Stand up in any posture naturally.
You're comfortable, like you stand every day. You are standing in the
posture very comfortably without using any effort.
This is the most economical way of standing in that particular posture. You
are doing it at its best, so any unnecessary effort added to your posture is
counter-productive.
(Fong
Ha)
Nature
The basic principle of tai chi is that you must follow the
way/how/character/spirit/essence of
nature.
This means that in any given posture your frame must be physically
comfortable and natural.
You must also move relative to the freedom offered
by your structure.
The tai chi lies in the
movement part of it, not in the final 'pose'.
As a beginner, it is not easy to
feel where the natural shape is.
Faulty
sensory appreciation/awareness hampers our efforts.
Our syllabus was
designed to help you with this.
If you look outside your window at the forms of nature - unsullied by man -
you learn to appreciate the true nature of
reality.
Natural form and the
physics of nature are what
tai chi is all about. Not ideas.
This is the most
basic and pervading 'principle', although in truth there are no principles.
If a person were to truly follow nature, they would need no
form, no
tuition, no
words and no doubts.
A cat is not anxious or troubled. Nor is a tree.
They simply exist and they
move in accordance with what they are. With their own natures.
We
(humans) do not.
The human body
Martial artists commonly ignore the
body and actively work against it, rather than with it.
This is dumb and impudent.
Beginners are often no better and put the body under unnecessary
strain.
The human skeleton and body movement favours the upright body.
Yet many martial arts encourage low
squatting stances and physically awkward
positions.
These are fundamentally unnatural.
Injuries and long-term damage are common.
Ignoring the body
Do you ever see a (wild) polar bear go against its own nature?
Or any other creature?
Humans are the stupidest animals on the planet.
We cripple our bodies to satisfy our minds and we defecate where we eat.
What is
Thinking is revered in modern culture but all thought is based on memory, the
past and therefore cannot be an adequate way to address the immediate moment.
There is a danger in trying to apply
thought to tai chi. Thoughts are partial by nature, and offer an
incomplete picture of
reality.
Buddhism, karate,
external kung fu,
competitions and aesthetics - these
all represent a bias and will not help you to understand
tai chi.
Tai chi follows tao, and tao is the
way/nature/how/quality/character/sense
of what is.
Why do I see things this way?
Because this is the way things are.
(Lao Tzu)
We find optimal body use and relationship by removing the barriers that
prevent us from
seeing the truth of what is.
A
perspective serves to blind us.
Feeling not thinking
If you are content to simply listen to what
somebody else is teaching you, then
you will probably never know what it means to be natural.
Natural body use means
feeling what your body is doing and being
acutely aware of even the
slightest strain imposed upon it.
What you think does not matter. What you are
doing does.
Thoughts will not help you to move in a natural way. Only feeling can accomplish
this.
You need to cultivate physical sensitivity and awareness.
Natural tai chi
Although we call our art "tai chi" and we follow the sequence of the "Yang Cheng
Fu style", neither label is really correct.
What we are really following is
nature. This following process is known as 'taoism'.
Taoism is not a belief system
and has none of the complexity of religion.
What we refer to as 'taoism'
is simply the act of working with nature, rather than against it.
Our aim is to only move the body in a manner that is comfortable, easy and
natural.
Lose your pre-conceptions,
opinions, tension and arrogance.
Learn how to see and how to feel your own body.
Everything we do works with the natural rhythm, movement and flow of the
body.
Even the self defence work must follow this mandate.
Page created 2 November 2000