No Saints Here
The student was working in the kitchen when the pots he was washing came crashing down to the floor. He cursed and angrily put the pots back on the counter. To his horror, he looked up and saw his master observing him. Embarrassed, he apologized profusely. The master waited a moment which seemed to the student like an hour and said “That is fine, we are not looking to become saints here. If you want to become like a saint, you are in the wrong place.”
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The rain playing piano
Late at night
On the metal porch roof
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Yang, wu, and tai chi chih are three of the most popular styles of tai chi. The yang style, which includes 24 movements in its simple form (108 movements in the traditional form), is demanding because you must keep your stance wide and your knees bent most of the time; the wu style, which includes 24 to 36 movements in its shorter form (100 movements in the traditional), is gentler because it uses a narrow, higher stance where the knees are not bent as much as the yang style; and the tai chi chih style, which has 20 movements, also uses a higher stance, but with much less transfer of weight from one leg to the other than the other two. Because the wu style uses a high, narrow stance, it may be easier to do and ideal for improving balance. No matter which style you practice, they all are conducted slowly, deliberately, and gracefully, with each movement flowing seamlessly into the next without hesitation.
