I happened to get up very early this morning and I try to do the work as soon as I get up when I’m away from home. The day may well get busy, or there may be interruptions, and I don’t want to miss my chance.

I did the two qi gong forms, as I usually do, and then I glanced at the clock.

5:10 A.M. Oh wow, it’s early. I must have started qi gong before four in the morning.

Move on to the tai chi form. It goes reasonably smoothly, no particularly rough bits or stumbles. I go into the last sixth of the set facing in the wrong direction, though, and have to readjust. Even so, I’m faxing the clock rather than the east when I push my hands down into Full Close.

5:11 A.M.

I think I went a little faster than I’d like. So I did it again. No stumbles this time. Facing the right direction. And slow.

5:19 A.M.

Not as slow as I’d like, but ok. I’ll take it.

Apparently I’ve discovered my bare minimum performance for a tai chi routine.