Exercise is working out quite well. Tai chi this morning was excellent, with good breathing, good core work and good leg-work. My breathing was especially nice. I’ve been very stuffed up of late, but BOOM! Do the chi, and the breath flattens out and I become most breathable. I was also really conscious of my legs today, and managed to do the work easily, sliding from forward to back, and spiraling inward and outward pretty cleanly. Felt my legs thicken and ready to move without difficulty.

Arm work was less suitable. told me last night that in Aikido, he’s working on stiffening the muscles in only his forearms, without hardening his wrists or biceps — building up the power in one part of his arm while allowing the rest of his arm and shoulder to remain loose. That’s what I’m working for, as well. It’s not easy, at all. He’s quite right. It’s mentioned in the 太 氣 經 (Tai Chi Classics) as a problem, that can be solved by dreaming you have no arms, and then… imagine that… working from the core to build power in the outer parts of the limbs. Guess I’ll be working on that over the next seventy-eight days.

Today was the first day since day two or three when I really felt 氣 flowing seriously. If you concentrate on getting the form right, it’s harder to feel 氣 until you’re done, when it’s all in your hands and feet and the sides of your neck. Today I felt 氣 as I was working through the form, and that felt really good. The 氣 also settled down upon completion of the form, but there was an interesting change in it, too, as I settled into 馬身分 immediately after.

Incidentally, I’m not at all sure that these 漢字 are going to translate into LiveJournal, but they are appearing in Journler, the program that turned me onto. Journler is proving extremely useful, and especially since most of this 太 氣 journal is offline so far. Today is only the first day I’ve been using the 漢字 in my journal, but I am trying to use them during the exercises, and that’s proving valuable, too. Thus, I’m using them here, as a way of developing familiarity with them, and a comprehension of their meanings. It’s kind of magical thinking, since I speak no language of 中國 at all, but there’s also something eminently powerful about being able to express a strong idea in a single symbol like this.

I’m really pleased with the way this is going, and I aim to continue for another seventy-eight days, without fail. Now, I need to get cleaned up and go meet my mom in New Haven for lunch. Be well, all.

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