November
  2005   

Cloud Hands Blog: Taijiquan and Qigong

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November 1, Tuesday, 2005

"Eden is that old-fashioned House
We dwell in every day
Without suspecting our abode
Until we drive away."
-   Emily Dickinson

Work from 7:30 to 4:39 pm for CUESD.  Writing and editing grants all day.  Weightlifting for 20 minutes and then I taught Yoga from 5:30-6:45 at the TFFC: Tehama Family Fitness Center in Red Bluff. Started doing push ups, skipping rope, and Sun Tai Chi each day at home. Started on Mediterranean Diet with Karen.   
My groin was very very sore from exercise on Sunday and Monday.   

I use Microsoft FrontPage each day for my writing in this Journal.  As I use the Internet, I keep FrontPage open all the time.  I cut and paste from my work into this Journal.  It is my working notebook.  Then, I move items of interest to either my Green Way Blog or my Cloud Hands Blog.  

I use this approach to my daily Internet work for a number of reasons.  First, a copy of my work is on my own computer at home. If the blogs crash or lock you out, which has happened to me with WordPress, you loose all your work if you have not done your writing and editing in FrontPage.  Second, I'm working with the HTML editor, FrontPage, on my own computer rather than on an online browser input interface.  I can work without being online - which pleases my wife, Karen, since we can only use a dial-up connection to the Internet since DSL is not available to us and a dish DSL is far too expensive.  Third, I've worked with FrontPage since 1998, and know how to easily make it work for me.  You can easily preview your work in IE, without being online.  Fourth, I upload to my own web server by FTP when I want to put the pages live.  

This approach works fine with Blogger.  You can cut and paste from FrontPage quite easily.  Text and links move without any problem.  

This approach has problems with WordPress.  Links from FrontPage or Dreamweaver will not cut and paste into WordPress.  FrontPage HTML code can be pasted into WordPress but it causes problems on display - different fonts, sizes of fonts, spacing, etc..  The WordPress editor is inferior to the Blogger editor, for this style of working. 

Research in Sirius Radio receiver options and features.  

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November 2, Wednesday, 2005

"The secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all
the details of daily life, and in elevating them to art."
-  William Morris

Work from 7:30 to 4 pm for CUESD.  Workout at TFFC gym: basketball warm-up and 21 game with other men, spin class with Tonya for 30 minutes, then my strenth training class.  Mistake: playing competitive basketball. It was fun, but I injured the back of my neck, right side, upper area.  Too much herky-jerky and strong unpredictable movements for a 60 year old man not trained and conditioned for this type of exercise.  I needed to warm up a lot more before I played a competitive game.    

It was my first private strength lesson by our TFFC personal trainer, and State champion power lifter Jeff Crow. It was a very informative and useful lesson.  

Power/Strength Day

Tested Bench Press - Maximum 230 pounds 1 rep.  

Bench Press Goal: Work on my power lifting training program until I get to a 315 pound press (3 45 pound plates).  This is a one year goal.  

I should do 8 sets of 3 reps at (45+35+50bar = 175 pounds.
% of Maximum
Arch back, stong support with feet and legs, use muscular tension of the entire body.  Thumb and index right at ring mark on the bar, and keep outward force on hands.  Bar down to nipple line.  Lift forward, pause, control bar.  Push out and up, not just up.  Use strenth in lats to lower bar.  Power up FAST: F=mc.  

Standing military press with bar:  5 sets of 12 reps.
Keep back straight.  Work to failure with weight.

Standing pulley triceps pressdowns:  5 sets of 12 reps.
Arms close to body, back straight.  Work to failure with weight.

Barbell Rows: 5 sets of 12 reps
Use appratus: face down on padded rowing machine.
Work to failure with weight.

Rotator Cuff Exercise: 5 sets of 12 reps.
Stand, elbows close to body, keep forearm parallel with elbow, draw across body, pulley machine, draw hand to outside then back in.  Don't work to failure.  

Day after work:

Lat pulldown, wide grip: 5 sets of 20 reps alternate with 10 sets of 10 pushups.  Work on speed, powerup, flushing muscles.  

Principles:

Variety - Don't stay with one Routine 

Change Rountines every 3 weeks.

Rest between sets 1 minute on power day.

Russian Training Routines and Principles

Speed, Fast, Power Up, Generate Force with More Speed

====================

I started doing push ups, skipping rope, and Sun Tai Chi each day at home. 

Resarch into MP3/WMA players: ipod, iRiver, Creative.  I chose to invest in the Creative line of MP3 players.  I had been very satisfied with the Creative MuVo N200 512 MB: rugged, light, simple, functional, no skip, no hassle, rock solid.  I'm listening to Miles Davis right now!  I've invested in a 1G (1000MB) player.  These are plug and play flash drives that work easily with Windows Explorer or Power Desk File managers for transferring files - although I do have to frequently do a Restart on Windows to be able to unhook the flash drive from the PC.  

