When
attacked you should always 'slip' the attack.
Never meet force with force,
or your opponent will be able to borrow your strength.
(Lau Kim Hong)
Speed
Most
martial arts are very
concerned about speed.
They practice striking faster and faster in an effort to produce a quicker
delivery.
Speed is a concern in our school but we
approach it
differently.
Our starting point is prompted by the
zen
question: who binds you?
In other words; what is stopping you from moving quickly?
If you can remove the
obstacles that impede the movement of your
muscles, you will be capable of moving more quickly.
Blockages
Over-worked
muscles stop the joints and
vertebrae from moving freely.
They create resistance within the body and this can lead to discomfort,
injury and strain.
Ideally, we need to move without any
impediments; the
muscles want to be free to move the bones around smoothly.
This is one of the reasons why tai chi
form is practiced slowly.
To move slowly, you need to
relax the nervous system and soften the muscles.
You become less
clumsy and jerky quite
quickly.
Aware
When your nervous system and your mind become
quiet, you begin to
notice things.
Your sensory apparatus comes to life.
During
self defence practice you
find that there are more
possibilities available than you previously
realised and more time to execute them.
Nothing externally has changed. You have
changed. You have
slowed down and can see more.
This new awareness extends into all other aspects of your life.
Fear
Fear causes a person to
tense-up and fight back; whether verbally or
physically.
Our
competitive culture has led people to become very
defensive and
argumentative.
Why? What is really so
important?
Most conflicts are absurdly
petty. Very few are concerned with real
injustice.
When you
let-go and flow with the
currents of the event, you can circumvent
hostility and find a more
agreeable resolution.
Slow
Bruce Frantzis maintains that an expert
tai chi person
can remain relatively
slow and deal with an incoming
attack easily.
This is accomplished by a superior sense of timing, distance, rhythm and
sensitivity.
You move smoothly, comfortably and appropriately.
In class, you must aim to slow down your responses without being
hit or compromised.
Remain
composed and
surrender to the
art.
Self defence
A sharp, abrupt movement triggers a nervous system reaction whereas a
smooth, slow
movement does not.
Our aim in
tai chi is to strike a
person without alerting their nervous system.
Rather than make any
jerky movements, you must glide gracefully and strike
with smoothness.
Your delivery should come as a surprise to the attacker.
The learned tendency to be
aggressive and
tense must be bypassed.
We do not want to make the situation
personal.
Your aim is simply to
exit unharmed.
Page created 25 July 2000