Water Tiger T'ai Chi

09/11/2026

For the day that is …

''We saw a national unity bend. We learned that unity is the one thing that must never break. Unity is what makes us who we are - America at its best. To me, that's the central lesson of September 11 - that at our most vulnerable, the push-and-pull of all that makes us human, in the battle for the soul of America, unity is our greatest strength.''

President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.
Friday, September 10, 2021
White House National Address

09/10/2026

Sunday’s quote on our office calendar is another remainder to "take the plank out of your eye" – to borrow from another spiritual source …

- David Schiller, ed., "A Year of Zen Page-A-Day Calendar 2026", Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

09/09/2026

Here’s another for the “If You Know Water Tiger” ledger …

Saturday’s quote on our office calendar is similar a few in our collection; however, it’s a much subtler take on our “It’s always the right temperature”.

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09/08/2026

Here’s a challenge for you, if you know Water Tiger.

We have a handful of Qigong exercises to which we’ve added a fade at the end of playing them. There’s one from the Primary Stationary family of T’ai Chi Qigong, Big Python Softens Its Body. The remaining exercises come from our set Awakening the Qi and are Activating the Torso, Arousing the Essence & Increasing the Flow, Opening the Heart, and Shaking the Tree.

As the individual exercise begins to draw to a close, we begin to incrementally fade the movement from larger to smaller to, eventually, external physical stillness - with no abrupt stop, no obvious end. A favorite instruction goes something like this: the Transition from movement to an actual external, physical stillness should be as imperceptible as possible, not only externally, but internally as well – not only to someone watching, but also to you yourself ...

In class, we always included an aside that the fade should be partially governed – so as to not eat up too much class time. Theoretically, the fade could go on and on and on. As Deng Ming-Dao once wrote:

“Mathematics gives us a useful metaphor. Take a mere inch. You can divide it in half infinitely over an infinite number of times and always have the possibility of getting smaller still. There is no end to that infinity.”

Our challenge for you is: How long can you draw out your fade?

– Deng Ming-Dao, “Infinity and Emptiness”, www(dot)facebook(dot)com/dengmingdao/photos/infinity-and-emptinesshow-can-nonbeing-nothingness-emptiness-the-muddled-and-sti/797963318787713/, August 11, 2023. Accessed August 11, 2023.

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09/07/2026

For the day that is ...

“Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.” - Karl Marx.

09/06/2026

Continuing on the groundwork laid by Peter Neri and his "The Perils of Booking T'ai Chi Time", today, we’ll be sharing additional ways for booking T’ai Chi that we’ve either suggested or heard from others.

Over the years on the mat, in the room, and through the remote environment, we’ve oft suggested to people having difficulty finding time to play to take the time in the morning while coffee is brewing or tea is steeping to run a floor exercise or a bit of a form.

Another frequent Water Tiger suggestion has been to stand in our basic shoulder-wide, Ma Bu stance while in queue at the grocery or other retail store. We’d note how most of the people who are in the line will probably be impatiently shifting weight, mumbling, or messing with their devices. They may notice the serenity of their fellow queuer and want some of whatever drugs they must be taking. 😉

The reason for the image we chose for this post is in one of the things we’ve heard from more than one student over the years. They share that they were standing on the deck of a ferry, riding the subway, etc., and found themselves tossed this way and that way. Then they tell us they remembered our stance work, relaxed and settled, and the being tossed simply went away. However, like the sign in the image: We still suggest the handrails.

One of our students, who commuted to work in New York City on the Port Jefferson line of the LIRR, told us he would play the first few pieces of our set T’ai Chi Qigong: Reeling Silk while on the train. The first few exercises of the set are focused on developing different internal movement orbits, which are difficult to notice externally. He said, “No one had any idea.”

Our final share comes directly from McElroy Laoshi. He has often shared about the time he was working in downtown Des Moines, IA (USA), and commuted via the city’s bus system. On those morning rides, he’d take a seat, get comfortable, close his eyes, and run our standard 10-piece, T'ai Chi Qigong Breathing Set, mentally. He’d close his share with this: “I was the most centered cat getting off that bus every morning.”