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Links  
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Yang 24  
Sun 73  
Bibliography  
 

November 3, Thursday,  2005

Work from 7:30 to 4 pm for CUESD.  I started work with Lucero and Finkle on Woodson EETT grant. News about these grants, at the end of the day, was
disappointing.  I got very frustrated. 

Weightlifting for 30 minutes and then teach Yoga from 5:30-6:45 at the TFFC: Tehama Family Fitness Center in Red Bluff.  Continued doing push ups, and Sun Tai Chi.

Purchased FeedDemon from Bradbury Software.  This is an RSS/Atom Reader.  $29.95.  
Purchased and loaded FeedForAll, an RSS news feed creator.  $29.95

Started using the Creative Zen Touch 20 Gig MP3/WMA/WAV player today.  Charged battery, loaded files.  

November 4, Friday, 2005

Work from 7:30 to 4 pm for CUESD.  Proposed a whole new approach to Round 4 EETT Grant.  We will combine Olive View and Woodson.  Steve Kelish approved.  

Walking and Tai Chi practice after work.  Purchased a new lazer printer at Staples, virus software, and educational vesion of Microsoft Office.  

==================

I had my second strength training lesson from Jeff Crow at TFFC at 6 pm.  He is a good teacher, encouraging, and enthusiastic.  

He trained me in proper stance and lifting methods for the box squat.  Weight on the traps, shoulder wide, back, and down.  Head looking up and forward.  Keep the back long and strong.  Let the buttocks and hips come way back.  Use the glutes and hamstrings to lift, not just quads.  Don't rock back at bottom.  Power up, Explode Up, push up, ram up - not slow.  Don't use gloves.  

Forward bending with weight on back.  Bend at waist.  Back straight.  Look straight ahead.  

Then he had me do Roman Chair back raises - I was tired and did poorly on this.

Cobras and Dolphin.  

A power day two days a week, and a speed day two days a week.

Get stronger every week!  Progress can be measured directly in increased weights used.  

He encouraged me to look to competitions and set improvement goals and plans.

I ran out of energy a bit.  I had been up since 3 am, and worked for many hours.  

=================================

Five Animal Frolics Qigong

"Hua Tuo's Five Animal Frolics," Zhou Lishang.  T'ai Chi: The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Vol. 29, No. 4, August, 2005, pp. 42-49.  Translation by Yan Shufan.  Part 1.  A detailed article on how to do the Frolics.  This version of the Frolics set was developed by the Shanghai University of Sports and approved by the State Physical Culture and Sports Bureau. This article includes set by set photos, instructions, and some very interesting illustrations from the Ma Wang Dui Tomb No. 3 findings.    

"Hua Tuo's Five Animal Frolics," by Zhou Lishang.  T'ai Chi: The International Magazine of T'ai Chi Ch'uan: Vol. 29, No. 5, October, 2005, pp. 42-49.  Translation by Yan Shufan.  Part 2.  This article includeds detailed instructions and photographs of the form.  

November 5, Saturday, 2005

Karen, Debbie, and Jordan and I drove south a couple of miles and out to a farm and orchards.  We watched men operating a large olive oil press run by Pacific Sun Olive Oil.  Afterwards we attended a food and wine tasting event featuring 15 local producers.  The farm was on Gerber Road, west of Highway 99 West.  There were over a hundred people attending while we were there in the early afternoon.  

Olives poured into a shaking machine.

This machine washes and then 
cuts up and mashes the olives.

This machines mashes and heats the olive pulp 
and oils.

This machine separates the water, pulp,
and olive oil.  

This machine clarifies the olive oil.

The olive oil pours out into a storage 
barrell.  

Posted to Green Way:  

http://www.egreenway.com/vsjournal/z200511.htm#5

http://www.egreenway.com/meditation/olive.htm

Teach Taijiquan and Yoga at TFFC from 10-12:15.  Karen, Debbie, and Jordan and I drove down to Sunkist Farms for an Olive pressing demonstration and food and wine tasting and sales event. Took a long nap in the afternoon.  I was very tired and sore from all the new exercises.  USC clobbered Stanford - I watched the first half and they were ahead 37-7.     

Made my second entry into the CUESD Info/Zone Blog.  This is a librarians blog for Elementary and Middle School teachers, staff, students and parents.  

Famous American Speeches

Social studies teachers will find a great resource for their classrooms at American Rhetoric: Top 100 Speeches.  The text for each speech is provided and an MP3 audio file of the speech.  

Purchased Microsoft Office 2003 so we could put in on Karen's computer.  She was missing some database file and we could not load it.  She has XP - what the hell?  Shit!   It loaded OK on mine, replacing my 2000 Word and 1998 Excel with the 2003 version, and added PowerPoint 2003.  However, it messed up my FrontPage 2000 and I had to load Front Page again.  Microsoft, batting 35% for $100 on this run.  Typical.  We need to upgrade Karen's computer.  

