To care for someone excessively is to take away their responsibility for
themselves.
(John
Lash)
Integrated
Integrity has two elements:
Moral character
A condition of wholeness
These two qualities are significant factors in the
life of a martial artist.
Moral
character sounds like an easy thing to quantify but in practice
offers considerable scope for contemplation.
Wholeness can refer to both
physical integrity (neigong) and
mind/body/spirit. This again, is far from
simple.
Honing character
We
want the syllabus to be an opportunity to
explore yourself, as well as the tai
chi.
It is not enough to move in a flowing, integrated manner. You must also
behave in a similar fashion.
This aspect of tai chi is seldom addressed in modern classes.
Martial arts classes have traditionally been a place where the
character is honed.
The role of the art is to cultivate
integrity.
No neigong
Internal skills are what
tai chi is really about.
Years can be wasted learning
countless forms, whilst the real art lies in
the
13 postures and the neigong.
Once you
understand what internal strength is all about,
you only need to practice one form.
It does not especially matter which
form it is, providing the form represents a
viable vehicle for
energy expression.
No jing
Students can often pick up a mechanic feel for the tai chi movements quite
easily, but imbuing those movements with
jing is another matter entirely.
This is what differentiates the experienced student from the beginner. A
beginner does not really understand what jing means.
They have a conceptual grasp of the subject but no
understanding.
The intermediate student is charged with taking their tai chi from the
external to the
internal, from the physical to the energetic.
Only when they
have accomplished this will they be offered experienced-level material.
Jing is something unique to the internal arts.
You must be aware of your own
jing, and more importantly - the jing being expressed by the assailant. The
skill lies with using this
energetic interaction in your favour. This is the
tai chi.
Perception
Perception is everything in our school. If you are mentally
inflexible, you
will probably quit after a couple of lessons.
We want students that are prepared to
look around them and see
connections
and associations between things.
We want our students to have
breakthroughs,
insights and revelations.
Once you begin change, you look at self defence, tao,
zen, architecture,
art, tea ceremony, clothing, decorating, gardening, work,
personal
relationships and even money in a very
different way.
The
changes are unstoppable. They quietly work away at your consciousness.
Student suggestions
Sometimes a student will offer suggestions
concerning how they are being taught.
They will ask for re-caps at the end
of a lesson or other approaches that they feel will aid their recollection.
They are trying to
speed up their progress.
The danger with the student
setting the agenda is that they have no idea
what it is they are learning.
Suggesting approaches is an example of 'the cart trying to
lead the horse'.
It stems from a need to
control, fix or force things.
This is not
how you learn tai chi. You need to
let-go.
You
remember what you
remember.
You should leave your memory
alone. Let it do its job.
Tai chi is learned by feeling. By
listening and sensitivity. You cannot
will it to be.
Pleasing people
Students are not always happy with our feedback. That is OK.
The role of the teacher is not to be your buddy or to say things that please
you.
It is to be a
mirror, to
challenge you, to guide you and to question how
you
think.
Given that the student has no
idea what the syllabus entails or where it will
lead, there is
no way for them to assess the value of our
approach to
teaching it.
Our intention is to help you lose your need to be in control, to fix things,
to cope.
Taoism is about letting go. Until you can let go, all you will have is the
mechanical outline.
Your tai chi cannot be internal until you stop forcing.
This is why we do not care how well you recall things. What we care about is
your attitude.
Softness is not soft speaking. It is
soft being.
No lies. No excuses.
Lying
is so widespread in modern society that many people are completely unaware that
they are
doing it.
The habit of
lying is now socially acceptable.
People continually defer responsibility. They cast themselves in the role of
victim constantly.
It is easier to do this. It is the lazy option.
When you lie, you do not need to have integrity. You do not need to take a
stand.
Yet, lying will not work in self defence.
When somebody tries to punch you in the face, you need to be very honest about
where
you are and what is happening to you.
Pretending that the situation does not exist will not change it.
Making up a story cannot save you from pain.
You have to be honest about what is happening. You cannot hide behind lies.
Most people are not in touch with themselves. They live within a carefully built
castle of
insincerity.
They believe their
self-image to be the reality.
Zen, taoism and tai chi serve to dismantle the wall of lies you have built
around your
self.
You will feel
vulnerable, exposed, naked and alone.
At that point, you can begin to integrate.
Page created 8 January 2002