Category: Student’s Viewpoint
Tim’s Timbre
This is such a wonderful community and practice – I feel very lucky to have found a place in it.
I am an instrumental musician, and I came to Tai Chi one year ago. It was always something that I’d wanted to explore but never made a point of beginning. Then, having recently moved to Glebe, I took a leaflet from the Constant Balance sandwich board and dived in, I’m so grateful that I was walking through the park during class time, and that the door to this experience opened at just the right time. This is of course a wonderful physical tool for general well being and energy levels, and I felt this straight away. More profound though is the effect it has had on my music making – particularly in balance as I move between instruments, physical awareness, tension release and ambidexterity, but also in a less easily explained flow, ease and inner quietude. I have had numerous experiences of great joy and peace during the dance of the 108, and these spill into my daily life with ever more insistence. Sifu’s embodiment of the way is likewise a joy to observe and his teachings are by turns thought-provoking and thought-silencing, insightful, startling and generous. I look forward to sharing more experiences as and when they find me…
Timothy Constable
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2017 17:36:33 +1100
Virginia
I came to Constant Balance by mistake.
I had been in email correspondence with another Tai Chi teacher and was to meet him in Glebe Park.
Instead I saw Sifu coming, whom I assumed to be that person, caught up with him and have been
in his class ever since. I joined with the purpose of gaining physical balance and energy.
I have found myself involved in something more profound and mysterious.
I am making my way through the form, at my own pace, albeit very slowly,
thanks to the extraordinary patience of Sifu and the Tai Chi community.
In all respects, it is a most unusual experience.
Dagmar’s Vault
An English teacher from the Czech Republic, at the moment a mama-to-be, very excited both at receiving Yuan-Chi Tai Chi lessons and about observing a new life being created and growing in this body.
Met Master Ric Lum at Moravka in summer 2013 and it just blew my mind. Unforgettable, our group balancing on the waves of Param.chaitanya, letting go of ego which is desperately trying to keep in control, wind joyfully playing with leaves gently falling down, warm sun’s rays caressing everything around, soothing deep peace and surrender inside.
After a 7-year-long break I’ve started again. Feeling very humble and grateful. So much peace enters my body and soul just after a couple of minutes of practice. Feeling so grounded. My busy and noisy household calms down miraculously.
Today feeling highly intuitive: the movements are our attempts at becoming one with the GOLDEN RATIO, so awesome.
Sifu quoted Shri Mataji: “God made us human BEINGS, not human doings.
Everything falls into place. Unity.
Aron’s Awareness
It’s just me, Aron. I’m currently working in IT but have other preoccupations as well; Sahaja Yoga, Coaching and Yuan-Chi Tai-Chi…
Thus I began recently helping people regain their balance and reconsider a bit their lifestyle throughout these methods.
Best regards,
Aron
Cluj-Napoca,
ROMANIA
You can follow me here in:
- Hungarian: tuzdki.wordpress.com; eberseg.blogspot.com
- Romanian: taichichuan.ro
On 25/02/2014 11:03 PM, Sipos Aron wrote:
Experimenting in the Way of Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan
In the last 2-3 years an old desire reawakened inside me, the wish to practise Tai Chi… to follow my own being, my own movements by remaining in a meditative state at the same time.
I presume this was a collective desire, as lately I found out to my surprise, that there is a Sahaja Yogi who is teaching Tai-Chi. It’s Sifu Ric Lum from Australia, who is already teaching Tai-Chi in Europe and I was quite surprised last year, in 2013, to hear about an intensive seminar in the Czech Republic, at Moravka resort.
Well, OK, sure, let’s join in 🙂 We were the only ones from Romania, my wife and me.
This seminar was organised by sahaja yogis, so there were daily meditations as well as 4 Tai Chi sessions per day.
What struck me at the beginning of the first session were both the introduction into Tai-Chi in general as well as Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan in particular.
The style of Sifu Ric Lum
Gently explaining and presenting the movements while singing. By performing just the opening moves, at the raising of the hands the second time I already started to feel the vibrations flowing, a slight change in the energetic awareness. The vibrations were getting stronger and stronger each day, I just felt my mind getting blocked, the thoughts felt like they were frozen, I mean I just couldn’t think! It was an interesting experience, I was familiar with that state but it never lasted so long as during this seminar.
I’ve been surprised to find that Yuan-Chi Tai-Chi movements follow (mimic) the dance of the All Pervading Power of Divine Love, the Paramchaitanya. In order to feel it, sooner or later you’ll be connected to this power.
I just understood and felt during the practice of Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan the essence of the Tao and of Sahaja Yoga becoming one (the essence is actually the same).
How?
