This website is dedicated to the Students of Seifu A.S. Umar Sharif, MA. It is also dedicated to the promotion and propagation of the Traditional Afro-Asian Martial and Healing Arts. Our goal is to inform, educate, inspire, encourage, and motivate others to improve their lives by applying The Wisdom of the Ancients.
As your teacher and host, Seifu Sharif [aka: Xia` Xue' Gong] [aka: Tobi Alakoso] is dedicated to helping each of you to remember and nurture the Spirit of Wu-Te and the powers dormant within you.
Namaste’ Students and Fellow Martial Arts Enthusiasts!
If, as was stated in TCCI.7, “…you must emphasize the use of the mind in controlling your movements…” then it should be obvious that your mind must be relaxed, in Peaceful Space, if you are going to make your movements smooth, relaxed, grounded, and flowing. Performing Longevity Way Tai Chi can help you to become more relaxed, grounded, calm, and peaceful, but you must also bring those things to your practice. Tai Chi is a form of Qigong, and is also a moving meditation. The movements and transitions from substantial to insubstantial should connect like the fabric of the river that rarely if ever reveals itself.
In other words, you shouldn’t go to your Tai Chi in order to clear your mind. Rather, you should strive to clear your mind in order to go to your Tai Chi. What ever the issues of everyday life, when you have the space, take a moment to clear your mind of the sources of your anxiety, stress, frustration, worry, and hostility, and then go to your Tai Chi to remind yourself of the true nature of the world, the relentless interplay of contrast.
In the Me’je Oruka perspective we say, ‘I am infused with the Ase of the Me’fa Efufu (the Six Elements).' We consider these Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. Our Ara Ojubo (Body Temple) is composed of Ase (essential energy) of these elements, animated by the flow and interplay of Yi, Li, and Qi. A good practice is to use the essence of these elements to support your practice. As Master Chang San-Feng stated in the concluding expression of his Treatise,
TCCI.12 states:
Metal – represents hardness and penetration; as you move forward you act with the character of metal.
Wood – represents flexibility combined with strength; it is yielding and growing. When you move backward your action has the character of wood.
Fire and Water – act in opposite directions, but both are characterized by aggressiveness and pliability. They are yielding, piercing, uncertain, and powerful. When you move to the right or left side, you embody these attributes.
Earth – represents stability, immobility, motherhood, the center, and the calmness of the origin. When you remain in the center, you adopt the nature of earth.
And, as I have stated in other Post and Video Lessons, Air, though not mentioned in Master Chang’s Treatise, is the most important animating agent and a primary conduit of our Qi. In this months Video of the Month, you’ll see me performing Part One of the Long Form the Longevity Way. No pressure, no stress, no self-judgment. Just enjoying the moving meditation.
Be sure to view both videos uploaded with this lesson.
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It is not simply practice that makes perfect. It is perfect practice and consistent practice that makes perfect.
