Buddhist monk waiting outside clothing shop for a contribution.
 Taiwan is a country on the precipice of its future, politically and culturally. If nothing else this makes for surprise moments. Our 9th floor room has a balcony; rather than waste space, it is overgrown with plants, Daoist rocks and, oh yes, a carp pond stocked with mature koi, big ones. And around the corner, the remainder of the balcony is assigned to a miniature park.
The famous NIght Market; any kind of fish you would want to taste.
The practice tonight was Pigua, a beautiful Long Arm style that generates huge power from a flexible spine. The moves create power by consciously letting go. This is one of SiGong Hsu’s most persistent points, to let go and relax, to start with relaxation not because it’s a nice idea and you need some after a stressful day, but because there is no other way to your truer discoveries of movement. He sees this relaxation concept echoed in many ways.
When someone says “just relax,” it’s the worst.
Sifu had me go through the first Pigua form with all the students. This was definitely a puzzle since I’d never done it. When one of the teachers talked to me, he said he couldn’t believe I had never done the form I realized that Sifu Hsu had made some point through me, as teachers will, about relaxation and the attitude that you know nothing. Difficult cultivation.
