[WAG] Some updates.

[Isaac Freeman]

Well I'm still on this list and facebook is kind of lame sometimes, so I
thought I would see how many people still get these.

Well since 2006, Emi and I got married and now have a baby boy almost 7
months old.

We are on 8 months vacation in Japan.

I recently took a trip to China and studied the basic Yang Style Tai Ji 24
form in December, so memories of the old group in 2006 and 2008 came back
while I was there, so I thought I would send an email.

My trip was interesting as I landed in Shanghai and to escape the cold
immediately rode the train to Kunming in Yunnan province. In Kunming I was
looking for language lessons at the schools and while I was near the
university I found my teacher at a small restaurant.I studied Mandarin and
Tai Ji pretty hard core for about 28 days and then returned to Japan.

When I did I found my boy able to inch around the floor like an inchworm, it
was great to see him make so much progress in a month as before I left the
most he could do was hikoki (Airplane pose).  Often I watch him and try to
mimick his movements and more often than not I find I have discovered an
interesting exerise hehehe, kind of baby yoga or something of that nature.

We are headed for Ishigaki Jima tomorrow to hang out in warm weather for two
months, I hope to do a lot swimming (if I can avoid the jellyfish that
aparently are around this time of year, and Tai Ji on the beach, we also
have about 17 islands to explore if there is something to be done.

I feel grounded a lot more since learning the Tai Ji form, I also like it
because it satisfies the technical mind in me that is probably the hardest
part to tame in my daoist training I know have just touched the iceberg of
Tai Ji, and yearn for a more Wu style practice, and there is much more to
the practice and many types out there, some teachers know more and some know
less, but it feels good to finally have got my foot in the door.

I thought Classical medicine was dead in China until this trip too, but I
met a few amazing Doctors while I was there and it shows me that althought
TCM took a serious curve towards westernization, there still some doctors
that climb the nearby mountains on the weekdays and even produce their own
formulas, a few of which I took while I was there and was amazed at the
flavor and efficacy of the formulas.  Normally a TCM formula for wind heat
is super bitter, but this one doctors formula was very light and almost
sour, yet somehow produced better results than the traditional formula.
When we asked what the formula contained, he said we'd have to come to the
mountains with him on the weekends if we wanted to learn his formulas
because they were kept secret and only him and the clinic staff that boiled
up the raw herbs knew what was in it. I laughed and agreed to go with him
the next time I was in Kunming.

Anyway Big Love to everyone on the list and hope to see you all again at
some point throughout your life journey.
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