Every day uses for TCC?

[Bob Ashmore]

I'd like to hear from folks on how they integrate their TCC training into their every day living.
I'm not talking about tales of martial do, I'm talking about every day, normal things that you have integrated your TCC with and made better, or easier, or just funner.
My best example is my stair walking. I started out quite a number of years ago, walking up and down stairs as a way to exercise and try to fight my (generally losing) battle of the bulge. At first I just walked up and down the stairs like I always did, step up with my legs, step down with my legs. The rest of my body was coming along for the ride.
A few years ago I was practicing Cloud Hands just before I started stepping as a way to warm up. As I was going up the steps it just felt right to do some more Cloud Hands since my arms were just hanging there anyway, and my TCC stair walking was born.
Using the whole body movement of Cloud Hands allows me to go up and down more stairs in less time with much less sweat equity involved.
There are other forms that work nearly as well, some that don't work at all, and others that have mixed results when being used as an aid to going up and down stairs, but Cloud Hands works nearly perfectly.
You have to use the Cloud Hands movement that precedes Single Whip, where you turn on your centerline and take the step forward, but if you do that repeatedly you should be able to go further and faster going up or down stairs than you ever have before.
This has the added bonus benefit of not making my legs tense and sore from all the hard work of going up and down those stairs.
Plus, it allows me to practice my TCC for another 30 minutes each day, and keeps me relatively in shape.

Does anyone else have a similar type of thing they could share with us?
I'd like to know what other ways I can integrate TCC into the other things I do during day.
Let's all share and hopefully help each other out with easier ways of doing things, and which allow us to practice our TCC all the time, not just when we're doing the form.

Bob

[shugdenla]

Bob,

I actually integrate other things with taiji to make my taiji more valuable. As my belly is getting bigger, I walk more because taiji is too relaxing despite the repetitions and other low intensity stuff.

Form training appears to be less important for me than training gong (posture holding of various postitons) so I stand for 15-30 minutes at least twice a day. I do form just to keep it in memory!
Taijizhuang is good because you hold specific posture related to the form e.g. single whip, holding pi'pa, etc OR the alternate posture movement like repulse monkey, brusk knee, or so many repetitions.

Try doing repulse monkey for 5 minutes daily, x times a day (start small) and you will be able to get rid of chest oppression (stiffness, lack of mobility, and the like) in upper body!

My job is sedentary so I walk 3 times a day (AM, lunch and evening).
Sometimes I do a wushuchangquantantui form (not the acrobatic stuff) for a warmup before walking (great for invigorating liver/spleen).

[Bob Ashmore]

Shug,
I do standing meditation for between fifteen minutes and half an hour a day to build foundation. I shoot for half an hour, but it's not always possible. I always get in at least fifteen minutes.
I do single posture repetition drills and posture holding quite often. Not anywhere near as much as I should, but as often as I can.
I do two to three repetitions of the long form every day, about a dozen 16 posture forms.
I've also found that doing saber and sword routines will help with my bulging waistline somewhat. I don't do those as often as I should, unfortunately.
But my stair walking is a five days a week thing. I do 25 flights up, 25 flights down, twice a day, every day during my breaks at work.
While most folks go out for a smoke, I go to the stairs for a climb.
I've also found that I can integrate TCC principles into things like shoveling dirt. I had to take down the swimming pool in my yard recently (long story) and to fill in the hole I had two 26 ton loads of dirt brought in. I had to shovel them out from the pile they got dumped in.
I very quickly discovered that doing that using TCC principles made the job do-able and much, much easier on my poor, tired old body.

Thanks for you reply. I'll keep your suggestions in mind. I know I should do more post standing and single form posture work. It's one of the "when do I find the time" situations with that.

