Nothingness cannot be defined.
The softest thing cannot be snapped.

(Bruce Lee)

Tension versus softness

In Dynamic Balancing Tai Chi you must avoid the use of muscular tension and force.
The maximum amount of pressure must be 4 ounces.
Any more and you are fighting force with force and the strongest person will succeed.
Your muscles need to remain soft.
The application must feel easy.

Strikes need to feel as if they never happened.
If you are struggling, you are doing something wrong.
Relax, bend, yield and change - find another path by feeling for it.
Can you imagine tense water?

In class, we must initially explore isolated aspects of the syllabus in order to build the foundation.
This is unfortunate because it promotes planning, which is not tai chi.
Melee is the cure.
You need to move past deliberate action and learn to just move.


Small

Avoid exaggeration.
Providing you maintain the internal connection and do not lean, you will find it possible to gain power through small movements.
A punch is a question of degrees, rather than an arm motion.
Waist/hip rotation is faster than elongating a limb. Centre movement is faster than waist rotation.

If you hit an opponent wearing a boxing glove, the force will be spread across a wide area.
If you hit them with your finger, the area of impact is far smaller.
This intensifies the effect and causes greater damage.

Don't disperse your power, focus it.
Sun Tzu wrote:

If I concentrate while he divides,
I can use my entire strength to attack a fraction of his.

(Sun Tzu)

This is one of the maxims we consider in our school.

Change

As you progress, change will become more important.

What happens to water when it encounters solidity? It bounces off, then flows around...
It finds another route.

The direction is always forward but the path is variable. We must be the same.


Confusion

Change is unpredictable. It is not a continuation of the same. It is a compete break from what you were doing.

The more spontaneous your change, the more confusing you will become.


Yield

If you are stubborn and attempt to force your will, you are guaranteed to find resistance at some point.
Let go of your need to 'win' or succeed and focus instead upon sensitivity and movement.
Cease your inward resistance and you will find it easy to change.
If you can change without tension, the tai chi will become effortless.
 

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Page created 27 April 2001