Take no thought of
who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
(Bruce Lee)
Open
Tai chi is concerned with the opening and closing of the body as you
move.
Most people are quite closed-up, so the
opening part is hard.
Opening requires you to let-go.
This is easy to say but far harder to do.
Can you let-go of what you
think? What you
believe? How you respond?
How about the past?
Most people are so thoroughly conditioned by their upbringing and culture that
letting-go may seem almost impossible.
But it isn't.
You must want to let-go, and be prepared to take a risk...
In your mind
Psychology has a large part to play in tai chi.
Your state of
mind is manifested
physically; and if you are agitated,
hurried, anxious and
opinionated, the exercise may feel like torture.
Tai chi cannot be forced or coerced, pushed or reasoned-with.
You just have to let-go.
And for many people this can be the hardest thing in the world; partly because
they do not really want to give up the
illusion of being in
control.
Inhibitions
Inhibitions are unusual things; they represent an unconscious
resistance to stimuli.
The
question to ask is: are
they real?
What causes the restraint to occur?
Why do you suppress, deny, ignore?
Education trains you
to be obedient, to participate in society and conform to its rules.
You are taught how to behave.
Impulses and
emotions are stifled
as you become increasingly conditioned to satisfy the requirements of a
demanding culture that views humans as
tools.
Taoism
invites you to question the necessity of inhibition.
Drawing the line
There are some boundaries that a person has no wish to cross.
You should never feel
pressured to do what feels
uncomfortable.
Trust your own
instincts and feel confident
saying no.
Barriers
If you have a boundary, consider its existence.
Is it
conditioning?
Or is there something deeper that stops you?
Understanding the nature of your own mind is very important in tai chi; you need
to be free from unwanted baggage yet respect the things that you feel are
worthwhile and necessary.
Be conscious that some barriers can impede the release of
tension.
More...
Page created 15 April 2003