Worked in the morning on getting my Creative MP3 player products running properly,
loading files, learning the new software.  

I can hear, underground, that sucking and sobbing,
In my veins, in my bones I feel it,--
The small water seeping upward,
The tight grains parting at last.
When sprouts break out,
Slippery as fish,
I quail, lean to beginnings, sheath-wet. 
- Theodore Roethke, Cuttings

Karen has been busy planting root bulbs of all kinds the past few weeks.  One lady in Cottonwood gave her three bags of iris bulbs.  She is thinking ahead towards next Spring and Summer when these bulbs, after sucking and sobbing underground, sprout upward, sliding out of the moist soil, to shake in the wind.  

"Chen Xin's classic book "Illustrated Explanation of Chen Family Taijiquan," outlines three principal benefits of silk-reeling energy in relation to the martial application of the art.  this energy can operate as a revolving energy similar to a tire rebounding any incoming  force.  The faster the opponent's energy comes in, the faster it is bounced away.  This  requires the body to be full, relaxed and sensitive.  Second, silk-reeling energy can be piercing, like a spiraling bullet.  This is a powerful and penetrating energy when applied during an attacking maneuver, whether it is with the fist, elbow or foot.  Third, silk-reeling energy can act as a neutralizing energy, teaching the practitioner how to lead an incoming force to emptiness."
-  Chen Style Taijiquan: The Source of Taiji Boxing.  By Davidine Siaw-Voon Sim and
David Gaffney, 2002, p. 52.

Silk Reeling Energy (Chan Ssu Jing):  Links, Bibliography, Quotes, Resources, Notes

November 6, Sunday, 2005

Walking and Taijiquan practice for 90 minutes at dawn.  

Work on EETT Grant proposal for CUESD.     

Tim Chilcott wrote to me yesterday about his new translation: 

"I'm pleased to say that a new translation of one of the central texts in world religion and philosophy is now on-line, and can be read at www.tclt.org.uk. The work is Laozi's Daode jing (or, as it still often transliterated, Lao Tzu's Tao te Ching). Whether interpreted as a book of religious teachings, or a political or sociological treatise, or a personal philosophical guide, the Chinese text has been translated more often than any book apart from the Bible; and this new version develops the experiment in translation that was initiated in 2004 with Matsuo's Basho's Oku no hosomichi [The Narrow Road to the Far North].   

The presentation of the material follows the pattern of previous translations on the site: an Introduction that explores some of the special issues raised in translating the Daode jing, a Chronology of possible composition and promulgation, a Note on the Transliteration of Chinese characters, the Text itself (with original characters and pinyin romanisation on verso pages, and the translation on facing recto pages), and a section pointing to Further Reading and Internet Links. As ever, any comments you may have, whether critical or commendatory, will be appreciated."

November 7, Monday, 2005

Work for CUESD from 7:30-4 pm.  Supervise staff and move into the new West Street library, Room 20. Write EETT4 and EETT5 grants.  

"First, last, and always the student must relax.  Various calisthenics aid him in 
achieving this.  All rigidity and strength must be emptied from the upper torso and
must sink to the very soles of the feet, one of which is always firmly rooted to the
ground.  Without proper relaxation the student can never hope to achieve the
trueness of the T'ai-chi postures.  The student relaxes completely and breathes 
as a child - naturally through the nose, the diaphragm being aided by the abdominal
rather than the intercostal muscles.  Man's intrinsic energy, the ch'i, should be
stored just below the navel.  The mind directs this energy throughout the body
according to need.  But the ch'i cannot circulated in an unrelaxed body."
-   Robert W. Smith, Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods, 1974, p. 26.

Sung: Relaxed, Loose, Open, Soft, Fluid 

Leaping from the Ledge of Infinite Regress,
The Unmoved Mover fell into Formlessness:
Pure silence echoed between the galaxies,
Eons of eons vanished in a second,
Withered trees bloomed in fires,
Polar mountains melted, rivers went dry,
Thusness scattered in sixty directions,
Space became Time, time became things,
Black Holes filled with Nirvana,
A billion samadhi mirrors shattered,              
Galaxies snuggled within a single skull,
Many became One, One only, only One.     
Then, the Divine Illuminatrix in All Beings
Opened Her clouded Eye, to see:
-  Michael P. Garofalo, Flowers in the Sky

I see more of the night sky as we slowly move towards Winter.  When I come home from the gym it is quite dark.  You cannot walk out into the yard without a flashlight at night to find your way.  The Milky Way is quite dramatic in the night sky because we live in a rural area with no street lights.  

Gazing up into the heavens has always been a dramatic experience for me.  It is not a comforting vision.  The vastness, seen and imagined, puts me on edge.  The immensity is nearly overwhelming.  My notion of Now is shattered. After a few minutes of gazing into the abyss, I head indoors for the comforts of home.     

