Be heroic, become a warrior. When faced with an adverse situation, don't react, just accept it. Act calmly. Act powerfully. If you don't know what to do immediately, do nothing - wait until the answer comes to you.
(Stuart Wilde)
Deterrent
If you can shock your assailant, this is the best deterrent: make them feel
unsettled, scared, uncomfortable and nervous.
Then let them go.
Lao Tzu argued that you should always
offer a way out.
Obviously this may not be possible; the situation will unfold by itself and all
that you can do is to act according to your character.
Making the best of life is the
bushido way.
Which bushido quality would you like to demonstrate in a crisis: honour,
strength and forgiveness?
Or something less noble, such as aggression and fear?
Our school shares the bushido approach and teaches restraint from the very start
of the syllabus.
Intent
In
class, you are required to play both attacker and defender.
If either role is played inadequately, your partner is not learning how to cope
with an attack.
If you use
aggression, speed and brutality - it may
not allow your partner the opportunity to develop their skills.
If you use flaccidity and attack ineffectually - this will not provoke a genuine
sense of threat.
The key to this situation lies with intent.
Your intention must be made manifest through your physical
bearing and the nature, the quality of
your attack.
The attack must feel like an attack.
Shen must be manifest through your intensity and focus.
Although your attack will not contain the speed and power you are capable of, it
will have the intent, and this alone will provide the threat.
Making contact
With the intent made manifest, you must now address the quality of
your contact.
It is not safe to use 'full contact' striking in tai chi, so we must learn how
to control how we strike.
You must be capable of striking at speed and accurately striking your partner
without causing any injury whatsoever.
The attacker and defender must make contact with every strike.
You must never withhold the strike. You must not punch to miss. You must
land the strike.
Just don't use all your power.
You learn total accuracy and control, and rid yourself of clumsiness.
Jing requires a loose, agile body with perfect
timing.
Making contact will help you to train this skill.
Training old habits of attack (e.g. 'touch contact') is pointless; in every
exercise both players must be training tai chi skills.
Page created 2 June 2004