I Want to Throw Roundhouse Kicks on Muhammad Ali's Birthday
Some People Make You Want to Be a Better Person
Two amazing people with beautiful hearts left the world during the past two weeks.
I learned about the passing of Laralyn Yee the day before I watched the service for Congressman John Lewis.
Both of these people had beautiful hearts and they both lost brave struggles with cancer.
A lot has been written about John Lewis, so I will not focus on him very much, except to mention how people remember him as always being kind.
And Lewis fought all his life for the rights of others. He put himself in harm's way on that bridge to Selma, knowing he was going to be hurt by the racist officers waiting for the marchers.
Later in life, he put his beliefs into action, and he put his heart into the task of helping others through legislation.
Lara Yee joined my website a few years ago and sent me a couple of emails on different topics. I did not realize she had been diagnosed with cancer. Her messages were always kind. She lived in California and had studied with some good teachers. She asked...
The Duality of Winning and Losing is a Mental Trap in Martial Arts
When I was in high school, Paul Carter's dad used to come to our track meets. I was on the team and did the high jump. Paul's dad would always say hello and talk with me a little bit. It was Lexington, Kentucky, but he grew up in the rural part of the state. He was the type of friendly Southern guy you would expect to see in Mayberry, talking with Andy Griffith.
One day Paul told me that his father enjoyed watching me high jump because, "He says whether you win or lose, you smile."
I enjoyed hearing that when I was 17. When I competed, I always wanted to do as well as I could, but I loved doing the high jump. I wasn't going to get a college track scholarship or anything. I wasn't a talented, gifted athlete, I just loved it.
A few years earlier in middle school, Coach Pieratt set out the high jump one day in gym class. None of us had ever seen it. He wanted each boy to try jumping 4 feet 10 inches. He explained to us how to jump doing the old Western Roll. The Fosbury Flop was so ne...
The Tao of Mister Rogers - Working at Being Kind and Centered
When people hurt me I get angry. You probably do, too.
There have been times when I have carried grudges. There were three bullies who were "after" me for two or three years back in middle school. Rob Brewster, Dan Cotter and Tom Prentice always seemed to be together and always wanted to pound me into the ground.
They were older than I was by at least a year.
One night, Rob sucker-punched me through a car window, so I had to have been around 16 and driving, but the bullying began long before that, when I was around 14.
One day when I was 14 or 15, I was fighting another bully after school in a field near the school. We were surrounded by boys as our fists were flying and we were wrestling and finally, exhausted, we called it a draw.
Dan decided at that moment, when I was exhausted from another fight and he was fresh, it was the right time to jump me. Bullies always try to pick a target that is weak or alone.
He hit me a few times but I would not fight. I was so tired, I knew I w...
The Death of a Child and a Spouse Offer Tests of Internal Strength
A few days ago, my daughter Shara would have celebrated her 39th birthday. She was born on September 12, 1980.
Six weeks later, on a chilly October morning, the morning after she broke into a big, toothless grin for the first time, causing me, her 3-year old sister Harmony and her mom to burst out laughing, we found her dead in her bed from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Crib death came in the night and took our little red-haired baby girl.
We were devastated, shrouded for a couple of years in grief that felt like a weight vest. Over the years, the grief diminished to a manageable state; life went on, and after being knocked into an emotional hole in the ground, I managed to lift myself up and re-balance.
The philosophical Taoism and Zen thinking that I tried to adopt in the years before Shara's death had put down roots.
This philosophy is not about not feeling. It is not about being passive. It is about feeling fully, but not letting destructive emotions take control.
It is ab...
Connecting: A Crucial Skill in the Internal Martial Arts and in Life
How to Meditate While Doing Tai Chi and Internal Arts -- Mindfulness
A philosopher asked the Buddha, "What is your method? What do you practice every day?"
"We walk, we eat, we wash ourselves, we sit down," the Buddha explained.
"What is so special about that? Everyone walks, eats, washes, sits down," the philosopher said.
"Sir," replied the Buddha, "when we walk, we are aware we are walking; when we eat, we are aware we are eating. When others walk, eat, wash, or sit down, they are generally not aware of what they are doing."
In Buddhism, mindfulness is the key. -- from Zen Keys by Thich Nhat Hanh
Are you mindful when you practice your gongfu?
Are you mindful when you are at work? Does your mind wander when talking to other employees or when sitting through meetings?
When in public, are you on a cell phone instead of being engaged in the world around you?
When your significant other is talking, do you zone out or are you mentally engaged in what they are saying?
Are you constantly multi-tasking?
Psychology Today reported that we lose 40% of...
The "Glimpse" That Keeps Us Coming Back
A Taiji instructor and a former guest on the Internal Fighting Arts podcast, Kimberly Ivy of Seattle, wrote a post on Facebook a few days ago that brought back some vivid memories for me, and reminded me of one reason I have kept coming back to these arts decade after decade, putting myself through the hard work and practice to get better at these skills.
She wrote that some of her long-time students, some of them off-and-on students, told her that it was the occasional "glimpse" they received when practicing that kept them coming back.
Ahh, yes. The "Glimpse."
I first experienced the "Glimpse" around 1980. I had been involved in martial arts for seven years at that point, and I had been studying Zen Buddhism and Taoist philosophy. One of my favorite books was "Zen Buddhism," by Christmas Humphreys. I loved reading the koans -- little anecdotes or riddles that are supposed to make you realize the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to trigger enlightenment: the "Glimpse."
Here is a...
Connecting -- The Number One Skill in Tai Chi, Hsing-I or Bagua
Then I connected. I relaxed and got my head out of the match. I waited with a relaxed state of readiness for him to move.
When he attacked, I was already moving. When he arrived, I was already there and planted a hook kick on the side of his face.
When I took my black sash test in 1997, among the many tasks I had to perform was a sparring match with wooden broadswords to show strategy, technique, and skill. My "opponent" was another black sash with a wooden broadsword. He was cocky and considered himself a lot better.
I relaxed and calmed my mind. I centered, and connected with him. We assumed the on guard stance.
The instant he moved toward me with ...
No Room for Fear -- What You Should Expect from Your Personal Philosophy
Caution: this post contains a very graphic photo below. If blood upsets you, don't scroll down.
I have spent five of the past six nights in the hospital, including two trips in an ambulance. I've had to postpone a podcast interview and a few gongfu practices.
It started when I was sitting in my home office and began coughing up blood. This went on for over half an hour. It stopped for half an hour and then began even harder. Nancy called 911 and the ambulance came.
By the time the coughing stopped, long after I arrived in the ER, about two pints of blood had come up from my lungs and out my mouth. At one point, it dawned on me that blood loss could cause me to pass out and there was a chance I wouldn't wake up. The ER at Illini Hospital couldn't help me, so after the bleeding stopped they sent me by ambulance 90 minutes away to Iowa City and the University of Iowa's Medical Intensive Care Unit.
They...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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