About the Image: This is the third time we’ve shared the image. The first was on November 27, 2015, and the second was May 7, 2020. “Taijiquan Journal” gives photo credit to Braden Schmitt. BTW: "Taijiquan Journal" still publishes online, taijiquanjournal(dot)blogspot(dot)com.

- "Taijiquan Journal", Spring 2003, Back Cover.

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09/05/2026

As Peter Neri begins to wrap his short article "The Perils of Booking T'ai Chi Time" by noting he prefers his evening play over his morning play. The main reason probably won’t surprise you, “because there is no pending thing to do or place to go”. He does, however, bemoan the fact it leaves him feeling “refreshed and energized” just in time for bed.

He then works through his options and opins that changing his normal sleep schedule would make him “a raving lunatic negating any benefits” his time with T’ai Chi gives him. He also refuses to shortchange his family and feels uncomfortable with the idea of saying “the hell with what people think” at his job and “put on a show at work every day”.

Then he draws things to close: “Maybe my best approach is pretty much what I’m doing right now: Booking T’ai Chi Time.”

Tomorrow, we’ll share more of the ways Water Tiger has either suggested or heard about booking T’ai Chi time.

- Peter Neri, "The Perils of Booking T'ai Chi Time", "T'ai Chi", December 1994, 35.

09/05/2026

Explaining the continuing delay in returning to our YouTube channel …

https://youtu.be/H_o6fI9Wg7k

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Spring may have been complicated, but the summer has been even more...

09/04/2026

Not all long ago, January 20, 2023, we gave nod to Peter Neri’s published challenges in finding time and space to play. The previous day’s post had focused on the challenges of playing with cats, as one of our remote students had recently experienced during a Saturday morning blended studio / remote class. It reminded us of Mr. Neri’s challenges and chose his description of his evening practice. As with his morning schedule, he first shares how his evening unfolds, from leaving his job through putting his kids in bed, until the clock chimes 10:00P. He writes:

“I’m usually totally wasted from the day’s activities and by the time I have some alone space, I will attempt the Yang long form.

"I can either dodge the bats outside on the deck or do a modified version indoors, yielding to couches, stairs, hearths, and whatever the kids may have left on the floor. Brush Knee and Push Door, Pick Up Broken Crayon at the Bottom of the Sea, and Fair Lady Works Her Way from the Living Room to the Laundry Room are favorites of mine."

The earlier post, in 2023, also included how Mr. Neri’s creative posture names brought to mind one from a Des Moines, IA (USA) associate of Water Tiger from our "T'ai Chi in the Park" days there. It came from Dr. Robert Swarts after he'd had a certain medical procedure that required a certain change in his play for a bit. His nontraditional posture was “Wave Hands Like Clouds While Gentling Shifting Foley Bag”.

Tomorrow, we’ll hit Mr. Neri’s final thoughts.

- Peter Neri, "The Perils of Booking T'ai Chi Time", "T'ai Chi", December 1994, 35.

09/03/2026

The next section of Mr. Neri’s article about the challenges in finding time to practice the art we love addresses his daily schedule and when he finds some time in the morning and in the evening to play. Today, we’ll share his thoughts about his morning practice.

As he outlines his morning schedule, he sets aside 15 minutes for play. He describes it:

“When I do the form in the morning, I put the coffee water on low (so it doesn’t boil too quickly), and slip out on the deck to do 10-15 minutes of the Yang short form. The cat doesn’t seem to mind. I think that he relates to moving meditation at some level.

“Hey, I catch him meditating (and ‘purring’ yet!) all the time. Lucky dude: he’s got plenty of time, and no one to question kitty behavior. If the dog is outside though, she slobbers and barks and whines like I should be doing something with her.

“So this is my relaxing moment of T’ai Chi in the morning: fighting the bugs outside with the dog whining, the kids stirring and the water kettle ready to whistle. Total Nirvana.”

Tomorrow, we look at Mr. Neri’s evening play, which we have featured on this page in the past.

- Peter Neri, "The Perils of Booking T'ai Chi Time", "T'ai Chi", December 1994, 35.