Introduction: In an earlier article “Meditation: An Often Neglected Component of Taiji Practice”, it stated that there are three major components of Taiji practice: Forms, Push Hands, and Meditation. Essentially all Taiji practitioners practice Forms, and those who are interested in Taiji as a martial art most likely would also practice or have practiced Push Hands. The article gave several reasons why many Taiji practitioners may have never practiced Meditation, even though it is an important component of Taiji practice and Taiji is often known as Moving Meditation. That article also mentioned that Meditation is a set of techniques that focus on getting the body and mind to relax and into a deeper level of “quietness.” In that introductory Meditation article, it wrote “initially, while doing Meditation, the practitioner can breath naturally, i.e., breathe normally. With experience, more sophisticated breathing techniques could be incorporated.”
This current article discusses some of the more sophisticated breathing techniques in Meditation that make Meditation an important part of Taiji from both the health and martial arts perspectives.
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One Belt One Road Initiative: Its Meaning and Significance*
The “One Belt One Road” (OBOR) initiative first announced to the world in the fall of 2013 by President Xi Jinping of China is an extremely ambitious and far-reaching initiative that is not easy to achieve, but has significant potential impacts improving the social and economic structure of a major part of the world around Asia, Europe, and northeastern parts of Africa, where more than half of the world’s population lives. It could also have significant implications for political stability and peace in that region, as well as for the whole world. The OBOR initiative proposes to improve the transportation infrastructure among the countries in Asia, Europe, and northeast Africa so that it can give rise to closer and larger economic, social, cultural, and political ties among these countries and people. This is a win-win initiative that should benefit not only the more than 50% of the world’s population who are living in that region, but should also contribute to political stability and peace in the whole world.
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