Introduction from One Stone at a Time
When we hear “You can move mountains!” we easily dismiss is as optimistic encouragement. Yet, it is quite literally true. You can, indeed, move a mountain if you choose to do so.
The
problem is patience, or lack of it. We want the mountain moved now.
Frequently, we want someone else to move it for us. While there is
nothing wrong with being results oriented, there are some things which
simply take time. There are some things where the process itself is as
important as the end result. T'ai Chi, for example.
Yet, the mountain still needs to be moved. As beginning students, we see the mountain of learning in front of us and can be discouraged at the task. We want to move the mountain with explosives. However, this mountain is not a solid mass to be moved in one piece. No, this is a mountain of stones and pebbles. An explosion would make a lot of noise and be quite a show, but in the end would accomplish nothing.
The only way to move this mountain is one stone at a time.
I don’t know why I stuck
with T'ai Chi. If you were to list my positive attributes, your pen
would run dry before you got to “patient.” Yet, here I am talking
about patience. I see many, many students come through my class eager to
learn T'ai Chi. However, it takes patience. Even if you can
learn the movements quickly, it takes time to learn what the postures have
to teach. You have to show up and do it. Experience it.
It’s the process of moving the stones one at a time.|
The purpose of this book is to help you find all the stones. There are
nearly 100 ideas for your daily practice. By focusing on a different
aspect of T'ai Chi each day your practice will be more interesting and
beneficial. I hope you will be more motivated and committed. I
hope the ideas in this book help you to move your stones.
T'ai Chi is simple but not easy. It changes you. You will become more you. As difficult as the process of becoming you can be, it is a most wonderful journey!
The process of moving your mountain doesn’t take a lot of work at any one time. It takes a little work each day. We tend to not respect this kind of work. We seem to feel if we aren’t busting our butts 24/7, giving 110%, we aren’t really working. That may be true for some things, but not T'ai Chi. Those rules don’t apply here. With T'ai Chi we have to do a little bit each day. The key is “each day.” Just as you can’t eat a week’s worth of food on one day, so it is with T'ai Chi; you have to take it in smaller bites. That’s just the way it works.
With a regular amount of energy invested each day over a longer period of time, you can, and will, quite literally move a mountain. With patience, perseverance you will accomplish great things!
Each page of this book has an idea or suggestion for your daily practice. You can go through the book page by page in order if you like, but I write assuming you will just open to a page at random and go with that idea. That’s what I’d do with a book like this. I feel it would open to what I need to work on at that time.
The ideas are presented in no particular order of importance. Keep in mind that some ideas are more important than others but they still have only one page devoted to them. Being rooted is an example. There is only one page devoted to the idea of being rooted, but it is absolutely essential to proper practice. No matter what I may suggest for your daily practice, do not forget the essentials of T'ai Chi: root, turn, breathe, relax!
Thank you for picking up One Stone At A Time! I hope you find many valuable nuggets!