Tao Student – A Personal Site for Gary Ardito

In my 15 years studying the Chinese Martial Arts of Tai Chi and Ba Gau Zhang, I have been striving to move lightly, energetically, without physical force or tension.  Allowing the movements to just flow through you as you are a vessel instead of a roadblock for the universal energy that surronds us.. the Tao.   [...]

Well, it should be obvious to anybody that looks at this blog that I have allowed the things I “have” to do to take over from the things I “need” to do to be happy and healthy.  Don’t get me wrong – I am happy.  I enjoy my job and who I work with on [...]

I use different herbs for many different things, depending on what ails me at the time. For example,

Yin Chiao or Gan Mao Ling for winter colds
Zheng Gu Shui for joint, tendon or ligament pain
Dit Da Jow for muscle soreness or bruising
Ginseng or Royal Jelly for general energy boost

These are all very good for [...]

Today I was in my Chi Kung and Meditation class and despite my continued attempts to empty my mind, I found myself attaching to the words of my Sifu (teacher for those not familiar with this blog) and thinking about their impact on my daily life in the real world.
He talked about looking within and [...]

As I have described here before, my martial arts training has a very strong Taoist foundation. This means that the physical training we do is based on very traditional Chinese arts and also the core texts related to Taoism including the Tao Te Ching, Inner Chapters of Chuang Tsu, and the iChing.
All of the [...]

Interesting title huh…
I have been thinking a lot about this lately.  We all have internal battles that prevent us from accomplishing all we know we can.  For some these are life threatening – drug and food addictions or other compulsive behavior.  For others it is more subtle, ability to focus and excel at work, motivation [...]

I love it when everyday, mainstream anecdotes are actually based in a deeper philosophy. It is interesting that people are drawn to the shallow, easily repeated anecdote without really understanding why.
It is interesting that one of the most popular compliments paid to a professional athlete, singer, actor or other public figure is that they [...]

I just finished the last set of updates to the Tao Institute site including some audio on the Master Paolillo page. It is a good start. We will be adding much more over time especially in the student section.

I love Saturdays!
For me Saturdays include Training, Friends, Food, and usually Folly. Saturdays are physically satisfying, soul cultivating and sometimes a bit decadent. It is rare that you can find all of these in the same set of activities but Saturdays provide it for me.. so what makes up this barrage [...]

I make no secret on this blog of my Taoist beliefs and study of Chinese Internal Martial Arts….well, I just launched a site sharing information about my Sifu (teacher) and our school, The Tao Institute, in Asheville, NC. It is a beginning effort with more dynamic content including podcasts and video to come.
For [...]

“Spiritual Growth happens at a subtle level.. not gross levels” This is one point that was reinforced for me today during a Chi Kung class. Life is a journey with growth coming at unexpected times and during unexpected surroundings.  Sometimes it is thrust upon you and if you are ready to [...]

I have posted here before that I read the Tao Te Ching along with studying Tao style Internal martial arts.  I often just open a page and find a quote and think about it.
Today I picked up on the quote:  “If the people are free of avarice and desire,
even the most cunning grifter has no [...]

The Tao never ceases to amaze me with the little things, things I never expected, that trigger learning moments on the path. I was looking at the text of 365 Tao, by Deng Ming-Dao online (http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/vortex/401/library/365/365date.htm) this morning and somewhat randomly selected a passage. The one I came to was [...]