A recurring theme of Ruby's through his Tai Chi class was the notion of being "well strung  together".  The hand would move the foot or the foot would fold the hand, or some combination of movements that went together in the form.  What did it mean, though, to be "well strung together"? I think we... Continue Reading →

Without going out of your door, you can know the ways of the world.  Without peeping through your window, you can see the Way of Heaven.  The farther you go, the less you know. Thus, the Sage knows without traveling, sees without looking, and achieves without ado. -Tao te Ching, #47 The only thing that... Continue Reading →

Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly;  All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise.                                                    Blackbird singing in... Continue Reading →

Verbal instructions are necessary to lead one through the correct gate and onto the correct path, while mastery of the art comes from one's incessant self-cultivation.  -From "The Chant of the 13 Postures" This calls to mind the path I have taken thus far through my life.  I have always been drawn to people who... Continue Reading →

At this point in the class, we're past the physically demanding part of the form and moving into the coordinationally (is that even a word?) part of the form.  Our moves:  Needle to the Bottom of the Sea, Fan through the Back. Returning to both of these, it's interesting to compare what I can (or... Continue Reading →

There is an idea expressed in both the Tao te Ching and the I Ching that the way to power is through humility.  Ruby liked to explain this in terms of corporate paradigms.  The usual paradigm is that the powerful are on top and the actual workers underneath.   The I Ching would say that this... Continue Reading →

At this point in learning the form, I wrote an entry in my journal about changes I had noticed unfolding for me.  I want to share part of that here. Once the initial frustration with the moves had passed, I began to really notice this interior stillness.   After class, I would turn off the music... Continue Reading →

He who dies but perishes not enjoys true longevity. - Lao Tzu #33 What does it mean to leave behind a legacy?  This question comes up every now and again, and reviewing this seventeenth lesson of Ruby's brought it up again because he talks about legacy in this lesson.  I consider it to be a... Continue Reading →

When I was reviewing this lesson, what really caught my eye was my journal entry for the day.  I took the class a semester before the semester that Ruby decided to record them all, so I have slightly different information than what is in the recordings.  And in my entry, I wrote down a story... Continue Reading →