Ever wonder what Pat Morita is doing these days after waxing "The Karate Kid" sequels? He's leading our Tai Chi Chuan classes every Saturday at 8 a.m. I kid you not! I have no idea what our instructor's real name is, but he's aka "Mister Miyagi." We think he's a kin of the Miyagi clan. He's so adorable: not much more than 5-feet tall with graying beard, an old goat's sensibilities and an oddball sense of humor. He's anti-Iraq war, or any kind of war for that matter since he's a war veteran, and considers himself "a lover, not a fighter...well, at least that's what my wife says." Thanks, Mr. Miyagi, a little more info than we want to know.
So I asked him if there was a first-day signup sheet for the Tai Chi class and he barked, "This is not Tai Chi! This is Tai Chi Chuan!" Okay. He explained the difference this way, "Woman, over there, what type of food do you like to eat?" She says, "Beef." Mr. Miyagi responds, "So do you like Chinese?" She says, "Yes" and he scrambles for the door. "You see," the wise master says to his class, "I asked her if she like to eat Chinese, not Chinese food. She said she likes to eat Chinese, so I have to run away. It's the same as Tai Chi. Tai Chi is a very deep Chinese philosophy but Tai Chi CHUAN is the exercise only. Chuan means fist. You want to learn Tai Chi, you go somewhere else. Not here."
He showed us a few stretches and one move of 30 or so movements. He has a funny way of remembering his pupils for their faults. He certainly has Tom and I marked. Our next class...more wrist-arm movements like "a goose", or fingers like a "hose shooting water" and the secrets of how to take long hikes without drinking an ounce of water.
Posted by vivian at April 5, 2003 12:00 PM