PRACTICING IN PUBLIC PARKS: TAI CHI IN THE REAL WORLD

It is a common enough sight in this day and age: elderly Chinese people practicing Tai Chi, Qigong, and occasionally other Asian martial arts in a public park.
This article is a general guideline to the do’s and don’ts that apply to doing your form in public. The reader will find there are only a few don’ts, and the dos are fairly common sense. I will elaborate based on my own experiences, both positive and negative, in respect to this.

Dos:

1. Practice with groups, if you can.I practice a full set of every form I do. This consists of the 24 Yang, the 37 Cheng Man Ching form, the 42 Compulsory, the 42 Fu, the Chen forms 1 and 2 (Xin Jia New Frame), a 108 Fu style, the Chen spear, broadsword and sword. Ergo, unless I go to the Lake Merrit Bart station in Oakland, CA., I am going to have issues finding people who do these sets. Groups are a good thing: they give you a sense of flow and interaction. Also, there is strength in numbers: see DON’T # 2.

2. Practice by yourself.It is very common for everyone, at first: you feel your form is not very good, you’re self-conscious, people will stop and stare, make comments (good and bad), etc. The best advice here is: just get over it. There are numerous reasons for this. When I first started teaching, it was at a college in S.F that had been converted over from a Greyhound Bus hangar. Ergo, it was huge, and the area I taught in was towards the back, and anyone entering the school could very clearly see (albeit from a distance) myself and any other students learning, practicing, etc. I was very self-conscious at the start, but one gets used to this sort of thing. First and foremost, you are practicing an art form, and while you should be practicing it primarily for your own personal advancement, art that goes unseen becomes less an art than that of self-illusion and self-aggrandizement. People need to see you in order to appreciate the amount of work and sacrifice that you’ve put into your chosen hobby/path. Secondly, if you are easily distracted by the presence of other people, their watching, commenting, etc., then your focus and concentration is not very good. I have practiced many times at the Lake Merrit Bart when the Lion Dancers are pounding away on drums. It helps keep me focused. Alternately, when you are competing in a tournament, there is always a certain amount of background noise that accompanies the competition, inasmuch as there are usually several events taking place simultaneously. Thirdly, it is far too easy to bail out on practice simply because you have no one to practice with. Practicing by yourself, and sticking to it, will not only help you improve, it will eliminate yet one more excuse you can give yourself. Fourthly, it exposes you to a public view, and you may very well meet other people who are interested, and/or are practitioners as well.

3. Environment.It has been observed (in writing), that the best place is in a park. Why is this? Surrounded by trees (extra oxygen), and the removal of that 60 Megahertz buzz that accompanies us in most cities lends to an Alpha-like state that aids the practitioner in his/her practice. I have discovered a number of suitable areas where I live. The normal advice is this: find somewhere removed from society at large (in re: pollution, you don’t want to inhale car exhaust, do you?), surrounded by trees (optimally: but grassy areas are fine), away from windy, wet environments (this becomes difficult, especially in the multiple micro-climatic areas of the S.F Bay area), away from excessive noise (again, difficult occasionally, as you are in a public park, and are in a position of sharing it w/humanity). It whittles down to this: quietude.

Don’ts:
Bear in mind, these are rules of thumb, only.

1. Things to avoid before and after practice:

1. Eating
2. Smoking
3. Drinking alcohol
4. Sex.

These, again, are only general guidelines. Bear in mind that Tai Chi (and some qigong) are Taoist practices, and because we are human (and some of us have very little time on our hands as is), none of these are written in stone. For instance, the 4 items listed above are generally to be avoided an hour before, or an hour after. At one juncture in my life, I held 2 jobs, and went to school fulltime as well. But I still made the time to practice at least 10 minutes a day. So I had little choice but to come home, devour something right before bed, and practice. Eating immediately before or after any workout is generally advised against. The sexual advice applies primarily to men, as men are supposed to refine their jing (essence), and women are supposed to nourish the blood. Alcohol and tobacco are bad ideas, since Tai Chi and qigong open up circulation, lungs, meridian points, etc. Again, your humanity comes first.

