| My Dad got me into martial arts training, back | | | | dominant ones are Yang, Sun, Wu and Chen |
| when I was twelve, as a way to get me away | | | | forms, and they've all got their adherents. If |
| from the video game console and out doing some | | | | you've ever seen Star Trek: The Next |
| exercise. I'm grateful for that, in a lot of ways. | | | | Generation, where Worf is doing a "Klingon Martial |
| Martial arts has made me a lot more fit, and | | | | Art" in slow motion, you've actually seen some of |
| giving me confidence and a career, actually. He | | | | the Yang form. The Wu form is compact, short |
| kept on with it as well, and it's started to take a | | | | motions, the Sun form is about swift movement, |
| toll on him. Where we used to do sparring | | | | and the Chen form is about explosive |
| matches, and throws and joint locks, he's just | | | | movements, with Wu and Chen most important |
| gotten to the point where he's enough older that | | | | for using Tai Chi as a martial art rather than as a |
| he doesn't enjoy being thrown on the mat | | | | form of exercise. |
| abruptly. | | | | Starting out, we both felt kind of silly, because |
| I looked at Wing Chun videos for him, and he | | | | we're sweating and working our way through the |
| moved into that style. However, even that's | | | | forms, with a pair of news papers taped to |
| starting to take a toll on him. His blood pressure | | | | wooden dowels to simulate the fan. It's very slow |
| medications sometimes make him dizzy, and he | | | | - and you really feel the burn. Breathing deeply, |
| doesn't heal from bruises as fast as he used to | | | | you feel it in your abdomen, and diaphragm, and |
| (for that matter, I don't either. I marvel at the | | | | by the end, your calves are just burning. It's a |
| videos my Dad shot of me when I was a | | | | great way to improve flexibility and breath |
| teenager. Oh, to have the resilience I had then | | | | control. He was grimacing from some of the |
| with what I know now...) | | | | more explosive movements, because it made his |
| So, we started looking for something we can do | | | | bad elbow hurt, but we quickly slowed it down to |
| together that's got martial arts application, but | | | | keep that from happening again. All in all, it was a |
| won't give pulled muscles, bruises, or force us to | | | | good thing to do, and I'll try to keep up with it, |
| explain to my stepmom or my wife why the | | | | though I may not have time with all my other |
| furniture has been re-arranged or broken. We | | | | martial arts commitments. I tell you, the biggest |
| settled on Single Fan Tai Chi Chuan. | | | | hassle in my life is that there are all these cool |
| Tai Chi has a number of divergent forms; they'd | | | | martial arts I can study, and not enough hours in |
| be called schools in other martial arts. The four | | | | the day to do it! |