Monthly Archives: December 2007

Chen Zhonghua Online Workshops

Posted on
6

After reading about the free trial to Chen Zhonghua’s online workshop, I had to give it a try. So, I went the online workshop home page and read the description about membership benefits. They are as follows:

Contents updated weekly, bi-weekly or monthly in the following:
Learning through video clips. Online video with written

instructions. Mini Lessons on concepts and techniques.
Section on Common Errors in Taiji learning.
Online discussion forum. Daoist/Taiji stories.
Discount products on select items. Workshop listings.
Direct online submission to a variety of sections.

Sign up NOW to receive information and benefit FREE.

 

Okay, sounds cool. So how do I sign up? It was a little confusing for me at first, but I had to look around for the ‘register’ link on the webpage. I have updated the benefit summary above with a direct link to the registration page. After getting to the registration page, you MUST click on the ‘FREE’ icon to sign up for the 3 month free trial. After that, you will receive an email that is used for validation purposes.

After loggig into the site as a registered member, I notice a little section in the lower left hand corner that is listed as a “Private Shop for Registered Members”. This is basically a little store where members can purchase things like a video clip of Hong Junsheng and Xu Guicheng Push Hands for $1.00, 2002 Hunyuan World Notes PDF for -$0.12 (that’s right, a negative costs for an item. I guess it must be free then??), and payment methods for attending workshops and classes. Nothing too fancy yet..

The “User Menu” contains links to instructional videos, notes, routine names, free downloads. Being the cheapskate that I am, the first thing I checked was the free downloads.  Most of the free material was workshop registration and waiver forms. However, also under the PDF section was the 2002 Hunyuan World Notes PDF that was referenced in the store section. I guess it’s free after all! This PDF contained roughly 6 pages of notes covering positive/negative circles and other important points for practice. Definitely a good read and worth time to register for the site!

The “Advice” section contained articles about workshops, some stories (most found in other places on the net) and quotes. Then I noticed a section called Mini Lessons.  These were little training tidbits to keep in mind while practicing taiji.  A lot of these contained quotes from Hong Junsheng. Some of the snippets were written by Chen Zhonghua. Others were written by “Administrator” and “Editor”.   Personally, I think it would be nice to have a consolidated page dedicated to Chen Zhonghua’s mini lessons instead of mixing it in with other authors.

Next I headed off to the “Common Errors” section of the site. This is of interest to me as I find the Hong Practical Method as taught by Chen Zhonghua  to have different perspectives on the ‘principles’ of taiji (Ex: Misunderstanding Double Heavy?).  One of the more interesting articles was about habit and learning. To find out what that is, you’ll have to register on the site and read for yourself :)

The “Instructional Videos” section mostly contained links to videos on Youtube with some extra text commentary.  The commentary is pretty good and definitely adds an extra dimension to the material.

I tried to check out the forums, but unfortunately they were down.. :(   I was hoping to read about some interesting discussions between Chen Zhonghua and some of his students. Perhaps it will be up and running before my trial ends.

I then tested out the “Direct Submissions” feature where I can submit my own FAQs and news, but I got a message stating I was not allowed to submit. When I clicked on my ‘subscription page’, I was taken back to page that asks me if I want a free trial or pay for membership.

Overall, it’s not bad for a free three month trial, but I was hoping for more. Actually, I was hoping for some kind of feedback system where you could submit a video of yourself to Chen Zhonghua for some personalized feedback. This was the first thing that came to mind for me when I read ‘online workshop’.  Perhaps something like this could be implemented on the site’s forum where you post a video of yourself online and have critique come from either Chen Zhonghua or some of his disciples. That would be super cool IMO.

Perhaps given more time, the forums will be in working order and the site will be redesigned a bit to make navigation easier. I’m keeping my fingers crossed as this could really turn out to be something cool depending upon implementation and dedication of the community members.

 

7 Random Things

Posted on
5

I’ve been tagged by Rick of Cook Ding’s Kitchen.  I first came across Rick’s blog during my quest to find other taiji related blogs. Some comments on each other’s blog lead to an email exchange which lead to finding out that we have some mutual acquaintances in real life. Such a small world!

I have accepted the tagging and the rules are as follows:

  • link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
  • share 7 random or weird things about yourself.
  • tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs
  • let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Random or Weird things about me:

  1. I started martial arts in second grade, taking lessons at the gym of a local elementary school. After years of Tae Kwon Do, I started chinese contemporary wushu.  One day, I noticed my grandma watching me practice the staff in the backyard. Later that day, my aunt tells me that my grandfather used to also practice and train the staff.  She tells me that he was able to jump on top of the roofs in their village with his staff. I wish I still trained in the staff…
  2. For a person who often posts things on the internet, I am very paranoid about sharing personal information online. I know, it’s a weird love and hate relationship.
  3. I am a bit anal retentive regarding my own routines. Sometimes when things go out of whack or slightly off course, I get a bit agitated. Example, I am pretty anal about GTD and keeping my action lists up to date. I take pictures of high ticket items to store for personal home inventory. I track finances down to the penny. I am paranoid about data backup and have over 1 terabyte worth of disk space for my computer alone.
  4. I am always researching something.  I mostly read non-fictional works and will research for weeks before making a purchase.  I have become the ‘go to guy’ for gadgetry and other things related to technology.
  5. I love podcasts and audiobooks. With a 1 hour commute to work, I try to make the best use of my time. Roughly 90% of the time, my iPod is playing either a podcast or audiobook.
  6. I like to dance and will throw down with the young-ens :) In my early teens, I was all about the running man and kid’n'play kickstep. During high school and college, I was a raver and it was all about poppin and liquid glides.  Recently, it’s ballroom dancing. At a family wedding about 2 years ago, I was called out by a younger cousin. I went out into the middle of the dance circle and put all the kiddies to shame.. heheh ;)
  7. Anytime the Karate Kid is playing on TV, I will watch it. This drives my wife crazy! :)

The follow people have been tagged:

Formosa Neijia

InternalArts IA

Taiji.quest.ion

Taiji Kinesis

Teck’s Treehouse

Unfortunately, I may break the rules a bit as I only have 5 people to tag. Ohh.. that’s another thing about me, I prefer to hang in small circles. I like intimate groups of about 4-5 people versus big gatherings :)

The coffee phase out

Posted on
1

Last week, I decided I would slowly phase out coffee from my diet. Back in college, I was a coffee junkie. After graduation, I rarely drank coffee and would sometimes partake once every couple of weeks as a social team outing.  After the birth of my son, coffee has kicked in full force due to constant lack of sleep. Now that my son is three, I have decided to cut back on the coffee.

I was going to do the cold turkey thing last week but decided against it when I began feeling drowsy during my 50 minute commute to work in the morning.  So I caved and bought a small coffee with some donuts to boot.. yumm ;) The following weekend, I picked up a small can of coffee to tie me over.

This week, I have cut down to prepping about 3 cups of coffee every other day for my morning commute. I used to do 4 cups of coffee (completely fill my coffee mug). So far, so good. Not too many headaches and with the weekend approaching, this will mean 2 more days without coffee.

My goal next week is to cut down to 2 cups of coffee every other day, followed by 1 cup of coffee every other day the following week. This means by New Year’s, I should be coffee free. Yeah!