Soft martial art
The lightness of
your step relates directly to the lightness of your energy,
emotions and thoughts and vice versa, though lightness does not mean airiness.
Every footstep must make intelligent contact with the ground.
The soles of your feet are important receptors which collect information from
the ground.
(Barefoot Doctor)
Hard
Most martial arts are hard-styles;
external systems that
meet force with force, strike using muscular
tension and favour speed above
all else.
These systems have proven to be effective
in self defence and
competitions.
But the skills come with a
price: side-effects.
As the exponent gets older they suffer numerous
injuries as a direct consequence of the way in which their art
uses the human body.
Tai chi differs from the external arts in almost every respect.
It approaches the entire experience of combat from a very different
perspective.
A skilled
tai chi person wants to be capable of
moving in a
smooth, healthy, optimal manner without the
risk of injury.
They approach self defence with the same aim in mind.
There is no point in defeating an assailant if the very art you are practicing
is
harming your own body.
In many martial arts, the side-effects of using the system make learning it
prohibitive.
How many hard-style exponents have knee and spine injuries?
How
Tai chi is concerned with
how
the body is being used at all times.
If something
feels awkward, uncomfortable or strenuous, you stop doing it
and consider what you are doing to cause the problem.
This approach is
means-oriented, considering the
process involved rather
than just the outcome.
The means produces the result and if your means is questionable, the end
will contain undesirable elements such as adverse feedback.
Soft
A
tai chi exponent seeks to have the
supple, soft body
they once had as a
child.
The joints are mobile and flexible, and the muscles
move smoothly and
easily.
Posture is good and the body is used naturally and comfortably.
The mind is quiet and we
listen to what the body is telling us.
'Soft' refers to the condition of pliability and the
necessity of using the least amount of muscular strength at all times.
Only by being extremely gentle in our physical contact with others can we
sense their movements fully and flow like water.
Hardness in our own bodies will prevent
sensitivity and impede
smooth movement.
Weak
A tai chi person does not deny their vulnerability and tense-up
in defiance of the
truth.
Such behaviour is a poise.
We can all be injured and
killed, no matter how skilled we are.
Everybody
dies at some point.
Our
school teaches qigong, neigong and
form.
The synthesis of these three elements will lead to your body becoming very
strong internally.
Outwardly, you look stocky but not overly muscular.
When somebody pushes on your limb or torso it will feel springy and
rubber-like in nature; it yields to the push yet contains a deeper sense of
strength.
The body feels
alive.
Your body only gives to an extent and does not crumple - this is part
of
yielding.
Failing
Two common failures in beginners are crumpling and resisting:
Crumpling is the result of
inexperience.
The core strength is lacking and the body is not internally connected.
Resistance is force against force. It indicates a lack of internal power and a reliance upon contracted muscles for strength. Tai chi never goes against the flow of energy.
Page created 7 February 1998