Bob

[Louis Swaim]

Greetings Bob,

My office in San Francisco used to be very close to the base of Telegraph Hill. I used to climb the Filbert Steps almost daily on my lunch breaks. It was a great workout! Did you ever see the old Humphrey Bogart movie, Dark Passage? There’s a scene showing Bogart climbing the Filbert steps, but just about giving up from exhaustion. Poor Bogey smoked too many Lucky Strikes!

http://www.sisterbetty.org/stairways/filbertsteps.htm

Take care,
Louis

[JerryKarin]

One time after a taiji seminar Dave Barrett and I were tieing up cardboard packages at the airport with our swords inside. The airline clerk had given us twine but no scissor. I discovered that I could easily snap twine with my waist using a move like the lower hand in repulse monkey.

[bamboo leaf]

the practice allows me to feel light and empty inside, and notice when something causes me to be full or heavy.
Constantly keeping the feeling of my practice, disappearing, bit by bit the day is gone.


[This message has been edited by bamboo leaf (edited 10-26-2006).]

[Bob Ashmore]

Louis,
Wow. What a great place to climb!
I'm stuck in a fire escape stairwell. It's nice and airy, well lit, but certainly not very scenic. All I get to look at is blank beige walls, doors and stairs.
The TCC stair climbing I use has allowed me to launch the number of flights well beyond anything I ever thought possible, but maybe if I had a better view I'd go even further.
I've seen the movie but had no idea that was the staircase he climbed.
How high is it? It doesn't say in the link you sent.

Bob

[Bob Ashmore]

Jerry,
I have found I can drive a nail with one hit of the hammer if I concentrate and take a minuted to get relaxed, but I've never tried to break twine with a tug. I'll have to give that a shot. I just happen to have a ball of twine in my toolkit that I can try that with.
Thanks.
These types of skill are what I'm looking for.
Stuff like figuring out that painting walls with a brush or roller works very well if you set your foundation and turn your waist side to side instead of just waving your arms. I can cover more wall faster and I don't have that exhausted arm at the end of the day.
These are the types of things I'm trying to find out about. These types of activities that take the principles of TCC movement and make our lives easier.
I have learned over the course of the last couple of days that I do more TCC movement integrated activities then I ever realized before, they're becoming more and more obvious to me now that I've begun to look for them.
One that just popped to mind I won't be doing again any time soon, but I was using rooted foundation and waist turning to vacuum and skim my swimming pool. I've taken that down now and won't be doing that again in the forseeable future, but I was doing that without even thinking about it.
I guess what I'm trying to discover are these kinds of things other have found that work well for them. I'd like to be more conscious of these events in my own life and maybe learn a few new ones from others who have found them in theirs.

Bob

[Bob Ashmore]

BL,
Thanks for you input. I'm not quite sure what to make of it at this point, but it gives me a lot to think about.
Since I have a good fifteen minutes to think about things during each of my sojourns up and down the stairwell, that is much appreciated.
Hmmmm..........
I don't know that I would describe myself as feeling light and empty all the time, or that I would want to. I try to seperate the empty and full in my body at all times, but I feel there are full areas and empty areas alternately at all times and for different reasons.
For standing meditation I try to stay rooted and full, or heavy, below and loose and flexible, or light and empty, above, with an intangible feeling of rising at my headtop. For stepping I seperate empty and full between my legs and co-ordinate that with empty and full my upper body in order to move more freely and effectively above. This idea was graphically illustrated to me when I began to understand how moving with my whole body seemed to nearly propel me up or down the stairs with almost no effort rather than just stepping dumbly up and down with only my legs, which required a great deal more sweat equity on my part.
I'm not sure I'd want to go for a constant feeling of emptiness in my entire body.
Or am I missing the point of the post? I feel I am but I'm not sure why.

Bob

[bamboo leaf]

I think we have different ideas about empty and full. Light in this sense means free moving, empty no cares or worries. There is a saying something to the effect of (one is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.) my practice helps me to put it down or not carry it in the first place.

TGIF

[Bob Ashmore]

I can certainly see that.
Not a bad way to go, at all.
Yes, Friday and I have exactly 59 minutes until I can get up and go home and practice.

Bob