Worked out at the gym tonight: 30 minutes of weights (pulldowns, leg curls, Roman Chair back lifts); 30 minutes of spin with Nicole; 65 minutes of strength training with Jeff and James.  

Warm up shoulders: shrugs, rolls, pushups, cat and cow, light laterals and flys.

Fast bench press 10S x 3R with 50% of maximum.

Block Press: 4 blocks on chest 5S x 3-5R with up to 230 pounds.  

Lat Pulldowns: 5S x 12 R.

Reverse Lat Flys on Machine: 5S x 12R

Rotator Cuff one handed side/cross pulley pulls.  

November 8, Tuesday, 2005

Start with workout with Jeff at 6 am at gym.  Stretching, Dead Lifts, Squat Rack, backside leg lifts.  I worked on form on my dead lifts with many, many, many repetitions.    

Get to work by 8 am.  Work from 8-3 pm.  

I voted at our polling place.  I'm kind of a swing voter at times but I swing more to the left side on the policitcal side.  I very much dislike George Bush and his administration: getting us into a serious, expensive and tragic war for false and inaccurate reasons, pushing us into a huge national debt, giving all the tax breaks to the wealthy, favoring right-wing conservative religious causes, failing to catch Osama Bin Lauden, etc.. So, I also mistrust our California Governor, Arnold Schwartzenegger, and did not vote for him, and don't support many of his initiatives.  His Republican Union busting initiatives are distasteful to me - he did not push to reign in the spending by big corporations, without their stockholders consent, on right wing Rebulican causes to benefit the wealthy.  

Walking on machines, situps, pushups, leg lifts on high chair, and Roman Chair back raises.  Teach yoga from 5:30-6:45 - 13 students in class tonight and 3 men.    

The Real End of Summer

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.”

- John Keats, To Autumn

                       Sent to me by Olla Flowers

Work from 7:30 - 4:30 for CUESD.  Writing two grants: EETT Round 4 and EETT Round 5 for the District.  Attend the CUESD Board meeting starting at 7 pm tonight to give them 1) a progress report on the Maywood EETT3-EAST grant along with Mrs. Farmer, and 2) answer any questions about the EETT4 and EETT5 grant applications.  

I have had a bad cold the past few days: coughing, post-nasal drip, sneezing, fatique.  I was also very sore from my Tuesday morning strength workout.  I decided to rest a day from exercise to recover.  

Green Way

Sent to me by Jan Jedryka

Strength training workout at TFFC led by Jeff Crow from 6-7:15 am. We warmed up, then did narrow grip bench presses up to our max, then numerous reps at 90%.  I went up to 235 pounds maximum.  Then: 5S x 12R seated incline dumbell press, 5S x 12R bent stomach pad supported barbell rows, 5S x 12R dumbell shoulder shrubs.  I really worked up a heavy sweat.     

Work 8:30-4 for CUESD on EETT Grant Applications.  

Light calisthenics and flushing weights (20R) and then teach Yoga at TFFC from 5:30-6:45 pm.  

"I started to question everything.  Whatever deep burning question I had, I would write about it.  And I would write as if I was going to give a talk because I think we all become most clear when we're trying to communicate information, rather than when we're speaking to ourselves.  I would write myself into the extent of my knowledge.  Sometimes it was literally right in the middle of a sentence that I would feel I had nothing more to say.  I had written myself right up to my wall, my stuck place.  Then I would just sit there, and I would refuse to write down another word that wasn't authentic, and totally real and absolutely true.  I found that just by sitting there and keeping my concentration on the exact point where my own personal knowledge ran out, eventually out of nowhere something would start to flow, and I would write the next word.  Eventually, I would come to a point of completion.  This was my way of inquiring.  I saw this stillness and silence, and the ability to be ruthlessly honest with myself."
-  Adyashanti, Spontaneous Awakening, Sounds True, 2005

Rowdy is the big black Rotweiler dog,
Tut is the orange tabby cat, the pyracanthas
are loaded with red berries along the fence
line, and, of course, the big man is me.  A
wonderful cool late afternoon walk in the 
yard.  Tut follows us everywhere.  

Up at 3 am.  Clean up computer desk area.  

Walking and Tai Chi Chuan at home in the morning.  Spin at the TFFC gym with Tonya, then Taiji with Kevin.  

Karen and I drove around the local rural area and take photos of fall colors, and visited the Tehama cemetary.   

Veteran's Day - A Holiday for many.  I'm a veteran who served in the United States Air Force from 1969-1973.    

Strength training and power lifting lesson with Jeff Crow starting at 6 pm at TFFC.  

Got a few emails that the Green Way Blog would not read in Firefox and Opera.  I checked it out and the readers were correct.  Yikes ... what next!  It seems to work just fine in Internet Explorer.  What next.  Callista recommends that I not use any html code in my posts anymore.  It Green Way blog will only allow strict XML code to be used in Firefox and Opera.   

