The Last Practice

September 10 2014 morning was beautiful. I was looking forward to the open space, fresh air, and the bamboos that have witnessed my practice through 5 years of my stay at Kasturi Nagar, Bangalore. I will be missing it. The relation between a practitioner and the space where one practices is not tangible. The open space beside the defunct pool of Rakesh Fantasy Garden witnessed the evolution of my Tai Chi forms execution. It had made possible the refinement and clarification in understanding of Taiji, its efficacy and how it might be explained to someone else. This was the lab, the test site where ideas got perfected. While it remains without any desire or interest in what I did in it I remain grateful.

This was to be a hectic day and the hour of tranquility I would find here would fuel me for the rest of the day. This is the place where I would prepare for the day to face it and prepare the body for the challenges. I was delighted the earlier evening when Nanda called wanted to sync up. I had wanted to meet him since the last time I was in Bangalore, before accepting a position in Noida, he was out of station. He is a Tai Chi fanatic and had wanted to learn since the very first time he saw a Chinese movie on it during his child hood. It was during a promotion drive for Tai Chi in Juniper Networks with Shankar that I had met him briefly. But it stuck and he had resolved to learn and joined the classes at Indira Nagar. Despite the interest his early movement was ponderous unsure and admittedly had to sugar coat my adverse comments to encourage and egg him on. Now it is so very heartening to see his progress, his passion has found expression and now for him there is no down, only the way up. I chanced upon his offer and asked him to join me in my last practice. 

 Nanda, me and Vetri

I asked him to call Vetri to join as well. Vetri is a silent guy with a lot of warmth and depth. In my view for him Tai Chi is a perfect fit. His attitude and approach very much suits the philosophy that Tai Chi promotes- Yielding rather than controlling, feeling rather than reacting. Despite this he takes his time to take in the form and it’s a good thing- taking time with the form creates the capacity to understand it further permitting more depth in expression. Nanda is a close friend of his through the shared interest of the art and like. With them joining in it was all the more delight when looking forward to the last Tai Chi morning in Bangalore.

 28 Forms

Sword

Saber

In the end looking back it was a terrific experience practicing forms and sharing training tips and form understanding that I had collected in my solitude at Noida. I felt energized as now I was empty right then the duo presented with a hard disk worth of Tai Chi materials to decipher and deal with, a delightful price to pay for this discerning audience. Next time I meet them in person it will be a task cut out and have to prepare myself for they will be more skilled, sharp and yet more soft. I bid the space, the duo, and the environs good bye and right then I finally understood what the Bamboos were trying to teach me.