By following Sifu’s principle and advice: “Neither assist nor resist – be neutral.”
For additional info please watch our chat recorded at Moravka during a break:
http://www.constantbalance.com/interview-with-master-ric/
Subject: Reflections
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2017 12:26:06 +0000 (UTC)
Following Sifu & My Story
Moravka [Yuan-Chi Intensive in Czech Republic]: 2013 was a year with many changes in my life, perception, awareness etc..
I just raised simple questions: what is my mission on Earth?
What drives me and towards what exactly?
What could I do more?
All these when I was partly “coordinating” the Sahaj collective of Cluj, I mean coordinating: doing most things alone 🙂 As if I were in a boat stirring everywhere but the boat did not go anywhere. Practically a waste of energy. 2012, 2013 were the years when I was also thinking about practising Tai Chi, but I felt it was not the moment for me, until I found out about the Moravka seminar 🙂
I was also starting to learn about the basics in leadership, marketing, entrepreneurship that changed my mindset, the way I saw the world etc.. It was a shock, a mental disaster 🙂 and I just knew I needed to change a lot, restructure slowly parts of my life, habits etc. Due to this radical change in my understanding, on the vibratory level I was going down a bit.
But I learned something very precious: progress = practising daily bit by bit
This is what I did after the Moravka seminar, after section1[S.1] of the Tai Chi form settled down within me, I really needed a couple of months after that intensive week. I had some time to reflect on what happened there and why, what I felt, what others felt and how people can be manipulated even inside ‘enlightened’ groups.
Then I knew I had a choice to make:
– continue with the learning via Skype
or
– say bye-bye to the opportunity
Then the progress started with the 108, practising daily, watching the DVDs, learning, then practising it over & over again.
Adrian Observes
I became a student of Andrew Rohowyj in 2012. My enjoyment of tai chi has evolved, quite accidentally (or intentionally), over a number of years. I practised yoga for a number of years and enjoyed the peace that it brought. I then decided to practise meditation for a number of years and experiment with a more passive form of exercise. This led to my discovery of Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan, a wonderful coming together of the two.
I now find myself on a patient yet potent journey to achieve a heightened state of awareness which, I believe, tai chi will bring. I feel as though I am at present only scratching the surface. As a primary school teacher, my commitment to tai chi seems to be directly proportionate to my capacity to create engaging learning experiences in the classroom.
Claudia Confides
Storia del Yuan Chi Tai Chi Italia
Ho sempre amato fare sport, in particolare il Tai Chi ma erano diversi anni che non praticavo più nulla perchè sentivo che in qualche modo portavano la mia energia o verso un eccessiva attivazione o al contrario mi “scaricavano”, fino a che un giorno la mia carissima amica Parvati, compagna di un meraviglioso percorso spirituale, sposa un Maestro di Tai Chi: Ric Lum.
In poco tempo nasce in me il desiderio di conoscerlo e di praticare con lui questa antica arte marziale, unico piccolo problema viveva e vive tutt’ora in Australia.
Avevo da subito intuito la grandezza di questo stile e del suo Maestro. Così nell’Agosto del 2010 in concomitanza con il suo arrivo a Roma per le vacanze riuscimmo ad ad organizzare il primo seminario a Trevignano Romano e Roma.
Fù un’esperienza incredibile per tutti quelli che parteciparono che ancora oggi ricordano anedoti e momenti di intensa profondità e gioia.
In quell’occasione ebbi la conferma delle mie intuizioni: avevo incontrato, per la prima volta, un vero Maestro di Tai Chi e il Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan era uno stile Puro.
Sentivo mentre lo praticavo che i suoi movimenti morbidi e fluidi, simili ad una danza, richiamavano il flusso spontaneo della mia energia donandomi uno stato di quiete e pace interiore.
Erano molti anni che cercavo un’attività fisica che in qualche modo non si opponesse alla mia evoluzione, che armonizzasse il mio corpo, la mia mente e il mio Spirito. L’avevo trovata.
Dovettero passare però due anni prima di riuscire a far tornare il Maestro a Roma. Per pagare il biglietto aereo decidemmo di fare dei gruppi di pratica a Trevignano e Sifu (Maestro in Cinese) si autofinanziò la rimanenza con i corsi del seminario.
Finalmente nel Maggio del 2012 ci fu il secondo seminario di Trevignano e Roma.
Durante la permanenza il Maestro espresse il desiderio di creare una vera e propria scuola di Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan qui in Italia. Questo sposava perfettamente il mio desiderio di diventare istruttrice e diffondere la conoscenza di questo meraviglioso stile nel mio Paese.
