Both Chi Running and Tai Chi Chuan share the idea of co-operating with the force coming at you, however, I will be discussing my experience with reference to Tai Chi Chaun (Taiji) as it is practiced by the World Taiji Boxing Association. Many people think of Tai Chi as a slow exercise for loosening the body, however, for me, Tai Chi Chaun is first, foremost and always a Martial Art. It has elements of self-healing and energy balancing that are built into the form. I am very new to Tai Chi (just over a year), but I have noticed how the practice has changed my movement in my day to day activities. Even something as simple as making coffee has changed. One of the first things I do at work is to make coffee. I open the cupboard and take down the coffee can, I open the lid of the coffee maker and remove the filter cone and dispose of the old coffee filter. This small sequence of movements has changed in some very small ways over the last year. The change was very small, and was not deliberate. I just happened to notice it one day. I stand feet parallel, with my knees slightly bent, my bum tucked in and body aligned, this is becoming how I stand. When I reach for the can of coffee, I noted that my arms move up and forward, much as one would expect and much as I have always done, however, my weight shift forward on my feet and much of the movement involves the core rather than just the arms. I grasp the can and then turn my waist to the left as the weight moves back. These body movements bring the can out of the cupboard, down and to the left. What is the difference? Well the act of getting the can out of the cupboard has gone from a simple arm movement to a full body movement. This distributes the weight of the can over whole body, rather than just the arms. Okay, I realise that the can of coffee is so light as to not require this special handling, but it is part of training the body to move from centre. A similar change is involved in the movements to remove the cone and dispose of the old coffee filter. I return my body to centre and then open the lid of the coffee maker. I then pick of the cone with the hands at centre. I turn my waist to the left and transfer my weight towards my left leg and do a heel turn on my left leg… I will not bore you with further details of these trivial movements, it is sufficient to say, that I move differently while doing many simple day to day activities. It is clear to me and should be clear to the reader that there is no need to move from the centre to lift a one pound tin of coffee or to handle the weight of a used coffee filter. This transfer of the effort across the core would be more important if the items being moved were heavier or actually required more effort. The point is that this difference is a practice of moving will, of training the body, or perhaps more specifically a result of training the body to from centre to habitually share the load across a larger set of body parts even when the load is tiny. Much of the martial training of the form is related to giving and receiving energy through the core rather than peripherals. Strikes typically are driven from the core so a strike with the right may involve a weight shift and slight turn to the left with a compression on the left side. This is very slight and is followed by shift to the right with a slight expansion on the left and a compression on the right. This spiral energy allows a fast hard strike from a short distance. In my form there are no blocks, there are only attacks that strike against an attack as they attack. Of course, this is not what Tai Chi is all about, it is just part of the training. Erle used the phrase, “Reflexive violence for the mental state needed for self-defense.” What you do in the next instant may make a difference. It is not helpful to think about the mistake you made being on the dark street by yourself. It is not useful to think that you may be hurt or killed. It is not even helpful to assess how dangerous your attackers are. You have an instant to make a decision you must either act with explosive animal violence (reflexive violence) or you must submit and hope for the best. Now let’s change things just a little. Pretend that you have a very young child with you, perhaps your own child, or a grand child or a neighbours child whom you are babysitting. How does that change the situation. If you are incapacitated your charge is at the mercy of these attackers. That changes the stakes. Your attackers are counting on your fear and confusion to give them more edge than the fact that there are two of them and only one of you. What they are not counting on, nor expecting is that you will become the aggressor and that you will are prepared to fight like your life and the little life in your care is at stake. That is to say, that you will act with reflexive violence, like a she bear with a cub. Every part of the tai chi form as about it a violent intent and every part of the form has a healing intent. The point of the training is to be ready at a moment’s notice, to do either. This training is also about being about being ready for other events. It is about setting up reflexive responses to life situations. As a counsellor I often work with metaphoric interventions; Teaching people to solve impossible problems metaphorically, as a preparation for solving them literally. Tai Chi is like that, it teaches you to prepare for things in advance. It teach you to move in ways that may help you deal with events that may or may not ever happen. Push hands is not about kno king someone over or finding a way inside to strike someone it is about listening to energy in another. It is about balancing, rebalancing and making adjustment; it is a metaphor for life. I learned the first six Qigong related to the first six deadly Katas, and also learned (rather was shown) the first six Katas. As Qigongs they work on specific energy meridians, as Katas they are short sequences of attacking defense to deal with serious attacks on your person. They are also metaphors for living. What is your defense when you are faced with a challenge by a “food situation”? How do you respond to it so that you are able to defend yourself aggressively and win. My morning and evening three circle Qigong teaches me to focus on my breathing, to take 15 or 20 minutes and focus my breathing and free my energy. It is not about that 15 or 20 minutes, it is about all day being able to quickly and easily come back to centre, to illicit a state of “sung”, to developing a deep sense of where my centre is, and how I can be the controlling factor in my life. As one progresses in Tai Chi Chaun, one moves from large frames to smaller frames from an external movement and focus to an internal movement and focus. Chi is stronger than muscle, it is stronger than will. Tai Chi Chaun is about learning how to align the body, the mind and the spirit so they are all working together for the same intent. This is how we learn to cooperate with the forces coming at us from outside, how we learn to redirect them. We must learn to have the same clear, reflexive intent when dealing with food, with exercise, with challenges at work and in relationships as if they were threats to our wellbeing, the same as a physical attack on the street. If you are attacked on the street there is not time to think and plan, you must respond with reflexive violence. When you are attacked by things like food challenges, it must be the same, there is no time to think, your response must be reflexive, and it must be just as strong and full of intent as you would be if faced with a life threatening attack, because, in point of fact, it is a life threatening attack, every bit as much as a knife wielding thug.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
This mind set also applies to other things, at least in my opinion. I will come back to this but first I will talk about how it applies on the street. Suppose that you are walking down a somewhat dark street all by yourself and two strangers walk towards you and just as they get beside you one of them attempts to get behind you and grab you as the other steps in front of you and pulls back an arm to strike you.
I just got back from a four day weekend in the Poconos. This was a weekend Tai Chi and Bagua camp with Eli Montaigue. Those who follow my blogs will know that I am a Chi Runner and Tai Chi player and enjoy exploring how do we bring the principles of these practices into the everyday. I will be posting a blog about the weekend, but thought I would write about the idea of applying the principles co-operating with the forces coming at you.
