Just as in zen, it is by
stripping off the superfluous and abstracting until only the essence is left
that one comes to understand the true nature.
(Masaaki
Hatsumi)
Knowing the posture
Form posture is not just about
positioning in
solo practice.
It is also about the application of that movement in a dynamic, meaningful way
relative to an assailant.
The so-called final 'posture' is simply the end of the movement.
Beginners have no sense of form posture because they cannot apply the
tai chi.
They lack an understanding of softness, yielding, neigong and jing.
Their applications look robotic and
external.
You cannot claim to remotely understand tai chi form if you are incapable of
applying it correctly.
You must
transcend your past, lose your existing
perceptions and begin to
see.
Techniques
Form applications are not really
techniques.
The minute you create a technique,
there
is fixity and that is not tai chi.
Tai chi requires you to adapt, change and improvise.
We must move beyond techniques and see the underlying
jing being expressed.
Follow the form
Consider the words: 'form', 'perform' and 'formal' - they all have the
connotation of doing things a particular way.
Your
application must follow the shape of the form
otherwise you are not applying the form e.g. 'single whip' would not be reversed
in application.
This helps to train the necessary
jing and you can flow into the next posture
with comfort.
Focus on what the
body is doing, rather than what the hands are
doing.
Your hands will find the appropriate targets when you correctly
match the posture to the attack.
Pragmatic
Your application must
account for the physics of the situation:
timing, momentum,
range, trajectory...
It cannot be based on assumptions:
Incoming force
- you must successfully deal with the physics of the attack
Strength
- force on force and any sign of muscular tension means immediate failure
Striking
- there must be a striking/chin na component to your counter
Compromise
- defeating the attack at your own expense is worthless
Flamboyant, unrealistic practice will teach you nothing. Simplicity is best.
If your application is jerky or hurried, your timing needs to be re-considered.
Controlled execution of an application is a demonstration of real
skill.
Observe the principles
If
you fail to observe the
tai chi principles of
yielding,
softness,
gravity
and simplicity - you are wasting your time.
Employ jing rather than force.
The movement, not the result
Beginners often think
only about the final postural shape, rather than the
movement process that led to that position.
Such thinking is flawed.
The so-called 'posture' is everything you did with your body
to get to that end position. It is not the end
position itself.
The end position is the end position. It is not the posture.
Variety
Speed-up segments of the form to feel the flow. Experience the continuity, the
circularity, the rhythm.
See possibilities and options, choices and potentialities.
Then slow down again, and see it differently. Different speeds will produce
different insights.
This is why
meditation is so important. It enables you to
pay attention to what is happening.
Unless you slow down, pare your train to the essentials, you can never look
deeply enough to get a real sense of tai chi.
No blocking
There are no blocks in tai chi at all. Every moment of joining is soft and
sticky. Every movement is rounded.
We connect, become sticky/listening/sensitive (this is essentially 'grappling'),
and then we strike or employ chin na.
Usually this all happens in an instant. The evade-contact-counter is one
integrated flow.
Exercises such as 'yielding/chin
na' offer a way of exploring the moment of contact, and how to use
that opportunity to counter using jing.
When we use the term 'grappling' we do not mean ju jitsu or wrestling.
Struggling is not involved.
Tai chi is not
fighting. It is self defence.
There is a distinct difference.
Form application is not combat
Form
application is a way of dismantling your form and learning what you can do with
it.
You are not training self defence.
It is all about discovering hidden principles, subtle ways of moving, easy
follow-ups and energy conservation.
Self defence training requires randomness and unpredictability. You need uncooperative
opponents who are armed and determined to mess you up.
Page created 25 April 1999