In sintonia con questo desiderio a Luglio io e Parvati fummo invitate ad insegnare Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan all’Arts Accademy di Cabella.
Era chiaro che per creare le radici della scuola era necessario che Sifu tornasse almeno tre o quattro volte l’anno in Italia. Fu così che di ritorno dall’Accademia partimmo subito con l’organizzazione e dopo tre mesi Sifu era dinuovo ad insegnare per gettare più solide basi per la scuola. Nuovamente il costo del biglietto aereo fu ammortizzato con le quote dei corsi.
Il seme era piantato molte persone avevano potuto gioire dei suoi insegnamenti e io ero pronta a poter insegnare ai principianti.
E così da Settembre decisi di organizzare corsi a Roma e dintorni volti a creare un fondo per poter far tornare ancora una volta Sifu.
Ed eccoci qui ad oggi. Questa volta l’idea è di organizzare un tour tra Roma e dintorni, Cabella e altre città tra cui Praga dove un carissimo amico ci ha invitato ad insegnare.. Un bellissimo progetto che sta prendendo vita.
In questi anni ho avuto la fortuna di poter percepire il valore vibratorio di questo meraviglioso stile, la profondità che si raggiunge praticandolo ma anche la gioia che si ha quando si trasmette ad altri.
Ogni volta che Sifu torna in Italia è una meravigliosa opportunità per noi Italiani per conoscere, praticare, approfondire la conoscenza di questo meraviglioso stile.
Una meravigliosa opportunità per imparare a danzare la danza del Tao.
Claudia Casetti
Naturopata
Medicina Naturale
Cell. 347/8269066
Chris B Professes
I am a teacher, researcher and writer and have been so for over twenty-five years during which time I have worked in a number of schools and universities in both England and Australia.
I have long enjoyed physical activity like running, cycling and swimming which I find beneficial from both a physical health point of view and in terms of mental wellbeing. However as I get older – I am 57 now- I am aware that there are limits to how much of these things one can do without injury. In addition, although I like exercise, I am a touch uncoordinated and awkward in my body. My initial motivation for joining a Tai Chi class then was to find a gentler form of physical activity and one in which I might find a better sense of balance with my body. I have also been involved in meditation (in the style of Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Naht Hanh) for many years which is relevant to my involvement in Tai Chi since I approach it with a sense that Tai Chi has a dimension of what we might call ‘meditation in motion’.
I have been attending Tai Chi for over 18 months now and I have learned the basic 108 moves but I know that there is a way to go before I approach the level of grace achieved by Master Ric and the senior students. That said, I do feel that I have gained more surety and confidence in my movements as the months have passed by and I have a confidence that I will continue to grow in that way.
However, perhaps the biggest challenge in Tai Chi for me- and the also the greatest reward – has been mental, that is, in terms of thinking, attitudes and personal qualities.
Tai Chi does not come naturally to me, I have to work at it and much of this effort and my frequent mistakes took place under the eyes of others so that at first I felt under scrutiny as if I had farted at the Queens dinner table. And however much people might say that everyone makes mistakes, or there no mistakes in Tai Chi, it is all a learning process and so forth, that ain’t how it felt. My head can fill with thoughts while I am doing Tai Chi which is a distraction and so I have had to learn to overcome the desire to run away and hide.
I have had to stick with it and trust I would get there (wherever there is, because there is no ‘there’ to get to) in the end. I think then that as much as I have gained an improvement in physical balance – which I have – I have also gained a certain resilience and inner strength of character through perseverance in which, as long as I try my best, then I accept that whatever I do in Tai Chi is OK. And indeed, there are times when I feel relaxed and at ease as if I was in a state of meditation and at least in my mind I can float like a butterfly.
Chris Barker
19/03/13
Sara’s Sagacity
Last year I started drinking tea, and I began to read about the history and culture that surrounds it. One of these books introduced me to the idea of Dao, and I found the rhetoric compelling, this in turn brought me to Tai Chi Chuan.
I originally come from the country, and spent my childhood and teenage years doing classical ballet, so I can safely say that Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan is unlike anything I have previously tried or been exposed to. Instead of rigid structure, which made me feel like a disjointed collection of parts, I feel as if my body is one piece. The effect that each move has on the whole and the way the movements connect and flow from one to the other is magical.
I am studying science at university, so my life is generally overwhelmed by stress and the need to be doing, to be done. These classes leave me feeling peaceful and removed from the stress and the push to be doing. I feel like myself rather than a tool for completing tasks.
Yuan-Chi Tai Chi Chuan is one of the few things for me that isn’t an obstacle to surmount or an objective to complete, it just is, and I am enjoying being carried along by it.
Sara Rose
13th Feb.’13