The Master of Grasping the Bird's Tail
The exercises of Cardio Tai Chi are taught within the frame of a short story. Like that of the “Tai-Chi Monkey”, this story functions as a memorization aid for students. The story goes as follows:
Once upon a time high in the Wu Tang Mountains of Northern China, lived a Kungfu Master named Hwang who liked to hear the birds sing. One day he went to the village market and bought a baby sparrow home. Hwang attended to the bird’s daily needs and was always caressing the sparrow (Grasp the Bird’s Tail) between his two hands.
Gradually the sparrow grew bigger and started hopping on one leg (Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg) trying to get away from the master’s palms. One day the bird grew large enough to be able to spread her wings (White Crane Spreads It’s Wings) and flew out into the open sky reaching to the clouds (Wave Hands Like Clouds Drifting By). The bird was so happy that she was singing (Play the Fiddle) and dancing (Frog kick) in circles.
Master Hwang opened the window (Open the Window to View the Moon)waiting for the bird’s return home, however, to his disappointment it never happened. So Hwang decided to go out for the bird himself. First, he went about riding a horse (Parting Wild Horse’s Mane) searching for the bird. When the bird finally came into his sight, he used a bow and arrow (Shoot Tiger with Bow and Arrow) attached with a net to catch it. The Master shot the arrow and caught the bird, picked up the bird gently by its tail out of the net and brought it back to his mountain retreat (Carry Tiger Back to the Mountain). The bird thereafter was allowed to sing only in the cage. Hwang was forever renowned as the “Master of Grasping the Sparrow’s tail”.
Chi-hsiu Weng, Ph.D.
Written by Mark J. Wong
9-1-01