If I haven't yet seen you since the start of 2010, Happy New Year!
This year, we've got a lot of ground to cover, a lot of improvement to make, and a lot of hard self-examination to do in order to realize those improvements.
I've been quoted as saying, "Asian Americans have an obligation to struggle to retain the best parts of their ancestral culture while exercising the freedom to assimilate the strongest parts of other cultural influences that they're exposed to. A sense of knowing one's place in society and understanding one's obligation ("giri" in Japanese) to it are CRUCIAL for being a useful, good human being."
While those comments were certainly aimed at Asian Americans, as I am one and was speaking about that group to which I belong, they also apply to EVERY American, regardless of ethnic or cultural background.
As I said during Saturday's Tai-Chi class, the theme of 2010 will be the Mirror Set. Why? For the simple reason that we've all gotten a little complacent in how we train the "right-handed" large frame Yang style Tai-Chi long form.
We tend to get grooved into patterns of behavior that are either comfortable or tolerable. But it's really in going well outside of our comfort zones and developing skill sets through self-challenge, self-criticism, self-awareness, and self-improvement that we scale out of the trap of mediocrity.
I want you all to take a HARD look in the mirror this year. Don't just look at your perceived faults and mull them over. Look FOR your faults, especially those that you reflexively defend through dismissive responses to criticism or instruction, through waiving active responsibility, through procrastination, or through other forms of cowardice and dishonesty.
We're going to continue with the same emphasis on basics, but we're going to take the Tai-Chi symmetricals all the way through, not just practicing them as isolated drills, but also as part of a whole and a flow. We need to be able to apply what we learn in a variety of contexts, not just pay lip service to them in theory.
That said, let's DO! Every moment of every day is your chance to do what's right. Let's make it happen!
