March 30, 2020
It has been two weeks since we suspended classes at ASNJ and if I had to guess, we are looking at least four more weeks but that is only a guess. Tonight, my family and I are relaxing after dinner. I made chicharron, calamari, fried sardines and asparagus for dinner. Zachary is cutting out his pattern for his next sewing project (overalls for his brother) and Rachel and Jacob are watching a Studio Ghibli movie.
I am so glad to have spoken to some of you and emailed and texted with even more. Again, please feel free to let me know how you are doing and if there are any questions you may have, do not hesitate.
We fixed the ASNJ Facebook page so that everyone can post. I would love to see videos and pictures of everyone doing something.
I stopped by the dojo the other day for some exciting times (I paid bills). Everything is in good shape. Omar generously stops by and airs out the space and sprays surfaces down to keep it fresh for our return.
I have been practicing some Tai Chi application with Zachary as well as Aikido from the same attack. It has been very interesting. I have also practiced a bunch of rowing exercise variations such as the arms going smoothly back and forth, a figure eight, an oval movement. Each is interestingly different and have separate ways in the shifting of weight and a different application. I can’t wait to show you all. Give it a shot, see how you can create different arm movements with changing the timing of your shifting.
Also, I am spending time doing sitting and standing meditation. That is always a good way to spend time. I was showing Zachary the standing postures we learned from my Nei Gung practice as something to incorporate into his meditations. I was telling him we used to have meditation seminars where we would mediate, usually standing in different postures, Friday for 3 hours, Saturday for 8 hours and Sunday for 6 hours. All of the postures looked like a snapshot of one of our breathing exercises that we would hold for an hour or two. Sifu Fong Ha, our instructor, was amazing. He could stand in one posture, for what seemed like forever without tiring. (Oh, the fun we used to have, lol)
Rachel and I are planning to head up to Maine on Tuesday if there are nothing stopping us, and the boys will follow in a day or two. We can quarantine up there as we are very much alone in our woods aside from some wildlife. There are plenty of dead trees begging me to chop them down for next year’s firewood. If you want to reach me while we are there, you can always try my cell or, for the best reception, our landline in Maine is 207-338-9064.
I hope many of you post videos. The ones I see are amazing. Remember, we opened our FB page for all to post on.
Keep strong and practice.
--Sensei Jay