MEMORIES OF VINCE

When I think of Vince,

a poem comes to mind:

The Bridge Builder, by Will Allen Dromgoole.

Click HERE for the poem.

May 2, 2021

Vince and Tai Chi group in China... Date?

Vince Goes To Sea

8:30 am Saturday, September 11, 2021

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

TAI CHI FOR A LIFE WELL LIVED

Tai Chi

太極

Lesson #1 with Vince McCullough for beginners is particularly helpful because he inserts a “pause” between forms making it perfect for individually practicing each position....

This instructional video is an excellent place to begin your Tai Chi journey. After practicing each individual movement, lace them together seamlessly, timelessly, not noticing where one movement ends and the next begins. Eliminate the pauses and you'll be practicing Tai Chi like

"cloud hands”, like a flowing river.

Tái chi ch'üan is practiced for it's health benefits, as a form of moving meditation, and for defense training. As an internal Chinese Martial Art, it is occupied with the spiritual, the mental, the qi. Qi translates as ”air”, life force or energy flow that underlies Chinese traditional medicine and martial arts. The practice of cultivating and balancing qi is called qigong.

Now you're ready for blending the beginner movements with a narration of the Short Yang form.

Lesson #2 For Beginners with Vince.

Tái chi ch'üan is practiced for it's health benefits, as a form of moving meditation, and for defense training. As an internal Chinese Martial Art, it is occupied with the spiritual, the mental, the qi. Qi translates as ”air”, life force or energy flow that underlies Chinese traditional medicine and martial arts. The practice of cultivating and balancing qi is called qigong.

#3  Yang Short Form on the beach (Vince’s favorite Tai Chi nexus)

Once you master the Emeritus Short Yang Form you can move to #4, the Yang Long Form.  Vince McCullough, put together the Short Yang demonstration so that students would have a good introduction and forms that could be practiced repeatedly.  

 

In 2020 my Tai Chi Master, Vince McCollough, turned 89 having practiced Tai Chi since his early college football coaching days. I first met him in front of a Tai Chi group on the beach in southern California.  I learned Tai Chi from him that year and was encouraged to take his Emeritus Tai Chi course at Saddleback College where his large class (over 100 students) shifted into five or six breakout groups each with its own Tai Chi assistant: Wendy and Matthew Ma, Jim Smith, Bill Steel, Tatiana and Moustafa.

#4  Form 42 on Vince’s 85th birthday.

Tai Chi has many speeds, like a stream moving quietly but not running quickly, or like great river at high water. Sped up it becomes a martial art. Click HERE for an example. Normally Tai Chi movements flow smoothly but in the instructional video below Vince inserts distinct pauses between individual forms for students to visualize when one form ends and the next begins.

#5 Short Sun in Six Stages 

# 6 Vince Form 42 on his 86th Birthday

#6 Ross Acosta’s Tribute to Vince.

I came across the video (below) just after I viewed Ross Acosta’s tribute to Vince.  Thank you Ross.

There is an unexpected synergy when you view the two tributes  together. Vince’s life is echoing in Robin’s voice.  Take a look.

Interesting that it’s title is: “We see it too late” my brain, constantly playing with words hears: “We see it just in time.” We see these tributes together, just in time to live the rest of our lives inspired by the the humanity of the way they lived their lives.

Now back to Tai Chi

#7 Style 73 Next two teaching videos recommended by Bill Steele.

  

practice double kick @2:22 

practice right swift @4:44

#8 Yang Long Form

Narrated in Chinese.  

  

Healthspan vs Lifespan

People in Blue Zones commonly live active lives past the age of 100 years.

What we're looking for is the longest possible disability free lifespan.  Not a one size fits all action plan, the challenge is to build our own unique program. This blog seeks to archive reliable information (scientific citations included) so that we can plan to optimize all the rest of our days.

To begin... let's jump over to the 120 and Beyond blog. Click HERE.  http://120andbeyond.blogspot.com/

3 Elements in creating your own Blue Zone

Build Your Own Blue Zone!

Cogentimperator at English Wikipedia - Own work by the original uploader

Venn Diagram created by the Quest Network to illustrate longevity clues in Blue Zones.^[1]

What do Blue Zones have in common?

The first principle of 120 and Beyond, and Blue Zones is...  Community. The Venn diagram above includes the terms Healthy Social Circle and Social Engagement.  But Community means much, much more.  Communities are social units with something in common, eg. norms, values, that share a sense of place (village, town), often with a common cultural and historical heritage.  Communities have durable relations beyond immediate genealogical ties, and have members who often share, intents, beliefs, needs, preferences, resources and some measure of cohesiveness.

So let us now build our own 120 and Beyond or Blue Zone Community.

What do Blue Zones have in common?

The first principle of 120 and Beyond, and Blue Zones is...  Community. The Venn diagram above includes the terms Healthy Social Circle and Social Engagement.  But Community means much, much more.  Communities are social units with something in common, eg. norms, values, that share a sense of place (village, town), often with a common cultural and historical heritage.  Communities have durable relations beyond immediate genealogical ties, and have members who often share, intents, beliefs, needs, preferences, resources and some measure of cohesiveness.

So let us now build our own 120 and Beyond or Blue Zone Community.

Dan Buettner claims that people live longer on average in what he cites as Blue Zones. Buettner is an author, producer but not a scientist. However, let's take a closer look at his claims.

From his book The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, Beuttner crafted this TED Talk How to Live to be 100+. Click HERE.