Drunken Tai Chi

[Daniel Madar]

Last night, I went out drinking for the first time in a very long time, with a friend of mine. My buddy is about 6'4" and about 230. Maybe more. He's also in good shape, works out, etc.

The result is that he can drink way more than I can, and I got very drunk indeed.

Towards the end of the night, we were standing in front of a bar, debating the merits of going in, when someone walking down the street decides to start with my friend.

Golden Rule #1 for me kicks in.

Golden Rule #1 is:

Never fight drunk.

Anyway, the guy is trying to face down my buddy, and I'm behind him debating the relative merits of just punching him in the base of the skull, when I figure we can talk our way through it.

Now if you saw the video of the one skater beating up the four losers on the main forum, you saw exactly what the guy was trying to do. That is. win the fight through intimidation. Since my friend and I were not very intimidated, it made him nervous. We were well on our way to talking things out, when the dude's buddy shows up and tries to push me. He fell down, and I said something like: "I'm dead drunk, and you fell down trying to push me. you sure you want to fight me tonight?"


None of that really matters though.

The real question is, doing internal stuff, how do you thing alchohol affects it? Obviously something was working because homey b fell down, but I personally think that alcohol and internal are not a good mix.

[Prairie]

I don't think alcohol and the 'internal' mix at all. However, drinking alcohol in excess doesn't really mix with anything.

Personally, I don't like the way alcohol makes my senses dull. I prefer to remain sharp. ..... but yes - I've over indulged before too. Whoops

[Cody]

I think that alcohol can have bad effects on judgment -- what to do or whether one can do it. Not everyone is affected to the same degree every time. I don't like it, or anything that would take away awareness or clarity (to the extent that it's there, lol). You seem to have done good though.

Okay. It seems you've got good training, absorbed. Alcohol can relieve tension in some. What you did was sink like a stone, just the same and maybe moreso. Whether you turned slightly (inside or out), and/or the guy was tipsy himself is neither here nor there. Fact is, the training you've worked on is part of you.

Cody

[Sam Wiley]

I never fight when I'm drunk because I always end up hurting someone more than I want to. But it sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and your training came through for you. Alcohol probably made you relax enough to do the right thing without having to think about it, which is a good thing since you were drunk.

The last time I was drunk and took someone on, I was drinking Mezcal (in fact, I was the one who ate the worm), and this friend of a friend and my roommate started fooling around with my roommate's toy lightsabers. He's really into Star Wars. Anyway, this guy was getting more and more violent and started hitting people with the thing instead of just playing with it, and pretty soon no one would play with him any more. He was begging for someone to "swordfight" with him. So I stepped up. Everyone told him, "you don't want to fight with Sam, especially when he's drunk, you'll get hurt," but he wanted some. So after going round and round with him for a few minutes, he loses it, and starts swinging wildly. I'm doing okay, and I'm even blocking the really nasty stuff coming my way (like strikes aimed at my head, my groin, etc.). But then he hit my hand, right on my thumb, and it started dripping blood. So he backs up smiling (didn't go over too well with me, by the way), and takes a breather. I stood very still, gathering my energy, and when he came back with another flurry, I just stood still and blocked, no attacks. I made the decision to use the blade as if it were my hands. He thrust towards my face, and I used a "whirlwind" technique (a willow tree technique when used with the hands) and redirected his thrust, then spiralled my blade up right into his left eye!

There was an "oooooh!" sound right at that moment, and then the room fell silent...and then the laughter started. Everyone in the room went, "we told you so! What did we tell you? Not to do it! And you nearly lost an eye!" He was bleeding pretty badly, mostly from alcohol in the blood, right on the lower eyelid. A few millimeters higher and he'd be blind in one eye right now.

I saw him a few months later, and he has a wonderful little scar on his lower eyelid. He remembers how he got it, too. But I get the distinct impression he doesn't like me anymore. I wonder why.

[wufupaul]

I completely avoid alcohol, too many reasons to list here, haha. As far as what you posted, Daniel, one of the reasons I avoid it is because if I do get into a fight, I want to be able to use all my resources, including my mind. If I was drunk, I wouldn't be able to think as clear as if I was sober, and my CNS would be running slower.

[Repulsive Monkey]

...will not mix well, and especially when you really need your skills like in the situation you have spoken of.

[Nexus]

Lets see: Beer especially opens up the meridians in the body, allowing you likely to be able to sink more naturally if your body was not already at a state of sung (relaxed awareness). Regardless you seemed to handle the situation perfectly as nobody left seriously injured, perhaps just a bruised ego here and there.

As for alcohol in general, nothing wrong with drinking and relaxing and having a good time, just keep you wits about you and stay out of trouble. Have fun!

[IronFist]

Beer especially opens up the meridians in the body, allowing you likely to be able to sink more naturally if your body was not already at a state of sung (relaxed awareness

So would it be bad to practice taiji or qigong while buzzing just a bit?

Iron

[Nexus]

Originally posted by IronFist
Beer especially opens up the meridians in the body, allowing you likely to be able to sink more naturally if your body was not already at a state of sung (relaxed awareness

So would it be bad to practice taiji or qigong while buzzing just a bit?

Iron

It is entirely up to the practitioner to choose the state of mind and physical sensation they experience during their taiji practice. I can tell you that it has been done before. Also maintain your center about why you practice tai chi. Is it to strengthen your spirit? Does drinking and practicing tai chi contribute to that, is it practical? Try and view your thoughts and questions from different angles, and then make your decission.

Kind Regards - Nexus

[GeneChing]

Formally, it was 'alcohol'. I know, there really isn't any 'drunken tai chi' but there should be. Maybe I'll invent it and teach it to my nacho ninjettes. Then what would y'all say?

