The Walking Tiger Tai Chi Club

Providing private and group lessons in metro San Diego: Phone 619-865-3711 Email: TheWalkingTiger@Juno.Com

Words From The Masters

Favorite quotations from masters of martial arts, great leaders and authors…

“If you find that you are going through hell-keep going” Winston Churchill

“When a fool sees the Tao, he laughs. Otherwise it would not be the Tao.” -Tai Chi parable

“One who thinks everything should be easy inevitably finds everything difficult.” Lao Tzu

“Eliminating blame cultivates patience and the ability to forgive ourselves or others when we or they fall short of perfection.”-

Dr. Robert Chuckrow

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” - Carl Gustav Jung

“The white man builds very large fire and sits far away; the Indian builds a small fire and sits close by.”- Cherokee parables

Being able to say; ‘I’ll try again’, is one of the deepest expressions of faith in oneself.”- Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt

“The most difficult thing in the world is to know how to do a thing and watch someone else doing it wrong without comment.” Theodore H. White

“There are two kinds of liars; those who want others to believe them, and those who want to believe themselves.” Scott Turrow

“Embrace your pain, for there your soul will grow.” Carl Jung

“Anyone can teach a gifted student, the real test of a teacher’s skill is how skilled his novice students are.” EC McGilvery

“The truth dazzles gradually, otherwise the world would go blind.” Emily Dickinson

“Defining things limits them” – Dr. Robert Chuckrow

“The sharp point of the treasure sword was honed on the grinding stone. The fragrance of the plum blossoms was conceived in bitter cold.” – Kuo Lien-Ying

“When we focus inward, away from the distractions of daily life, and concentrate on beneficial objects such as our breathing, body, movement, or intent, then our mind naturally rebalances itself and we become more in tune with ourselves.” -“Total Tai Chi” by Mathew Rochford

“He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.” - Albert Einstein

“All great truths begin as blasphemies.” - George Bernard Shaw

“Man can learn nothing except by going from the known to the unknown.” - Claude Bernard

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” - Albert Einstein

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mystical. It is the source of all true art and science.” - Albert Einstein

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”- Galileo Galilei

“The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired. “- Stephen W. Hawking

“In pursuing knowledge, one accumulates daily. In pursuing the Tao, one loses daily.” – Lao Tzu

“Your aim is to change and change again…nature itself ensures that conditions within you and around you are never the same.”

Jou Tsung Hwa

“Any ardent human quest teaches us about ourselves.” Mark Chen

“The lymph fluid does not have a pump (like the heart) to move it around the body. It relies upon physical movement instead. The expansive non tensile movements of Tai Chi are ideal in this respect.” Robert Parry

“The restoration of man to the harmony and integrity of his psychological and mental self will transform the universe.”

Wen-Shan Huang

“The only knack, as committed students learned, was to work through the frustration whenever it arose.” Return To Stillness by Trevor Carolan

“One way of making a breakthrough is to think deeply about things other people take for granted.” Jou Tsung Hwa

“Tai Chi has been employing Skinnerian methods of behavior modification for thousands of years.” Lawrence Galante

Meditation isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.” Pema Chodron

“The greatest of all arts is the art of life, and the best of all music is the harmony of the spirit.” Max Muller

“Stress is actually a survival mechanism and a manifestation of unresolved conflict in the mind-body.” John Loupos

“When any of the strong emotions lasts too long, the mind is unable to properly regulate them, destroying the energy of the organs, which then results in disease or illness.” Shou-Yu Liang

“…the mind must be encouraged to give up its obsession with endless mental chatter. Paying attention to the breath is one method of slowing down and eventually stopping mental restlessness.” Erle Montaigue

“The Health care industry in the United States is second in size only to the defense industry; an estimated 750 billion dollars annually. The first thing one might conclude is from these figures is that people in the USA must be incredibly healthy. They are not. They are nowhere near as healthy as the Chinese, and comparatively, the Chinese have nothing at all.”; from The Complete Book of Tai Chi: by Wong Kiew Kit

“Invisible wisps of thought and emotion alter the fundamental chemistry of every cell.” Deepak Chopra

