You're not your possessions, your desires, your habits, your
fears,
you're not even your body.
You're simply nobody. Revel in the freedom of it.
(Barefoot Doctor)
Refinement
Silk arms and form application represent the first steps toward a
refinement of the open, more abstract-seeming principles.
They offer specificity without sacrificing the open attitude.
The intermediate syllabus dismantles silk arms and form application,
increasing the potential once again.
We must continually take the abstract and consider specific applications,
and then return to the abstract.
Large
to small
The tai chi moves from large to small, in terms of size and in terms of
detail.
A beginner simply cannot see the detail necessary to comprehend the
intermediate, experienced or advanced syllabus.
They must learn tai chi in an exaggerated fashion, training the body to connect
internally and move as one unit, but without tension or reduced mobility.
The progression from large to small is not a deliberate conscious change in
the practice; the body simply becomes more economical as a result of the
centre mobilising.
Any attempt to force a change in tai chi fails immediately and the result is
sheer parody: vulgar and incorrect.
Copying the outer
appearance of a more advanced practitioner will not give you any sense of the
internal.
Remember that tai chi grows from the inside out.
Judging the whole from the part
There is an Indian folk tale about six blind men inspecting an elephant:
The first man encounters the side of the animal and believes it to be a wall.
The second man imagines the tusk to be a spear.
The third man thinks that the trunk is a snake.
The fourth man considers the leg to be a tree.
The fifth man feels an ear and believes it to be a fan.
The sixth man finds the tail and is certain it is a rope.
A beginner does not understand the syllabus. They are the blind man and the
syllabus is the elephant.
They see what they want to see. What they are capable of seeing.
Arrogance, experience and conceit are what blinds them.
Let go?
The extent to which a person progresses in our syllabus has far more to do
with their willingness to let go than any other factor.
Memory, stamina, coordination and agility are meaningless if you train the tai
chi as though it were karate, wing chun, hsing i, bagwa or a style of tai chi
you have studied previously.
It is far harder to let go than people realise.
They cling to techniques and applications, ideas and approaches - and dare not
step off into the unknown.
Our school sees the beginners syllabus as a preparatory period, in which the
person has the opportunity and time to implement fundamental change.
When a student's mind and body begin to move in the unrefined tai chi way, we
have the raw material, ready and waiting for the work ahead.
Comparison, expectation and
assumption have become openness, calm and
receptivity.
The student who transcends their hang-ups can begin to
progress.
Page created 8 December 2004