The least effort to write is right here in FrontPage, but it is not a true blog with RSS feeds, css formatting, color and style, calendars, pings, etc..  It is just a handy  notebook for work in progress.   

Work on some projects on my To Do List.  

To Do:

Finish roofing around two roof fan vents in garage and over study.

Repair DishTV line into computer room.  

Clean out gutters on the roof.  Repair hole in gutter above the porch door.  

Repair roofing over southwest edge of porch area.   

Finish master bathroom floor: remove old flooring and toilet, lay down new linoleum tile, replace toilet, cut and paint molding and install.  

Repair exterior window on the south side of the house.  

Reroof the blue shed on the north side of the property.

Rool a roof over the brown shed on the north side of the property.

Clean up and winterize both brown sheds.  

Make the low under the window shelves for the green room.

Work on outdoor fireplace and labyrinth.  

The art of contentment is the recognition that the most satisfying and the most
dependably refreshing experiences of life lie not in great things but in little. The
rarity of happiness among those who achieved much is evidence that achievement is not in itself the assurance of a happy life. The great, like the humble, may have to find their satisfaction in the same plain things.
-  Edgar A. Collard, 1974

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating;
to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter. . .to be thrilled by the
stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring -
these are some of the rewards of the simple life.
-   John Burroughs

Walking and Taiji at dawn for 90 minutes.

Teach Tai Chi and Yoga at TFFC from 10-12:15.

Watch the USC vs California football game in the afternoon.

Relax, read, and write.  

Attend the Pilates Mat training in Roseville from 9 - 6 pm.  Roseville is west of Sacramento.  Carolos Requejo, an experienced and highly qualified master trainer, taught us 26 basic Pilates exercies, led two workouts, and provided very good individual tips on the movements.  

Eternal Tao doesn't do anything,
yet it leaves nothing undone.
If you abide by it, everything
in existence will transform itself.
When, in the process of self-transformation,
desires are aroused, calm them with
nameless simplicity.
When desires are dissolved in the primordial presence,
peace and harmony naturally occur,
and the world orders itself. [Tao Te Ching 37]

Yakrider - Meditations and Reflections on Zen, Buddhism, Taoism, Mystical Religions, and Early Christianity.  By Andrew Beaulac.  

Up at 5 am.  Work for CUESD from 7:30 - 4 pm - finish grants, West Street opening, talk with Superintendent.  Gym workout at TFFC: calisthenics, spin with Nicole, strength training workout with Jeff.  

"The first level of stillness is about being with yourself in order to know yourself.  This is accomplished by being wide awake and aware as you deliberately relax into yourself.  The idea is to consciously enter into a state wherein you temporarily suspend everything  you think you know about who you are, including anything you have ever been taught, and simply be attentive to what's going on right there where you are.  You practice being quiet, both physically and mentally, as you pay attention to the sensations in your body, the various thoughts in your mind, and your current experience of being conscious and alive.  You practice simple body-mind awareness, being conscious of the moment you are now in, and thereby experience with clarity the energy of you.  You consciously experience yourself as you actually are.  In this way you open yourself to a new, truer, less distorted experience of you and the world."
-   Erich Schiffmann, Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness, 1996, p. 7. 

Up at 4:30 am.  Strength training with Jeff at TFFC from 6-7.  

Warmup.
Box (24" high) Squats: Pyramid up 5R, 3R to 250 lb 1R max, drop down 90% for 4S of 3R.  
Good Mornings  5S x 12R
Military Press 5S x 12R 
Low Back Bends
Ab work and back stretching 

Work for CUESD from 8:30-4 pm.  Finished writing 2 grants.

Gym workout at TFFC: weightlifting, pushups, then teach Yoga from 5:30-6:45 (introduce some Pilates moves to workout).  

A test of your seeing clearly skills:  

Count every "F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC 
STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

How many?  Answer Below.

Northern California News

November 18-21st, 2005.  The Eighth World Congress on Qigong and the Eighth American Qigong Conference will hold a joint convention this November at the Golden Gateway Holiday Inn in San Francisco. The theme of this year's event is "Qigong for Individual and Planetary Health: An Essential Balance.," 

Shaman, Allan Michael.  Tai Chi Chuan Teacher, recently moved to San Francisco. Thirty plus years experience in Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong in US and Asia.  Teaches Indoor Yang Style, Cheng Hsin Tui Shou, San Shou, Wu Qin Xi (5 Animal Frolics), Wuxiang Qigong, Tai Chi Sword & Saber.

"The wind shows us how close to the edge we are."
-   Joan Didion

Yesterday, we felt some strong winds from the north.  They cleared the sky of all clouds and haze.  You could see clearly all the way to the great snowcapped giant: Mt. Shasta.  The trees shook and roared at times as the wind gusts struck the valley floor.  Three people spoke to me of their dislike of such strong winds, and of some of their unpleasant childhood memories of strong winds.  We have nothing here to compare with the violent winds of the Tornado Alley in the central and southern United States; but, all strong winds set humans and animals on edge. 

