The nervous
system and the automatic machine are fundamentally alike in that they are
devices, which make decisions on the basis of decisions they made in the
past.
(Norbert Wiener)
Strong or clumsy?
It is extremely common for people to confuse 'strength'
with clumsiness.
When someone exerts their
muscles and imposes an excess of strength,
they are often
considered to be strong.
Yet,
how is this a reflection of strength?
Surely a skilled use of strength requires the
appropriate degree of strength relative to the
needs of the activity?
If you were to pick up an egg or a glass and exert too much strength, then
the object will break in your hand.
The nervous system is responsible for
gauging how much strength needs to be applied.
As you exert pressure upon an object, your body experiences
resistance and there is biofeedback which tells you how much
strength is necessary.
Most adults in the Western world have a faulty nervous system and the
information it provides is inaccurate.
Instead of applying only the necessary amount of strength, it is normal and
comfortable to use an
incredible excess.
This fatigues the muscles, blunts the nervous system and makes you clumsy.
Biofeedback
Tai chi requires you
to re-tune the nervous system.
This is a lengthy process involving a lot of partner work and a serious
amount of
patience.
It will not happen
overnight.
Sensitivity work encourages you to feel how
much pressure you are applying and how much is pressing against your body.
You learn to
re-assess the information and accept when
an excess of strength is being used.
Typically, muscular exertion is constant and ongoing. It is normal, habitual
and you never notice it.
This process is not easy. Many beginners train
tai chi for ages and
never learn to become
soft.
Why?
They pay attention to the end result and not the
means. This is
foolish, since the means produces the end.
If we do not learn to listen to our body, then it is easy to become
injured.
Strains, stress and
discomfort are ignored.
Coordination
If you want to move
smoothly and easily, and respond well in
self defence, train your nervous system.
Weight-lifting and gym work can often
result in large muscles but poor sensitivity.
These are not recommended supplements for
tai chi. If you want
larger muscles, do more qigong.
Tai chi requires the body to perform
technically complicated movements in an
extremely controlled fashion.
Clumsiness must be transcended.
You must become very aware of your own body and make every single
movement
deliberate and careful.
This is not to be confused with prissiness.
It is one of the reasons why some of the training is performed slowly.
The key to coordination is not high repetition, but
quality practice.
Training mistakes and bad
habits is a waste of time.
You must be committed to patience and
measure your progress in months and years, not days.
How long did the bad
habits take to acquire? Is anything going
to be fixed
overnight?
Your body needs time to
re-grow.
Sensitivity
Sensitivity skills are not easy to learn.
Beginners usually apply way
too much force and rely upon local
limb strength rather than using
neigong.
No more
than '4 ounces of
pressure' should be exerted upon your body or expressed
by you at any given time.
This is much less than people realise.
Tai chi does not use
force.
It circumvents strength, re-directs
kinetic energy and exploits balance.
There is a whole area of study called
jing
which requires you to learn different types of physical
feeling and refine the effect of your action.
It is considered to be energy expression; in which you are working with the
lightest of contact yet profoundly affecting your partner.
Even
striking is done without brute force.
A clumsy person receives adverse feedback when striking but does not
even
notice.
Ease
A
healthy nervous system is not simply a
physical matter.
The smoothness and grace of the
tai chi movements must be
complimented and enhanced by your
composure.
A
psychologically tense person will be
incapable of skilled body movement.
Neurologists maintain that the mind affects the physical
nervous system, and the nervous system affects the mind.
Calm
mind and body are connected.
Composure
Taoism and
zen help with composure. They put life and your
relationship with the
world
into perspective.
Instead of accepting
conventions,
orthodoxy and
received
wisdom, these disciplines encourage you to find
out for yourself.
The approach is grounded in the
tangible, in the substantial.
Everyone who completes our
beginners syllabus is changed by the
experience.
Their lives are more peaceful and they are less prone to depression, anxiety,
anger
and
aggression.
They learn not to exert unnecessary strength and to
yield
in the face of force.
Page created 2 January 2005