Editor's Notebook

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What you see and appreciate in Tai Chi Chuan is really in you.
But as we learn more about it, there is more and more to appreciate. Several articles in this issue emphasize this.Dr. Yang Jwing-ming describes some of the many levels that a practitioner can aspire to.
He also tells of his own growing respect for the art and the respect of other practitioners who also find it increasingly rewarding the more they study.
Vincent J. Lasorso Jr also discusses the inner work and the excerpt from the qigong book from China that is excerpted brings in the importance of wholeness and moral character as integral and moral character as integral to qigong.
Everyone is free to make their own choice as to what level they want to achieve. This may be self-defense, health, fitness, meditation or some combination of them.
One of the challenges of Tai Chi Chuan is to see beyond the obvious, for there is more to Tai Chi Chuan than self-defense, health, and energy manipulation.
Also, we all have our inherent limitations which obstruct our progress. But usually we create most of our own limitations by our attitudes, lack of practice and by just going through the motions.
If you are going to practice seriously, you will have to explore and understand the potentials of those deeper levels. And you will need a real, continuing effort and the capacity to struggle.
If your vision and effort are large enough, the “beauty” will be something to behold.
Marvin Smalheiser