On Writing Well
This book has become mantras I recite as I edit my work. I first turned to it when I worked for Cargill. After ten years in retail, I was rusty on the basics of a good paragraph. When you are heads down on a project, struggling with how to say it, the advice in this book grounds you to what is important: pulling weeds.
Choosing Other Exercise over Taijiquan
If you want good health, a thirty-minute brisk walk will server you better than most martial art routines, thus my better experience with baguazhang for my health. If you have stuck with me this far, you might think why bother with taijiquan at all? And to be honest, I have thought the same. Circle walking is so simple, the forms so easy to learn, and the basics so easy to get right, that the extra effort needed for the detailed and extensive study of taijiquan seems like a waste a time.
Teacher, No Teacher, Teacher
Jou, Tsung Hwa had a significant impact on me. I understood his frustration with finding a good teacher and studying by yourself. Jou goes on to say "If you have no teacher, do not place your highest priority on finding the right one. None of my teachers were famous Tai-Chi masters, and for over ten years I have not had a personal teacher. In that time, I have discovered the only real secret: you must develop on your own."