Send us Fan Mail

When Fairfax, Virginia, criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz first attended taijiquan sparring / sensing hands / push hands summer weekend gatherings of students of great t'ai chi ch'uan teacher Julian Chu (a prior Beat the Prosecution podcast interviewee), he met today's guest Shyh-Ching Lo, M.D. Without an ounce of ego -- as it should be -- and full of generosity in teaching and sharing, Dr. Lo has taught and reminded Jon about the importance in sensing hands of timing, sensing, sensitivity, zhong ting (central equliibrium), and ward off/roll back/press/push (including an emphasis on roll back). Starting from Jon's first sensing hands round with him, Dr. Lo would point out "too late" when Jon would yield too late. Today, Dr. Lo very commonly advises to "give it away" so that the opponent has nothing to push against in the first place. Dr. Lo also points out to have one's hands and arms be powerfully light and soft. 

The imporance of taijiquan to criminal defense and life is vital for Jon Katz. Practicing push hands on the weekends connects naturally to the push hands of courtroom battle and life itself. The week's courthouse push hands connects well with the following weekend's sensing hands practice. Vital to push hands is applying the taijiquan principles of relaxing and sinking one's body into the ground (and relaxing and emptying the mind of clutter), separating the weight, turning from the waist, keeping one's body upright, and keeping the wrists softly unbent. Practicing push hands checks how well our taijiquan form practice is developing. Practicing taijquan form prepares us for sensing hands practice. 

With light movements, Dr. Lo is able to put other practitioners, including Jon, off balance if their form is not more well developed. Taijiquan involves never-ending self development. 

In this discussion, Dr. Lo includes addressing not only his daily taijiquan practice, but also his overall health practice as a retired medical doctor. He immediately took to martial arts practice while in the Taiwanese army, then for many years practiced no martial arts, and finally in his fifties became a taijiquan practitioner learning from such teachers as Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo, Ben's student Julian Chu, and Ben's students the late David Chen and his wife Joanne Cheng. One can find Dr. Lo practicing taijiquan at the weekly Saturday 10:30 a.m. gatherings at the David Chen memorial tai chi court at Cabin John Park in Potomac, Maryland. 

This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at info@KatzJustice.com, 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). 

If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675