              Pansy - Courtsey of Jan Jedryka©

Up at 3:30 am.  Overnight mail two EETT grant applications to CDE in the afternoon.  
Work from 7:30 - 4 pm for CUESD.  

Karen and I went up to Redding for a Japanese food dinner and some shopping.

Up at 4:30 am.  Strength Training with Jeff Crow and James at TFFC from 6-7 am.
Close grip bench press, rows, dumbell military press, seated pulldowns, ab work.

Work for CUESD 8:30-4:30.  Attended CUESD Manager's meeting.  

Teach Yoga from 5:30-6:45 pm. - lighter workout.    

Using Google Earth, and you should try this wonderful program, I took a look at my home area from 21,000 feet and 51 miles above the earth.  Here is how the view appears in the Google Earth computerized representation:

The winding blue line on the right side is the Sacramento River.  The brown areas in the upper right are the lava flows from Mt. Lassen creating foothills covered with blue oaks.  The white buildings a mile north of my home are the Wal-Mart distribution center.  The brighter green areas along the river are almond, prune, olive and walnut orchards.  Darker fields have been recently disked for winter grain crops. This is a view from 23,083 feet above the earth.   

This is a view of where we live in Red Bluff, California, taken from 51 miles above the earth.  The brown rectangles are computer image glitches.  

Basically, we live in the North Sacramento Valley, in an agricultural area of orchards and grazing lands, with forested mountains on three sides.  The white capped peaks are Mt. Lassen to the east, Mt. Shasta to the north, and the Trinity Alps to the northwest.  The Pacific Ocean is about 120 miles to the West, seen in the upper left. 

Off Work for CUESD!!! Yes .... Finally.  Job Done!  

Up at 4 am.  Strength training with Jeff from 6-7:30.  Workout shared with Tim: fast box squats 12Sx2R, step up high box 3sx20R, hyperextensions, rows.  Rest and read.  Spin class with Tonya for 30 mintues, Tai Chi with Kevin.  

Watch Gallager's work on main heating unit repairs.  Home chores.  

Relax with Karen.  

Walking and taiji in the early morning at home.

Teach Taiji and yoga at TFFC.  Strength training: good mornings, dead lifts, rows, seated reverse flys, reverse leg curls, pull downs.  

Home chores and cleanup.  

"Tai Chi existing without its philosophical foundation would become a hollow form of adult exercise, lacking not only the profundity of the art but its great health and martial arts benefits as well."
-  Wolfe Lowenthal

"Nothing happens in contradiction to nature;
only in contradiction to what we know about nature."
-  Chris Carter

Dynamic Balancing Tai Chi  Ideas, Insights and Anecdotes.  By Nick Waller, Whitley Bay, U.K.     Insightful and concise remarks from deep within the heart of a master.  Linked to Green Way - Reciprocate

Home Chores, Relax, reading, television.  Beautiful autumn day.    

"Some keep the Sabbath going to Church,
I keep it staying at Home -
With a bobolink for a Chorister,
And an Orchard, for a Dome.”
- Emily Dickinson, Poem No. 324, St.1, 1862

“Learned Audience, those who wish to train themselves (spiritually) may do so at home.  It is quite unnecessary for them to stay in monasteries. Those who train themselves at home may be likened unto a native of the East who is kindhearted, while those who stay in monasteries but neglect their work differ not form a native of the West who is evil in heart. So far as the mind is pure, it is the Western Pure Land of one’s own essence of mind.”
- Hui-Neng, Platform Sutra, Section 3, 700 CE

The way to enlightenment for these two persons was to be found in living the high-minded life, being attentive to their everyday surroundings, kindness, simplicity, living the virtuous life, avoiding contentiousness, gratitude, staying close to the earth, and finding the wonder and enchantment in our everyday life. Sage advice!

Work for CUESD from 7:30-4 pm.  All managers went to a sexual harrassment training session.  

TFFC gym workout: Weights: pulldowns, reverse leg curls, hyperextensions, calisthenics; spin class with Cori Dittner, strength training with Jeff Crow at 6 pm: fast bench press, four board up to 265 lbs, military press, wide lat pulldowns.  

Strength training from 6-7:15 am with Jeff Crow:

Work for CUESD from 8:30-4 pm.  All managers went to a supvervisory training workshop.  

TFFC gym workout: calisthenics, teach yoga class from 5:30-6:45 pm.  

