Congratulations
I want to welcome our newest Tai Chi Chuan instructor , Paul Andrew Chambers, into our Studio family. Since he lives in Lincoln, United Kingdom, he did the training over distance. He already has lots of experience in martial arts, as he runs an Aikido Dojo. For those of you who live in the UK, you can reach him at : Aikiriai@cloud.com. We all wish him the best.
The Rack
I love the feeling of inspiration. From nowhere comes something of value. Tonight I was standing in front of the mirror, getting myself ready to turn in for the day. And then it hit me. The Rack.
I had the feeling I needed to lengthen my body after a full day of working. As I stood there, my feet planted solidly, I had the feeling that something was pulling both my feet down into the floor. I felt a need to inhale as this was happening. Then there was a release as I exhaled. I did this a few times and it felt good. I then let my head be pulled upward as I inhaled, and let it release on exhale. Did it a few times. Then The Rack started. As I inhaled, my feet were pulled downward and my head was pulled upward. Actually, I realized, that the pulls were affecting my center as my lower body and upper body are connected to each other at my lower dantien. So the pulls, in opposite directions, stretched from my center. As I exhaled and released , the center gathered the resulting release.
The feeling was I was stretching, growing longer and thinner, then as I released I came back to a shorter, more solid structure. My wife then called my name, wondering what I was doing spending so much time in the bathroom, doing seemingly nothing. She freed me from The Rack, and I headed to the bedroom feeling great.