Spirituality
• Tao Te Ching
• Vision
• Will Power
• Wise Advice

An Intellectual History of the 20th Century

I am an avid reader of books about intellectual history.  The history of ideas, thinking, philosophy, science, literature, art and cultural achievements is fascinating to me.  

I have enjoyed reading two books by Peter Watson:  

Watson, Peter.  The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century.   New York, Harper Perennial, 2002.  Index, notes, bibliography, 864 pages.  ISBN: 978-0060084387.  VSCL. This book approaches the subject in a narrative fashion in chronological order.  It lacks any illustrations.  It is especially strong on science, technology, and medicine since these were so dominant and creative in the past century.  He reviews the developments in art and literature quite thoroughly. 

Watson, Peter.  The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God.  By Peter Watson.  Simon and Schuster, 2014.  640 pages.  ISBN:  978-1476754314.  VSCL.

His writing is clear, interesting, filled with facts and good observations and explanations, detailed, and directly relevant for us 21st century readers.  

Improve Creative Thinking by Walking

"Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Beethoven knew walking boosted their creativity. Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple, held walking meetings. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg keeps meetings on foot. Beethoven created sonatas and symphonies while strolling the Vienna Woods. 
A new study confirms that creative thinking improves while a person is walking and shortly thereafter, according to a new study co-authored by Marily Oppezzo, a Stanford doctoral graduate in educational psychology, and Daniel Schwartz, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education.
The study found it didn't matter where you walk -- strolling indoors or outdoors similarly boosted creative inspiration. The act of walking itself, and not the environment, was the main factor. Across the board, creativity levels were consistently and significantly higher for those walking compared to those sitting.
"Many people anecdotally claim they do their best thinking when walking. We finally may be taking a step, or two, toward discovering why," Oppezzo and Schwartz wrote in the study published this week in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition."
-  David Stabler 
Stanford Study Finds Walking Improves Creativity  April 24, 2014

"Other research has focused on how aerobic exercise generally protects long-term cognitive function, but until now, there did not appear to be a study that specifically examined the effect of non-aerobic walking on the simultaneous creative generation of new ideas and then compared it against sitting, Oppezzo said.
A person walking indoors – on a treadmill in a room facing a blank wall – or walking outdoors in the fresh air produced twice as many creative responses compared to a person sitting down, one of the experiments found.
"I thought walking outside would blow everything out of the water, but walking on a treadmill in a small, boring room still had strong results, which surprised me," Oppezzo said.
The study also found that creative juices continued to flow even when a person sat back down shortly after a walk."
-  Marily Oppezzo     April 24, 2014


The Ways of Walking.   Compiled by Mike Garofalo.  

Walking Meditation