The presence of the way can be
intuitively sensed,
but it cannot be pinned down in any way.
(Cleary)
Slow & easy
Tai chi advocates a slow and easy
approach to both exercise and living.
Moving slowly allows you time to be safe and careful with your movements, to
be fully conscious at all times of what you are doing.
Rushing is very unhealthy and harms the
nervous system.
Remaining calm is natural and feels nice.
By slowing down you begin to notice
things that were previously just a blur.
Natural range
In
tai chi you must
always remain within your natural range of movement.
Any stretching is done subtly and never forced; the body is allowed to open
by itself, rather than be forced.
By encouraging the joints to be free, mobility increases radically and the
body can move more comfortably.
Tai chi should never strain or hurt the body.
Some movements may feel uncomfortable
if you have bad postural habits and this is to be expected - your body is
already used to set patterns of movement and poise - and the
tai chi is
gently changing these.
No exertion
Try this:
Clasp your hands in front of your chest as if putting your arms
around somebody.
Keep the elbows loose and bent.
Now imagine that somebody is gently tugging your hands away from your
back...
In tai chi, this is considered to be the limit of your natural range.
The
feet
are similar...
When you step, there must be no weight transference into the heel of the
stepping foot.
You should be able to pick the foot immediately back off the floor without
any shift of weight.
Only when the ground is found to be firm - should the weight shift.
Restraint
When things do not go the way we want
them to, we are trained to lose our
temper and try to force the
outcome we desire.
This is not healthy.
In tai chi we are encouraged to allow others to go their own way. Whenever we encounter an obstacle, we seek to flow around it and avoid
confrontation.
Even in
self defence we look to use restraint; to
do only as much as is necessary.
Why cause harm to another?
Page created 2 December 2002