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

“To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.” Sun Tzu

“The goal of a rich and satisfying life is the great leveler. The movement [ of Tai Chi ] have endured for for thousands of years because they contribute to and support a goal that binds us all as one.” From Stay Young With Tai Chi by Ellae Underwood

“Only by training [in Tai Chi] and strengthening our point of contact with the ground; he taught, could we truly relax our upper body for optimum responsiveness in self defense. The only knack; as committed students came to learn, was to work through frustration whenever it arose.” Trevor Carolan

“Functional training may be gained through the solo exercise by imagining an opponent vying with you as you go through postures. Your mind operates to create this imaginary opponent. If you disregard this vital aspect, your postures will lose meaning and trueness, and the exercise will become merely a mechanical charade.” Cheng Man-Ching

“The ultimate aim of Tai Chi is to do without method-the response to an attack is a reflex done without cognition.”

Cheng Man-Ching

“No one can tell you what makes your body live. Scientists have an explanation for how your lungs breathe air, and how your heart pumps blood around your body to nourish its cells, but they cannot say why life began in your body and what makes it continue. For two and a half thousand years, the Chinese have called this subtle life force qi (or chi).” From “TAI CHI for the Body, Mind & Spirit” by Eric Chaline

It [Tai Chi] becomes most potent when the intention of your subconscious mind parallels exactly the intention of the conscious mind.” John Loupos

“Practicing Tai Chi is an opportunity to step out of the addiction to getting the most done in the least amount of time. “ Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt

“Twisting, turning and spiraling should be present either in an overt or hidden way within Tai Chi techniques.”

Bruce Franzis

“Like a kinked garden hose, a body that isn’t aligned, relaxed, breathing and visualizing can’t let its energy flow smoothly and efficiently.” From “TAI CHI for DUMMIES” by Therese Ikonoian

“Let your mind be like a hawk-hunting for a rabbit, let your movement be like a bow-preparing to fire an arrow; when moving-move like a river…” Tai Chi Classics

“All Tai Chi exercises are fundamentally holistic, benefiting the whole body as well as the mind.” - from “The Complete Book of Tai Chi “ ;by Stewart McFarlane

“…Concentrating on natural breathing frees the mind from mechanical, everyday, fixated thinking. This mental shift is a first step towards entering a meditative state.” Robert Chuckrow

“I have seen many students sabotage their own progress with the words: I can’t. All thoughts and verbal expressions affect the subconscious mind, which slavishly accepts what is repeatedly said or thought” - Robert Chuckrow

“However much Tai Chi observers might identify or equate Tai Chi with moving slowly; slowness is really just a means to an end. …This produces a rejuvenating effect rather than a dulling of the mind and body as one might expect with such a deep level of relaxation.” John Loupos

“…the goal, is formlessness.” – Jou Tsung Hwa

“Tai Chi cannot settle into a dull habit, something they go through absentmindedly, by rote. It becomes an imperative, a kind of necessity, to approach the exercise on very occasion it is done as though going through for the first time… This is partly the reason of why the exercise, no matter how often it is performed, must feel quite spontaneous, as though always being newly explored.” -Wadsworth Likely

“…The speed of a deer, the calmness of a crane, the patience of an ox, the courage of a tiger-all features that a martial artist can expect to attain.” From THE COMPLETE BOOK OF TAI CHI CHUAN by Wong Kiew Kit

“Most students who quit Tai Chi after a short time do so not because Tai Chi is difficult to learn but because their expectations are not satisfied quickly enough. They leave because they do not want to face disappointment. Not wanting to feel the pain of disappointment is often what holds us back…” Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt

“A toned body that is strong as an ox, as supple as a tiger, and as quick as a striking snake requires a type of strength that is much more complex than just power lifting. To acquire this type of strength requires gaining skills of strength, agility, grace, relaxation, readiness, effective breathing and confident movement. Tai Chi’s simple movements provide all that is needed to retain these qualities for yourself.” From Stay Young With Tai Chi; by Ellae Elinwood

