Wuwei of a Downhill Turn
"People who really know what they are doing,
do not go in much for analyzing.
No longer even bear in mind any rules
They were taught as apprentices:
they attend to the total situation and respond."
—from "Weiwu
in the Zhangzi" by A. C. Graham
For the beginner, balance, posture,
labor through a turn on the slopes,
weight on the downhill ski,
uphill ski ahead,
bend the knees, lean forward,
turn complete, stop, rest, recoup.
For the seasoned skier, formless, free,
long flowing curves,
symmetry without weight,
lean without posture,
a fit of feet to boots, to skis, to slope.
A question of fragmentation into parts,
a fear of looking up,
a struggle among complicated, competing foci
or no components, the balance
of forgetting about balance, free to look around.
A flight, a flow, in a unknown focus.
