“How to Grasp the Bird’s Tail if You Don’t Speak Chinese” by Jane Schorre was originally published in 1997. It has been out of print and difficult to find for 20 years and extremely expensive when available. It has just recently been republished. As described on Amazon, it is “a beautiful exploration of the Chinese calligraphy and meanings of the Taijiquan posture names. This text reveals the mystery, imagery, and poetic ambiguity in the Chinese language. Much in the names in of Taiji movements is lost in the English translation. This book asks the reader to consider the Chinese character, which conveys much of the inner essence of Taiji. This book was originally copyrighted by the author, Jane Schorre and published by North Atlantic Books in Berkeley California. A group of taijiquan enthusiasts felt that such a beautiful book should not be out of print, so after an exhaustive search, we determined that the only route to go was to republish this book ourselves. All proceeds go to World Tai Chi and Qigong Day, a program of Health, Prosperity, & Leadership Institute, a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to spreading Health, Prosperity, and Leadership to everyone, everywhere.” It is beautifully illustrated throughout with the calligraphy of Margaret Chang. The following is a small sampling from the book.
Grasp the Bird’s Tail (Lan que wei): “Taking something into the hands to pay close attention to it … all birds (even the little sparrow) can represent the connection of heaven and earth and the activity within the space between … we pay attention to the smallest details … every time this movement occurs in the form it can be a reminder of the kind of awareness, the being totally present, that Taiji requires.”
Ward Off Left and Right (Peng): “Peng … it is about expanding and opening up, as well as releasing (as in shooting a bow, removing the cover of a container) … Peng may be represented by the Chinese Roc– a monstrous bird representing the power of the air, with it’s wings like clouds, traveling tremendous distances with incredible speed, it carries the sky on it’s back – What a picture to keep in mind as we raise our arms in the Peng movement (the Roc is a far cry from the little Sparrow, giving a completely different sense of dynamics)”.
Cross Hands (Shi zi shou): “Where the apparent opposites converge to create the center … a completion … yin/yang unity of heaven and earth … emphasis on the center, where all comes together in wholeness and completeness … in the Form we have been involved in the extension of our body and our energy in all directions, but here we bring everything together into the center – this is what we do on the mountain top, we bring the tiger energy into our center and now we are in a position for either an ending or a new beginning.”
Cloud Hands (Yun shou): “Clouds represent the transforming, changing patterns of things. The essence of clouds in their constantly changing form as they are created, carried and shaped by the forces of nature. They are soft and floating, but within their insubstantiality there is the potential for and lightning and the force of storms. Then we become aware of the cloud as a part of the whole yin/yang process of the rain cycle. We see vapor rising in response to the light of heaven, gathering into cloud and transforming into rain, which falls in response to earth’s gravity only to be transformed into vapor again. These cloud images are all important to the quality of our Taiji movement. Are our cloud hands soft and insubstantial enough to go along with any changing circumstance? Are they at the same time capable of strength and power? Are they circling – rising and falling in response to the energies of heaven and earth? And are they moving with the soft beauty of clouds?”