“The first principle is to always use calm against action (calm against excitable). The second calls for using soft against hard (relaxed against tense). The third principle is slow against fast (precise against rushed). And the fourth, single against a group (one technique can defeat many).” Doc Fai Wong

“Through research in the exciting new field of Craniosacral Osteopathy, a very subtle rhythm has been located. Called the “cranial rhythmic impulse”, …this rhythm, generally 12 to 14 beats per minute, is precisely that at which the Tai Chi form is enacted. One cycle of Yin and Yang around every four or five seconds. Tai Chi seems to work at a level wholly in tune with our body’s most basic rhythmic impulses…” Robert Parry

“Regular practice of Tai Chi helps you to focus your mind without forming rigid attachment to a single point of view. This is known as Tai Chi mind: perceiving the unifying elements of a situation rather than those that divide, and remembering that there is always an element within you of that which you oppose. This perspective on life encourages harmony and a sense of connection.” From Tai Chi Mind and Body by Tricia Yu

“Where the intent goes, the Chi follows.” Waysun Liao

“Forcing Chi can cause disruption of involuntary processes, resulting in sickness.” Robert Chuckrow

“In Tai Chi there is no final result. Rather, there is a gradual accumulation of benefits…” Dr. Robert Chuckrow

“Ten minutes of Tai Chi is better than ten minutes of sleep.” Cheng Man-Ch’ing

“The most prominent mistake made by many is to misinterpret the word ‘soft’…it also means suppleness; represented by the suppleness of metallic springs. Small wonder, some people regard Tai Chi as an exercise merely for health.” Lee Ying-Arng

“It is a system of reeducation and can only happen slowly, since there are years of moving wrongly to contend with.”

Paul Crompton

“…using your imagination, feel that you are as pliable as water, totally flexible, yielding to the shape of the container. When [you] the water is poured into a lake, you become the lake.” Waysun Liao

“…Many Tai Chi students today have gone to the extreme, thinking that hard external training and application are alien to Tai Chi. An appreciation of the Yin-Yang principle helps to overcome this superficial view…” Wong Kiew Kit

“Tai Chi movement may be likened to the movement of a long river.” Dr. Robert Chuckrow

“It should be understood that Tai Chi is a highly individual art, and no two masters; even at the same school, will perform it in exactly the same way.” Lu Hui Ching

“The slow motion approach of Tai Chi doesn’t just allow, but rather compels, an enhanced state of self awareness. Tai Chi students learn to cultivate two important concomitant states; those of attention and intention, combining them into an inseparable one.” John Loupos

“Tai Chi, practiced correctly and regularly, will gain one the pliability of a child, the health of a lumberjack and the piece of mind of a sage.” Cheng Man-Chi’ng

“…its superb effectiveness [as a martial art] is a result of the fact that it teaches the practitioner to use her body and mind normally, correctly, and with purpose.” Mark Chen

“Tai Chi is an exercise in discernment. Expertise consists of being able to differentiate between subtly different situations and conditions.” Dr. Jay Dunbar

“We must distinguish between Yin and Yang in the mind, and this is the most important aspect of our training.” Erle Montaigue

“Tai Chi Chuan reconnects the mind to the body, the consciousness to the subconscious and the individual to his environment.” Bob Klein

“…Tai Chi people speak though maintaining a ‘cool heart even in the direst circumstances.” Return to Stillness by Trevor Carolan

“The mind must be trained to develop a state of ‘non-attachment’ whereby it is possible to allow the body to work naturally and in a relaxed manner, despite being placed in an extremely stressful situation.” Applied Tai Chi Chuan by Nigel Sutton

The most compelling and elegant explanation of Chi I have ever read was offered by Koichi Tohei in his book: “Ki in Daily Life”:

“Our lives are a part of the universal Ki (Chi) enclosed in the flesh of our bodies. Our lives are like the amount of water we might take from the great sea and hold in our hands. We call this “I”. Yes, it is the same as calling the water our water because we hold it in our hands. On the other hand, from the standpoint of water, it is a part of the great sea. Although if we open our hands the water will fall back into the sea, even as it remains in our hands it is in conflux with the outer great sea.”