Continuing on with my haiku series around “Songs of The Eight Postures” attributed to T’an Meng-hsien and translated by Lee N. Scheele here is my third entry, Ji.

Ji or Chi gave me a lot of trouble when trying to put it to words and I’ll probably need to update it at some point. I don’t think the second half, that speaks to the external is quite what I want. Nor do I feel like it captures the indirect, a rebound, so it’ll have to marinate in my head a bit.

It’s often referred to as a “press”. With this one I veered off the imagery used in the song. The …

Continuing on with my haiku series around “Songs of The Eight Postures” attributed to T’an Meng-hsien and translated by Lee N. Scheele here is my second entry, Lu.

Lu is often associated with the “rollback” technique. It’s a yielding and redirecting… force. The reason I hesitate to put the word “force” is that when force (external) is applied, it’s already changed into a different energy/technique. It’s one of the most internal and in my mind, transient, of the eight.

My Version - Lu

the water wheel coils
lithely adhering, yielding
directing …