Immaturity is the craving for greater and wider experience.
(Krishnamurti)
Seeing
Lao Tzu said that you can know the whole world without leaving
your room.
He was referring to
awareness.
Learning
tai chi is not about new moves, new choreography or new
applications.
Tai chi is to be found in the subtlety, the nuances, the detail, the
quality.
Forms
Forms
are choreographed sequences of movements.
These movements are called 'postures'.
Every 'posture' is a biomechanical device for producing 'jing'
or energy emission.
By shifting your weight, turning, flexing and moving - you can release
energy in a particular manner in a given direction.
Acquisitive
Beginners sometimes want to
collect a whole series of forms. Why?
Form offers embryonic moves that teach the
underlying principles, not set responses.
Form was designed to contain all the applications of the system without need
of additional sequences/forms.
As a consequence, you only need one form.
Two-person sequences are different to form. They represent an
opportunity to practice in a pseudo-combat situation.
Biomechanics
If you earnestly explore a posture you can determine how the
body needs to
move in order to generate power.
You can find the appropriate balance, the necessary
degree of weight transfer and all the subtle
neigong
qualities that enhance the effect of the posture.
Then you can work with a partner to see how to optimise the biomechanics.
Your aim is to produce the greatest effect using the least physical effort.
This must also feel physically comfortable, safe and follow the principles
of the
tai chi classics.
More...
Page created 25 May 1998