"How can we fret and stew sub specie aeternitatis - under the calm gaze of ancient Tao? The salt of the sea is in our blood; the calcium of the rocks is in our bones; the genes of ten thousand generations of stalwart progenitors are in our cells. The sun shines and we smile. The winds rage and we bend before them. The blossoms open and we rejoice. Earth is our long home."
-   Stewart W. Homes

Green Way Wisdom - interdependence   

The taste of Fuyu persimmons is on our toungue, the carbohydrates of fruit are being digested in our intenstines, the glycogen in our blood enables us to see the brillant orange-red leaves of the Fuyu persimmon, the persimmon trees are the product of a long line of persimmon fruittree breeders, and the sun shines and we smile.  Everything connected to everything else - somehow, somewhere, sometime.  

The Male Brain

Off CUESD work all day.  

Karen and I get our house and yard ready for visit by Alicia and Sean.  They will arrive late tonight.

Massage by Carol Borer from 9:30-10:30.  Shopping for Karen.  

Took and nap and read in the afternoon.  

December 3-1-, 2005  Chinese Shamanic Qigong and Taiji.  Master Wu-Zhongxian. Portland, Oregon.

Wu Zhongxian, Master.  Chinese Shamanic Qigong and Taiji.  P.O. Box 42366, 
Portland, Oregon.  503-936-3390   Email: qimasterwu@earthlink.net

Dear Mike, Great site! I have been trying to find an english-chinese character glossary of the t'ai chi movements. Do you know of any that might be found on-line? I have bought a chinese book on t'ai chi but it is difficult to reconcile the terms with english (or french!) ones. Thanks in advance and once more for the terrific website."
-  Deborah K. F., 11/18/05

Deborah,

I enjoyed the book by Jane Schorre, "How to Grasp the Bird's Tail if You Don't Speak Chinese." Calligraphy by Margaret Chang.  Berkeley, California, North Atlantic Books, 1997.  115 pages.  ISBN: 1556433360.  

There are many excellent English-Chinese glossaries in the great books by Yang Jwing-Ming, YMAA Publications.   

For an on-line resource take a look at: Magic Tortoise.

Best wishes for a fine autumn, 

Mike Garofalo

Thanksgiving Day.  

Walking and Taiji in the early morning.  

Alicia, Sean, Karen, Debbie, Jordan, Marya and I all enjoy a social visit and traditional meal  at our home.  A good time was had by all.  

I've been studying the October web statistics about the usage of the domain I use for web publishing: 

www.egreenway.com

Detailed statistics are not available for the exact usage per webpage for all webpages at the www.egreenway.com domain.  That is all I really want to carefully study, but the Web Statistics (Webalizer) provided by Blue Host do not provide that particular detail, as does the www.gardendigest.com statistical reports.  Nevertheless, many usage statistics are shown below.  

The www.egreenway.com domain includes webpages related to the "Green Way" theme in the Green Way Blog, and the popular 16 webpages at Months: Poetry, Quotes, Links, Lore, Resources

In October, 4 of the 16 Months webpages were requested 40,000 times, 45% of the 144,910 webpages requested.  The Green Way Blog accounts for 160 hits a day: 9,000 a month.  Assuming that the other 12 Months webpages were accessed less than the December webpage (1,989), and adding in the Green Way Blog usage, the total usage of the 16 Months webpages and blog would be around 59,000, or 40% of the total usagage for the month of October at www.egreenway.com.  

This would mean that the Mind-Body Arts webpages: Cloud Hands Taijiquan and Qigong, Yoga, Meditation, and Fitness, etc., would account all the rest of the usage of the 144,910 webpages served in October 2005, for a total of 85,910 Mind-Body Arts webpages served or 60% of the total.  

Annual Estimates for 2005

Factoring in the fact that the summer months (June - September) have less usage than the October - May period, I can make a reasonable estimate of usage of the webpages at the www.egreenway.com domain, excluding graphics files (.jpg and .gif) served.  

In 2005, I estimate that www.egreenway.com served the following number of webpages (excluding graphics: .jpg and .gif) to people around the world:  

Months and Green Way Blog:                   602,400   webpages served
Mind-Body Arts: Taiji, Qigong, Yoga          903,600   webpages served
Total:                                                 1,506,000   webpages served

  www.egreenway.com  Statistics for October 2005

Excluding graphics files (.jpg and .gif): 

Strength training and power lifting with Jeff Crow from 6-7 am.  Walking and Taiji in the early morning.  Spin class and abs with Tonya, 7:30-8:30.    

Sean, Alicia, Karen and I visit all day. Lunch at Tokyo Garden in Redding.  
Watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a romance, and a comedy.  

"They speak in conventional terms for the world
Out of compassion for everyone,
Explaining things in provisional terms,
Not explaining even as they explain."

"The Taoist classic Tao-te Ching says, "Ways can be articulated, but not a fixed path; names can be designated, but not fixed terms."  Mahayana Buddhist teaching emphasizes the conventional and provisional nature of spoken teachings so that the people will not quibble over external superficialities but use the words to direct their minds to the very heart of the matter.  To explain without explaining means to use explanation as a means to something else, not as an end in itself.  Religion is often associated, even unconsciously, with the holding and promulgating of certain doctrines, associated with specific verbal formulations.  As noted earlier, this is what people argue and fight about; insight does not support this sort of religious or philosophical controversy."