Punch drunk! Intoxicated martial arts enthusiast scales 23ft traffic light and performs tai chi above busy road

Man climbs tall pole without a harness and stands above moving traffic
He gets his balance and performs tai chi as shocked motorists look on
Firefighters are called to rescue man but he slides down pole by himself
When questioned by police man said he consumed one drink too many

By Jake Polden For Mailonline
Published: 11:36 EST, 16 November 2015 | Updated: 11:37 EST, 16 November 2015

A martial arts enthusiast shocked motorists and pedestrians when he climbed to the top of a traffic light and began practicing tai chi.

The unnamed man, who was reported to be drunk when the incident occurred, managed to climb the 23 foot pole without a harness.

He then got his balance and started practicing the martial art while traffic continued to flow beneath him.


The unnamed man managed to climb the 23 foot pole without any harness in order to practice tai chi


The martial arts enthusiast got his balance and started practicing while traffic continued to flow beneath him

Tai chi is usually practiced in parks and is categorised by slow, sweeping movements, and the practitioner's coordinated breathing.

The man's choice of location, however, lead to some understandable concern and the police were eventually called to the scene.

Firemen from Suzhou, a prefecture-level city in East China's Anhui Province, took their position underneath the man and called for him to come down.

When he refused to be rescued, firemen were forced to set up a ladder so that they could go and fetch him.


The man refused to be rescued and firemen were forced to set up a ladder so that they could go and fetch him


As soon as the ladder was in place the man sat down on the pole and slid down the traffic light by himself

However, as soon as the ladder was in place the man sat down on the pole, shuffled towards the end and slid down the traffic light by himself

The man was then apprehended by police when he reached the bottom.

When questioned by authorities, the man explained that he had been struggling to find a job and had consumed one drink too many.

He said he had decided tai chi would be a good idea - but he did not say why he had chosen to practice the exercise on a traffic light.


When questioned by authorities the man explained that he had consumed one too many drinks that day

[GeneChing]

Our old friend Violet Li delivers this:

Drunk on Tai Chi
November 28, 2015
11:47 AM MST


Mandala Studio Music Video
Hsia-Jung Chang of New York is a pianist. Through a common friend, I recently chatted with her, discussing many topics including Tai Chi (Taiji), life and her creative work.


Hsia-Jung Chang

Hsia-Jung Chang was born to the famous Taiwanese singer/songwriter Ho Lan. Influenced by her mom, Hsia-Jung started to learn music at age 6. She played piano for a couple of years before moving to the U.S. In high school, she won a competition and was invited to play with the Spokane Symphony. She continued to pursue her passion and majored in piano at the University of Maryland and later to the University of Houston to study with award winning pianist Abbey Simon. Hsia-Jung later relocated New York to study with Constance Keene and later received a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music.

Hsia-Jung was 8 when she migrated to the States. Aside from her family and relatives, Hsia-Jung learned Chinese culture through reading the novels of Dr. Louis Cha Leung-yung. Cha is a prolific bestselling author better known by his pen name Jin Yong, who has elevated the genre of Wuxia (martial art warriors) novels to scholarly study. Jin Yong’s novels reflect the history of China in the 6th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Hsia-Jung appreciates that Jin Yong’s characters are complex; no one is perfect -villains are not totally evil but have faults in personalities. This fits well with the quintessential Tai Chi principle of Yin and Yang. In high school, Hsia-Jung studied Lao Zi, the originator of philosophical Daoism and author of Dao De Jing.

As a child, Hsia-Jung was physically weak and prone to sickness. At 10, Hsia-Jung learned Cheng Man-Ching Style of Yang Tai Chi from her dad Danny Chang. She enjoyed it and practiced it once daily until she was 26. "During those 16 years, I was never sick, not even a cold," said Hsia-Jung. At 26, she moved to New York and her room was too small to practice so she stopped for two years and got pneumonia twice. At the suggestion of her brother, she started to learn Chen Style Tai Chi Chuan from Grandmaster Ren Guangyi. Gradually her health improved quickly. Now she practices weekly, if not daily.

Hsia-Jung’s forte is Chopin and has recorded close to 60 of his works. However, her repertoire also includes other music. Chang has been featured live on radio and television, including KUHT, KAMU, Danish National radio, Taiwan radio and TV, and on Indian TV in 2007 as the music ambassador for World Aids Day. At the request of Grandmaster Ren, she improvised a song called Drunk on Tai Chi. Hsia-Jung appreciates the unique quality of an ancient Chinese instrument called Gu Qin, which is similar to a zither with seven strings. Gu Qin songs have spaces or quiet time in between notes, which leave room for imagination and meditation. Drunk on Tai Chi was written in a tempo flowing like a Gu Qin song but inspired by by the tempo and rhythms she experienced during Tai Chi Chuan practice, flowing, shimmering, and swirling. It is less than four minutes. When listening, I can picture sunlight and feel a breeze.

She also uses ideas from Tai Chi in playing of Western Classical music as well. Practicing Tai Chi outdoors and listening to the rhythms and tempos of breezes moving through trees, and watching the changing currents of the river, has helped her tremendously with her latest album "Debussy", where much of the music was inspired by nature.

Why named it Drunk on Tai Chi? Hsia-Jung explained that many Tai Chi practitioners express having a euphoric moment during practice. It is a different kind of high than using alcohol or substance because people are focused, centered, grounded, and calm. While practicing Tai Chi, people experience increased sensitivity while still being totally relaxed. Hsia-Jung called the mind-state as buzz with clarity. In the enclosed video, you can listen to this song and watch Hsia-Jung pratice Tai Chi and her sister Hsi-Ling demonstrate Chinese martial arts.