My warrior's prediliction as a Scholar/Athlete/Monk leads to decades of Tai Chi practice

Attempting to gain an 'edge' on the pitcher's mound in my 20s has given me an 'edge' on Life in my late 40s!

I embraced my journey as a Spiritual Seeker in 1990 before I was even old enough to legally drink alcohol. Beginning my investigative journey into maintaining the health of my body/mind/spirit, I recognized that abundant health is a prerequisite that can only be purchased with time, focused attention, and sweat as a result of personal effort to achieving the spiritual growth that I was after. Having nearly died when I was 9 years old due to a burst appendix requiring 2 surgeries, over a month in a hospital bed, and 2 more months bedridden at home, I awakened to my mortality and my body as a vessel that my consciousness inhabits, while I was still in elementary school. I not only got a taste of the suffering that the Buddhists recognize is part of Life, I found the practice of Ahimsa, or non-violence to all Life, and 'Death as an advisor' much earlier in life than the majority of our culture. Thus making it difficult to relate to my peers that still imagined that homework, social status, and monetary wealth mattered most in life.

While under my parents' roof and forced into the government education/indoctrination camps, I did what I had to in order to keep my parents, teachers, and coaches off my back, played by their rules, and read my own books with all of my spare time. I also gained an early education regarding the medical, legal, and banking systems despite being born to 2 high-school dropout children. My Mother was 15-yrs-old & my Father 17-yrs-old when I was born and despite their youth and lack of knowledge or resources, they waged a legal war on my behalf for 3 years after my surgery, eventually settling a medical malpractice suit when I was 13. I then watched what remained of my settlement after taxes and lawyer fees go into a 2 1/2 yr bond that matured twice before I turned 18 and gained access to it, providing an early education on compound interest, Trust entities, taxes, & insurance, as the $42K turned into $53K by the time I was given access to it.

This all led to my investigative research into banking and money, the discovery of the distinction between currency and money, the deceptive nature of our federal tax code based on voluntary self-compliance, and the debt-backed nature of the USD. After also discovering that the 'standard American diet' is the exact opposite of what the body needs, I finally at 21 years of age, realized that I'd learned absolutely nothing about how to sustainably provide for my own needs regarding food, shelter, clean water, and even fitness despite being a lifetime competitive athlete in both baseball and football and an engineering student at college.

Youth well spent...

I was able to make the cash from my Trust fund last long enough to allow me to relocate to Austin, TX where I was blessed enough to find many great teachers in Tai Chi, natural building, solo-preneurship, food-as-medicine, fasting, and Chi Kung meditation. I am not called to be a savior, have no interest in being either sheep or shepherd, nor preying upon the sheeple or removing the shepherds that fleece and feed upon the herd. So I effectively became a vegetarian lone-wolf, went my own way (long before there were any other MGTOWs, google it), and simply quit playing the same game as all those around me. Boycotting banks, fossil fuels, animal products, television, and rent thoughout all the 90s by dealing only in cash, riding my bicycle everywhere I went, become a Vegan, and living on my sailboat on the lake.

I learned to keep score by a different measure; social status, a false sense of security & certainty by collecting nation-state fiat currency, & the superficial appearance of health all dropped off my radar entirely. I measured success by my daily freedom to what I willed, by my alignment with my inner guidance, by maintaining my personal integrity, my alignment with purpose, and radiant functional health & fitness. Impact on those around me and leaving a legacy only came on my radar after I decided too many ignorant & arrogant sheeple were breeding around me, and felt the need to raise my own children providing them all the information I wished I'd had much sooner in life.

In my late 40s now, I have found myself grateful to my youger self for putting the work in that now gives me the tools to maintain my mental focus and discipline and release any physical, mental, and/or emotional stress from the day while cultivating ever more energy, vitality, and personal power. The joy, bliss, focus, and energy that I get from this form practice creates more to build upon with every repetition. Remaining everpresent in the 'Now', maintaining one-pointed attention by quieting the mind like still waters without any wind to cause ripples on the surface, and by trickle-charging my bio-electric battery, I grow more effective and efficient with every round of the form.

Impact upon the World depends as much upon who knows you, as upon what and who one knows yourself...

By sharing this video and image I am practicing the pushing hands principle of 'investing in loss'; by letting go of my anonymity and privacy I may create more impact on those around me. As I share my journey publicly and allow myself to be seen and better understood because of it, I will hopefully inspire others to begin and share their own lessons found along the Way.

I consider my form far from 'perfect' and recognize that I have far to go to achieve true mastery, at most I consider myself an advanced intermediate level Tai Chi player, not even expert level yet. And am certainly not claiming to be a 'Master', I've experienced the real deal with my Chinese teacher, in his 60s now, and even he would never presume to call himself such, despite his significant personal progreass along the Path. I'm sharing here an 11 minute glimpse into what is currently an hour long daily practice. With 20 minutes of warm up Nei Kung followed by a fast & slow rep of each form, this will turn into a 90 minute practice as I begin practicing the opposite side of each form. Part of the journey is regular study of the principles of the practice in addition to the actual movements and I shall begin sharing here my personal revelations acquired daily in my studies. I invite any of you traveling on a parallel path already or considering finding your own path to upvote, promote, and follow this channel.