-  Thomas Cleary, Zen and the Art of Insight, p. 27

Link to Cloud Hands Blog from Tai Chi Heartwork

Alicia and Sean visited with us the morning before they left to return to their home in Portland.  

Walking and Taiji in the early morning.

Household chores in the afternoon.

Intense experimental body-mind work for 5 hours.  

Intense experimental body-mind work for 11.5 hours.    

Eye Test Answer:

Count every "F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...
(SEE BELOW)

Many people report counting 3 "F's."
The brain does not seem to process the "F's " in "OF".
There are 6 "F's.

Off Work today.  Work around the house. 

Links to the Green Way Blog:  

Yasuretaobetcha: http://yahsuretaobetcha.blogspot.com/

Ghataka: http://ghataka.blogspot.com/

Very tired today after the very intense experimental body-mind physical activites for 16.6 hours on Saturday and Sunday.  Lots of painful aching, fatique, weakness.  My left knee really hurts.  I had a very upset stomach this afternoon.  I cancelled my workout with Jeff on Monday night and Tuesday morning.  I relaxed and did no exercise or anything physical all day.  Complain, complain, complain ... such petty health gripes.  

Over the past ten days I have been reading and studying the following books:

Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings.  By Andy Ferguson.  Foreword by Reb Anderson.  Boston, Wisdom Publications, 2000.   Glossaries, name lists, bibliography, index, 518 pages.  ISBN: 0861711637.  

A monk asked, "What is Tongan's arrow?"
Daopi said, "Look behind you."
The monk asked, "What's back there?"
Daopi said, "It's gone past already."
-  Zen's Chinese Heritage, p. 257

I started reading the literature of Zen when I was fifteen.  45 years later,
I still can sit up straight after grappling with a clever retort, a puzzling non-sequitur, a zany twist on some allusion, a bold example, an illogical brain-lock, or a slap of cold water on the face provided by a confident Zen man.  I still like to smile when pondering the mystery of whatever "It" is.  I treasure the Chan playfulness, practicality, humor, and seriousness.  

The Russian Kettlebell Challenge: Xtreme Fitness for Hard Living Comrades.  By Pavel Tsatsouline.  West Chester, Ohio, Dragon Door Publications, Inc., 2000.  Bibliography, 143 pages.  ISBN: 0938045326.  
A 1 pod kettlebell weights 16Kg or about 36 pounds.  A no-nosense, ass kicking, hard driving workout style using Russian kettlebell workout routines.  

Hardcore Bodybuilding: A Scientific Approach.  By Frederick C. Hatfield, Ph.D..  Foreword by Tom Plantz.  New York, Contemporary Books, 1991.  Index, bibliography, 428 pages.  ISBN: 0809237288.       

I spent nearly the whole day learning about RSS.  I reread parts of "Syndicating Web Sites with RSS Feeds for Dummies" by Ellen Finkelstein.  

I loaded and started using the software FeedForAll.  

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Green Way Blog

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Cloud Hands Blog: Taijiquan and Qigong

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Spirit of Gardening Update News

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Zen Poetry Update News

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Valley Spirit Journal

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Green Way Blog

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Cloud Hands Blog: Taijiquan and Qigong

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Spirit of Gardening Update News   

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Zen Poetry Update News  

Subscribe to the RSS Feed for the:  Valley Spirit Journal

Zen Poetry Update News RSS Feed in XML 

Valley Spirit Journal RSS Feed in XML 

Strength training with Jeff from 5:45 - 7 am.  Work 8:30-4 pm for CUESD.  Begin EETT3-EAST Installation.  

Gym:  Weightlifting 35 minutes, teach yoga from 5:30-6:45 pm.  

Work for CUESD 7:30-4 pm.  

Gym at 4:30: Weightlifting, spin with Tonya, strength training with Jeff from 6-7 pm.  

Feedback from readers during the month of November:

"Dear Mike, I stumbled upon your website this afternoon as I was looking for November folklore. I write a weekly column for my website and was just browsing around. Your website is fabulous. Is this what you do full time?  Thank you for all of this generous work. I have bookmarked your site and will visit many, many times."
-   Lou Ann,  11/06/05

"It's great to have a person with a librarian's mind involved with the Taiji community. Also the mind of a poet. You said to send you "Information about your Taijiquan or Qigong teaching program!". Here is a possible listing in your Northwestern United States T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Ch'i Kung Directory."
-  Michael Shaman, 11/14/05

"Dear Mike, Great site! I have been trying to find an English-Chinese character glossary of the t'ai chi movements. Do you know of any that might be found on-line? I have bought a chinese book on t'ai chi but it is difficult to reconcile the terms with English (or French!) ones. Thanks in advance and once more for the terrific website." 
-  Deborah K. F., 11/18/2005