I've been extremely dedicated to tai chi the past two years or so and I believe I'm finally reaping the benefits from my dedication and hour-long nightly training sessions.
My body is still, well, flabby and borderline disgusting. But my fitness, overall health and recuperative powers have significantly improved. Let's look at why I'm touting the benefits of tai chi.
This past Sunday I was broadsided on my motorbike by a speeding, most likely drunken bag of douche. The bag of douche was going about 60 kilometers an hour when he hit me and he didn't touch his brake before impact. He had to cross the center lane line to hit me, meaning he was in the wrong lane. The impact knocked my helmet off my head, knocked my cell phone out of my pocket and down the road about 25 yards, and scattered me and my groceries all over the road among the broken glass and plastic from the bikes. "Witnesses" scrambled to get my scattered stuff, and me, to the side of the road while the bag of douche took off. I was too stunned to get his photograph with my recovered cell phone, but I probably didn't have enough time anyway. He was in a hurry -- no doubt he's a doctor who was rushing to perform surgery on children who will die without his help (that's sarcasm, folks). One witness in a nearby coffee shop said in lousy English that maybe I was going too slow, although the same witness said the bag of douche was going very fast. Sometimes, you have to draw your own conclusions.
The photos on the right show some of the effects of the accident on the flabby White Monkey. My hip was a little sore at first, and so was my left shoulder. But that brings me back to tai chi.
Three hours and three Ibuprofen later, I was on the tennis court, battling my way to a dramatic, hard-fought 7-6 (11-9) victory over my beautiful and ultra-competitive wife. I did my usual hour of tai chi after the tennis. I feel fine today -- maybe a little sore -- but fine with absolutely no serious issues. I taught my private student as usual Monday morning and my life has resumed its usual yin and yang flow. Maybe some luck was involved -- good and bad -- but I know that doing tai chi every day gives a 63-year-old White Monkey many physical and mental benefits. I've been doing tai chi for 46 years, but I've gotten really serious and focused the past two years -- after two motorbike accidents damaged my ankle, ribs and kidney, prompting me to quit cigarettes and reduce my intake of alcohol. Clean living and tai chi (and Phuong and Joanna) have led to a healthier, happier and more resilient White Monkey. I'll praise my wife yet again because she has set up space for my tai chi, keeping the third floor balcony where I work out clean and adorned with plants, trees and flowers. She pushes me to practice, and never criticizes or makes fun of this martial art. Yes, it's a fighting art, but I couldn't whip a wet noodle. I could certainly eat one, however, judging from my girth. I tell Phuong that my stomach isn't fat, but that the accumulation of chi in my dantian gives the illusion of a fat stomach. She knows the truth and tells her friends that I'm eight months pregnant.
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