2. Practicing in the afternoon.Now, this seems silly at the onset, because A. it’s recommended to practice Tai Chi or qigong at dawn and dusk (human light cycles), and B. it has been observed that afternoons are when your body is actually more stretched and limber. But this is primarily focused on the neighborhood/area of your park. Originally, I was a late riser, not given to mornings. I read somewhere that Traditional Chinese Medicine considers oversleeping a sign of a corrupted spirit. This was also coupled with some negative experiences. Once, while I was at a Hayward park, I was practicing my form, someone began yelling about “You think you’re so cool, doing that crap! You better leave,” called me names, threatened me, etc. For a while, I would go down to the San Leandro Marina and practice in the afternoons, and encountered similar situations, where some teenagers let the testosterone do the talking. One incident occurred where I was doing a long form, and 2 women w/a child, pushing a stroller, began to make loud, stupid comments. They had a camcorder, and began to film their foolish efforts at belittling me (and probably sent it off to America’s funniest home videos, thinking themselves utterly hysterical, when in fact they were just showing how ignorant and unfunny they truly were). I ignored them, and it was a minor annoyance, which didn’t interrupt my form’s flow. As of this writing, no one has tried to lay hands on me. Bear in mind, I am a middle-aged, well-sized white male, which makes this an Alpha Wolf issue. Women are less likely to encounter a ‘kick school’ mentality, as females are by far more sensible than males in this regard (depending on the neighborhood, of course). I spoke to my Sifu, Dr. Johnny Jang, one day, in this regard, and he stated that he’d had one issue about this in over 30 years of teaching. Of course, most of the idiots who would do this sort of nonsense probably figure it’s a bad idea, since the stereotype of the deadly Asian pervades America. (This is not always true: I have heard a story of a famous Tai Chi player who had to stop practicing in Washington Square in S.F, because many street people would come up and start fights with him; so it varies demographically). However, getting up early in the morning for practice means you are less likely to encounter this sort of person, as they are usually sleeping off the revelry of the night before. Practicing w/a group also will preempt this sort of behavior

3. Weather conditions.The Chinese speak of something called ‘Wind Evil’, and advise that one should avoid this. Wind carries bacteria, pollution, and other things. This is difficult to avoid if you live in the S.F Bay area (or even in a valley, near an ocean, etc.). Severe cold and heat are other conditions to be wary of, as well as rain, snow, etc. This varies according to individual. While it would be foolish to practice outside in the midst of a tsunami, hurricane, monsoon, or similar circumstances, it is also far too easy to look outside, see a light rain, and say, “Oh, I think I’ll skip it today.” Personally, I thrive in cold weather, and heat makes me sleepy. I have actually practiced in weather so cold that it felt like hundreds of tiny needles poking into my fingers. But by the 3rd or 4th form, my hands have warmed up sufficiently, and by the end of my routine, so have my feet. When it really starts to rain, I have a park I go to where there are trees that provide somewhat of an umbrella. I still get wet, true, but not nearly as soggy as I would be if I were at my other park where there is no shelter. But if I am out in the open, and there is a sudden deluge, I power through it instead of running for cover, as again, we are in the Bay Area, and more often than not, the deluge is temporary at best. This varies according to individual needs. For example, in the winter, I only go out to practice for about an hour (just because I thrive in cold weather, doesn’t mean I have to be foolish: as Jou, Tsung Wa once observed in his wonderful book, The Dao of Tai Chi, “There is only one warning I would like to give: Although the practice of Taijiquan can promote good health, it cannot help people who do not take care of themselves.”), while during the summer, spring, and autumn months, I go into extra time for practice.

4. Practice areas.This is more of a preference than a DON’T. I prefer hard surfaces (and yes, I do Chen style, which is more likely to cause injury, especially since I tend to stomp very hard). If you prefer grassy areas, that’s fine. If you prefer gravel, or any sort of surface, that’s good too. But I will go out and practice in wet weather, and so my preference makes sense. But it is up to the practitioner.
So, in summation, be sensible in your practice. Be careful, use some sense, explore your area, and practice. Tai Chi, like many things in life, renders great rewards for discipline and hard work. As you sow, so shall you reap.
Good playing to you all.