Page 174 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

CHAPTER 20

TAIWAN

2004 Chung Hwa Cup Tai Chi Chuan World Championships Taipei, December 2–5, 2004

Clouds moved fast, dark and grey, the rain coming in gus ts and the n tape ring

off as Typhoon Nanmadol surged over the Sout h Chi na Sea. I’ve always loved
storms; now these fierce winds made me electric. It was Thur sda y eveni ng,
forty hours from battle, and I stood at the peak of Elephan t Mount ain looki ng
down on an Old Taoist Temple, the city of Taipei spr ead out bel ow. The smell

of incense wafted up from the templ e shr ine, smoke swirling in the bui ldi ng
winds. I’d begun preparing for thi s tour nam ent, the World Cha mpi ons hi ps ,
the day after losing in the semifinals two years before. My last thr ee mont hs of
training had been brutal. Night after night of pain, pus hi ng myself to the

absolute limit until nothing was left, and then draggi ng myself ho me to rest
up for the next day’s sessions. Now I stood, br eathi ng deepl y, soaki ng in the
wind and rain. The sky to the west was a livid red—i t was coming. I felt alive
and ready.

*

There are two kinds of Push Hands in the Chung Hwa Cup. One is called

Fixed Step. The other is Moving Step. Toget her they make up two di visions in
this gigantic international competition that dr aws tho us ands of martial artists
from more than fifty nations. The events are very different and most
competitors specialize in either one or the other. It was my dream—i n trut h, it

was my ambition—to win both.
The Moving Step game is fast, expl osive, played in an eight een- foot-
diameter ring. The object is either to put your oppo nen t on the gr ound or out