Beating the Heavenly Drum

Tonight in Tai Chi we practiced a move called "Beating the Heavenly Drum".  I have tried this move a couple of times before, but have never done it successfully (in my opinion).  The trick of this move is that you have to swing your arms from front to back while you slide your body from a forward bow stance to a back stance.  All the time you are trying to do this you are also rotating your torso from the front when in a forward bow to 45 degrees to the right in back stance.  A lot of things moving at the same time.  I have a problem with swinging my arms fast enough to get them to beat on my chest in rhythm with my body swing and front to back motion.  When I watch Dave (our instructor) it looks so smooth and effortless, but I just have to remember that he must have started where I did all of those years ago.

I did get a chance to learn another move in the solo form which was exciting.  Steve, Jenny, Lise, and I had an opportunity to practice our form together in the last part of class.  Now I think the four of us are on the same level with each other.  It is good to have others at the same level as yourself in order to practice with.

Last week Jenny and I did a vertical push hands move which was fun.  It reminded me of dancing.  It was a major work out for the quads though.  On top of that, I forgot my Tai Chi shoes so Sifu allowed me to attend class barefoot.  I thought this would be fun and it might have been if we were outside.  However, the wood floor in the main room is slick no matter if you have shoes on or not.  I was sliding all over the place.  Rule #1 when packing for class: PACK YOUR SHOES FIRST!!  Hopefully this will be the last time I forget that important piece of equipment.  On to the next class!