Don Tow's Website

First let me summarize my current situation with respect to recovery from the minor stroke I experienced in September 2023. Although I can do all, or almost all, of my ordinary routines, often slowly, there are certain limitations to what I can do. When I walk, instead of lifting the left foot off the floor while stepping forward, I often have a tendency to drag the left foot on the floor. I also may have difficulty keeping my balance. My stamina is not the same as before, in the sense that I tire more easily.

In March 2025, I did go back to do more physical therapy (PT), currently once per week (although we may increase that to two times per week) at Bell Wellness in the old AT&T Bell Labs building next to where we now live. During the PT, I work on exercises to increase the working together of the left foot and the right foot, paying attention to reducing the scraping of the left foot on the floor, and building the stamina so I can continue to do this for longer periods.

Over the next few months, I will continue to take more walks, paying attention to my walking problems.

As a long time practitioner of Taiji, I decided that besides taking more walks, the best practice to work on my walking problems is to practice my Taiji. Here are some notes on this.

• As I walk, I need to make sure that I lift up my left foot before stepping forward to avoid scraping the floor with my left foot. After my stroke, I have a tendency to scrape the floor with my left foot.
• My left foot and right foot need to be separated by roughly a shoulder width to provide the stability needed for walking when I am walking forward. This separation between the left foot and the right foot is changed only when I am trying to make a turn. If I want to make a left turn, the left foot needs to make a smaller step forward, while the right foot needs to make a larger step forward. If I want to make a right turn, then suitable changes need to be made to the above instructions.
• As I walk forward, I should keep that separation between the left foot and the right feet so that the stability can be kept.
• If I am moving backward, that separation between the left foot and the right foot need to be kept. Otherwise the stability is lost.
• If you are involved in Taiji, you need to pay attention to many slight bodily turns, because these turns allow you to turn your waist while keeping your opponent in front of you. It is the turning of the waist that gives the power to your strikes.
• For example, before you step forward to strike your opponent, you turn your body, e.g., slightly to the left. Then you turn your body slightly to the right while stepping forward toward your opponent. That sight bodily turn adds power to your strike while still facing your opponent.
• All these movements, steps, bodily turns, rotation of the waist are built into the basic Taiji movements. They are taught when you are learning the basic Taiji movements, such as in the basic Taiji 24 Form. These movements should be taught at the very beginning of learning your forms. It adds power to your strikes.

As I am recovering from my stroke, I try to do my Taiji forms, starting from the most basic ones, such as the Yang-Style 10 Form or the Yang-Style 16 Form or the Yang-Style 24 Form.

Although I may still remember all these forms, however, currently I may not be doing these forms correctly. I think it may take me several weeks, and perhaps even months for me to do these forms properly. I will continue to work on this in the next few months..