So-so practice today. I was not feeling the best last night, and I have a dentist appointment to go to this morning, which I should leave for, shortly. I may not finish this poem until later today.
Hands stay still. All weight shifts from front to back,
and when the right foot’s light, inward it turns,
pointing to the left. Arms are somewhat slack,
as hips start to twist. Upper trunk returns
in line with lower. Arms follow where led,
but with left arm straightened and right arm bent.
Shift weight to right foot, and lighten your tread
with the left. Spike right fingers to what’s meant
by “Buddha’s teacup” — and put a saucer,
the left hand, under. Then explode both hands,
open the whole body: slow, but fiercer
as right fist balances and left arm lands
striking with shoulder, then elbow, then wrist,
last the hand’s grip — all pure movement, not list.
Meh. Not pleased with this, though I’ve been pecking at it on and off all day. I was happy with my morning’s practice, but the poem never quite gelled. Part of it was that there wasn’t really a moment when I thought, “oh, I know how to explain the whole movement in 14 lines and seven rhyme-systems.” I feel like this movement is too complicated for this style of poem. Maybe when I return to this movement in the next couple of weeks, I’ll have a better idea how to explain it again.
[…] which happened to be directly in the spot that I would reach after the first turning (at the first Single Whip). As I approached her again, she got up and moved to a new spot on a different rug — exactly in […]
[…] page details the movements from the second half of Single Whip to White Crane Spreads Wings. I realized I didn’t allow enough “windows” in my […]
[…] I represented this in poetry for the first time here: […]
[…] tai chi movement is Single Whip. I’ve worked with this movement before in poetry here and here, and here, and with the variant move, Spiral Single Whip. Mostly, all I did was repeat […]
[…] back, press, push, single whip, stand like tree, shoulder strike, white heron spreads wings,brush knee/twist step, playing […]
[…] movement that prepares the strike, and the couplet can be the unfolding arms — which have already been described in other poems. For me, this means starting with the […]
[…] back, press, push, single whip, stand like tree, shoulder strike, white heron spreads wings,brush knee/twist step, playing pipah, […]
[…] back, press, push, single whip, stand like tree, shoulder strike, white heron spreads wings, brush knee/twist step, playing […]
[…] movement is Single Whip. When I first worked through Single Whip poetically, a few weeks ago, and the result was […]
[…] back, press, push, single whip, stand like tree, shoulder strike, white heron spreads wings,brush knee/twist step, playing […]
[…] see… Opening, circled hands, ward off left, ward off right, roll back, press, push, single whip, stand like tree, shoulder strike, white heron spreads wings, brush knee/twist step, playing […]
[…] see… Opening, circled hands, ward off left, ward off right, roll back, press, push, single whip, stand like tree, shoulder strike, white heron spreads wings, brush knee/twist step, playing pipah, […]
[…] Tai Chi Y3D132: Single Whip […]