Freedom is pure observation without direction,
without fear of punishment or reward.
Freedom is without motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man
but lies in the first step of his existence.
(Krishnamurti)
Flaccid or tense
Your muscles should be neither flaccid nor tense in tai chi; these
extremes are undesirable.
Tension blocks
energy and flaccidity
is simply collapsed
structure.
The answer is to
yield.
Ice melting
If you think of yielding in terms of melting ice, it has quite
a different quality to flaccidity.
The ice does not simply crumple.
It gradually gives way.
Resistance is futile
Yielding does not involve any component of resistance, so you do not
fight back.
You allow your partner to move you but do nothing to assist.
This is far harder than it sounds.
People typically move themselves out of the way or tense-up. You must do
neither.
Absorb
When
you let your partner do all the work, you can employ your body like a spring.
It absorbs the incoming force, compressing the spine and the legs.
You store the energy.
At a certain point, you can go no further so you stop. Even now, you do not push
back or collapse.
This develops into 'resisting jing' but is completely different to tensing-up or
fighting back.
Applications
Imagine that somebody was attempt to break your arm...
Tensing or collapsing the limb would do nothing to prevent this from occurring.
Alternatively, you can tie the body into the mid-back, use your connection and
relaxation to strengthen the limb without tensing.
If your connection and groundpath are good, it would be very difficult to bend
or break your arm.
Yet, your body has not tensed at all.
Page created 2 April 2004