太极名师阚桂香, 门敢红湾区授课

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She is a very talented lady; look at her 24 form and 56 form:
http://drpaulinebao.com/
her acrobatic Taiji56 in less than 6 min, a lot of quick moves and her split.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epbZERWMMlE

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Remember and please join our Taiji practice each Saturday morning 9 AM at:
Louis E. Stocklmeir Elementary School: ‎
592 Dunholme Way
Sunnyvale, CA 94087-3355

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Very nice looking photos!

Where is the rest of the photos? I want to see them.

Also, besides the 9am practice very Saturday, we will still have the Tues & Thur 7-9pm Chen Taiji practice for this week. We will see what happens after that for the Tues & Thur. Thanks.

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Glad to hear the weekdays evening sessions are still available. I would have attended those sessions if my Toyota Avalon were not totaled by my son. Luckily he survived the crash without any scratch except for a minor concussion and a bruise on his chest caused by the impact of the air bag. I went to see the car today and the side door was just touching the driver's seat. Two front tires were bent and the engines were cracked at the bottom. Somehow the junk yard still paid me $250 for this junk car and towed it away. The Co. is called Mayfair Auto Dismantlers at 408-252-1727.

Here are more pictures; the square ones were taken by Ali, the long ones were furnished by our BAD photographer tk45; but if these photos are not enough then wait until Ali finishes processing those photos of me in Taiji sword form. That 'photo session' took place last Sunday, roughly a week after I took the one-week lesson from master Men. Amazingly I memorized most of the steps and the hand movements. Now am trying to get the rhythm in. But I'm sure you and teacher Lee can offer a lot of help in this.

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I want my teachers to know that I'm doing this competition 42-style sword Taiji now. These are week-2 and week-3 images taken by Ali. He is now safely landed at Denvor airport. From top down are style #35 Cross stance and tilt sword; and style #38, Lift knee and sword. The name in English is much more easier to understand than in Chinese. My legs looked kind of lazy; need to beef them up.

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Adding a few more on my week 3 practice, courtesy of Ali. Again from the top :
should be chest high and points forward.
style # 21: Toe kick and point back, (deleted)
style # 25: Crouch stance and sweep sword (deleted)
So see you at Jollyman Park, Cupertino.

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Wow.

These forms look quite fun and entertaining. Can't help but chuckle

Good work, and enjoy...

PS: I like the first 2 photos better, where you did not wear short pants

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[tsings]

One other reward is that after 42 movements with the sword and you return to within a step from your starting point. My routine is warm-up and stretching first, then the15-form Dong Yue, 36-form Chen's then 42-form sword 2x; then repeat the 36-form and the 15-form. I could wear the pants I wore 5-10 years ago working on my car which brought a funny smile and a chuckle from my wife.

You also feel it when you put your socks on, you can do it any way you want; you just got that extra flexibility.

I was going to say it is also like eating a large bowl of Vietnamese noodles with extra hot pepper and hot sauce, you feel that sudden burst of heat, but that may be stretched a little too far.

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news alert: Taiji may ease pain, improve mood, sleep, quality of life and ability to exercise. Remember the deep Dan Tian breathing I mentioned earlier? Here you have it too; Yoga is also teaching the same technique. The more you do it, breathing with your diaphragm, the more air your abdomen can take in.
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/alternative/2010-08-19-taichi19_st_N.htm

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You are a bit standout among us, age wise! But the newcomers are significantly younger.

I have been a frequent guest at my mom's nursing home. There was this 50ish guy sitting in the wheelchair for a few years. We chatted loud every now and then before dinner was served. He always bragged about his big block of muscle on his arm. During these years I tried to walk my mom at least 3-4 times a week. She was wheel chair bound too. Today I saw this guy sitting in the wheel chair with his back arched and his head almost dropping to his lap. He can not sit up and look at me or talk with me now. While the walk I took with my mom shortened from 1000-1200 steps to about 888 steps (well I try to pick a lucky number)! I still do it against the advice of the nurses. Today my mom insisted in reading the newspaper which happened to be in front of her. She read and stopped at ebook and asked what ebook was. She also pointed at School Camp and asked what that was about. My mother suffered from dementia probably caused my minor stroke which affected certain blood vessels inside her brain. She is 89. Oh, she also asked me to bring some strawberries next time; I think I'll bring some strawberries and a McDonald's wild berry smoothies tomorrow.

This story illustrates what a difference exercise can make. I presume Taiji is a more effective therapy than walking. Young people probably won't feel the effect and there are plenty of other sports they can participate in. But when approaching 50 or 60, it will do people good if they pick it up taiji. Old or not is not an issue, good form or not is an issue.

Come to think of it, most people who play sword are women or girls. Does that make me sissy too?

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Fibromyalgia, a rheumatoid disorder characterized by muscle pain and headaches which may affect 200 million people worldwide, is difficult to diagnose and hard to treat, with no clear guidelines for symptoms that include pain, fatigue, stiffness and sleep difficulties:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67H5I520100818