The Phoenix Gate

The tire is a great idea.

Left, right, goodnight! 🤣 Yok takes no prisoners not even Kru Jack😉 #Yokkao #muaythai #fight #fighter #trainingday

The observance of World Tai Chi and Qigong Day scheduled at the Kirkland Town Library on the last Saturday of April, the 25th, has been postponed to the last Saturday of May, the 30th

This past weekend Calum Douglas-Reid, an advanced practitioner, teacher, and international push hands champion, of GM William C.C. Chen's Tai Chi Chuan, paid us a visit here in Central NY, at Al Christiansen's Tai Chi Studio. We spent several hours exploring his approach to Experiential Anatomy through Tai Chi Chuan. Good times!

Calum has published a 33 page e-book on the topic which can be found on his Laughing Dragon Tai Chi Chuan website.

In the late 60's when I was studying Russian at Anacostia Naval Station, I met an amazing teacher. His name is Hong, Sung-Hyun. He taught a dying art of Chosun Kwonbup which he called Sung Hong Karate, and later Myo Sim Karate.

While watching a Chinese TV series taking place during the Qin Dynasty (221 to 207 BC), I saw reference to the five-character expression, Liyu Tiao Long Men (鲤鱼跳龍門), or Carp Leaps Over the Dragon Gate.

It was being used as a metaphor for a person’s success in passing very difficult imperial examinations, required for entry into imperial administrative service. Seeing as it’s also the name of one of the movements toward the end of our Tai Chi Sword Form, as taught by GM William Chen, I decided to look into it a little further.

On the Yellow River at Hunan is a waterfall called the Dragon Gate. It is said that if certain carp called Yulong can climb the cataract they will transform into dragons. A Chinese dragon’s large, prominent scales indicate its origin from a carp. He has long been a symbol of great and benevolent, magical power overcoming obstacles until success is his. A Chinese dragon is energetic, decisive, optimistic, intelligent and ambitious. Every year in the third month of spring the carp swim up from the sea and gather in vast numbers in the pool at the foot of the falls. Many carp swim upstream against the river’s strong current, but few are resilient or persistent enough to make the final leap over the waterfall. This Dragon Gate was said to have been created after the Flood by the god-emperor Yu who split a mountain blocking the path of the Yellow River. It was so famous that throughout China there was a common saying that: 'a student facing his examinations is like a carp attempting to leap the Dragon Gate”. More generally, the expression is used to communicate that if a person works hard and diligently, success will one day be achieved.

Hunan is not the only place where this happens. Many other waterfalls in China also have the name Dragon Gate and much the same is said about them. Other famous Dragon Gates are on the Wei River where it passes through the Lung Sheu Mountains and at Tsin in Shanxi Province.

Back to the Tai Chi Sword Form, I doubt that it’s a coincidence that the move after Carp Leaps Over the Dragon Gate is Black Dragon Coils Around the Pillar (to the left and right). My own takeaway is that the originator of the form was saying that by daily, dedicated practice of Tai Chi Sword we may be transformed into noble, courageous, steadfast, dynamic contributors to our world.

This is the crew that was fortunate to spend some quality time with GM Chen, in Frankfort, NY. A big shout out to the young lady on my left, Carol Mancuso, who came out from the south of Syracuse, to spend time with us.

In September GM Chen paid a visit to Al Christensen's Ma'at Taijiquan Studio, in Frankfort, NY. We worked on the short form, long form, sword form and push hands.

Just ran across a picture Russell Ian (grandson) took for a photography class 4 years ago.

Last week GM William Chen spent Sunday up here in the Mohawk River Valley for our annual Fall Workshop. His theme this year was Earth (yin) and Air (yang). There's a couple of shots of my wife Lorraine getting some corrections with form and push hands technique.

I was just thinking ....