White Sprout

I treasure my belts. They hang in my closet along with my clothes. As I contemplated my practice for today I started to wonder what each meant. I know what I had to do to earn each, but I wanted to know if there was some significance to each color.

The belt system began near the turn of the 19th century by a Japanese master of judo named Dr. Jigoro Kano. Most martial arts systems start with a white belt. Like most things in the martial arts, the meaning of a white belt mimics nature; in this instance, a seed that is just sprouting. The new student is a beginner in this new world and they are searching for knowledge as they begin to cycle through the system.

In the Shaolin Tai Chi system, a new student starts as a no belt in a white uniform, or gi. I'm beginning my practice by reviewing my white to yellow, or gold, sash material. To go from no belt to a gold sash in the Shaolin system, one must successfully demonstrate to two sections of the Yang 64 Tai Chi form and two sections of the I Chin Ching -more on that later.

I've been studying the Yang form since I was a teenager. First on a VHS tape with that I no longer have and can't remember the title. Then there was a hole in the wall school in Farragut West that only taught the Yang 64 form and push hands for those who mastered the Yang. I really appreciated many of the teachings of that school. The teacher, Scott Rodell was his name, really emphasized muscle memory. We slowly built up from 1 minute to 5 minutes of sitting in horse stance and bow stance and others in an effort to learn the material. Those long, sweaty moments taught me why this was an internal art. The discomfort (read *pain*) was truly all in my head. To this day my body still remembers what a correct stance feels like thanks to Mr. Rodell.

I'm trying to step my way back to mastery belt by belt. So today when I began my practice, I decided to limit it to two sections of Yang 64, which is the requirement to advance from no belt to gold sash. From my first step I realized immediately that my stance was way too narrow. I was stepping shallowly, almost like a timid maiden. I decided to go way to my roots and just sit in stances. I'm at the stove cooking dinner while standing in an appropriately spaced 60/40 bow stance. I'll tackle the dishes in a horse stance. We're having rice for dinner.