Defending yourself 2
The world is peopled
with bullies, the religious bullies, the newspapers,
the politicians, the gurus and priests, the bullies in the family.
Those bullies make us feel guilty; they attack first and you have to defend.
(Krishnamurti)
Appropriateness
Whether an application works or not depends entirely upon whether it is the
right thing to do at the time.
If you think about what to do, it is already too late.
After practising form applications and drills, the student must forget
everything in the face of an
attack and just move.
The body will know what to do.
Gentleness
We are not looking to
harm other people or look 'cool'.
Tai chi requires you to do only as much as is necessary and no more.
If you can
walk away, you should.
If you have to defend yourself, then it needs to be fast, effective and
restrained.
Conflict is best avoided.
There are few situations that cannot be resolved with
humour or simply backing down.
Unless somebody touches you, there is no threat or danger.
Do not let your own
fear cause an incident.
Slow?
Tai chi self defence is not slow.
The slow practice is only one aspect of the tai chi curriculum.
The
application of tai chi is more about
timing than speed.
Students learn how to remove dithering, preparation, flinching and anticipation
- and just move instead.
This significantly improves reaction time.
Natural unnaturalness
In tai chi, the body absorbs neigong and form until it moves naturally in a learned
fashion.
At this point the student is free to apply the tai chi in any manner they
choose providing force is not employed.
Two students from the same school would consequently defend themselves in
completely different ways.
This is appropriate because it makes the applications less
predictable.
Study
Sun Tzu and
Miyamoto Musashi wrote the classic texts on
self defence.
These books are core reading material for students of tai chi;
providing many useful insights and guidelines.
More...
Page created 3 March 1998