Tai chi quotes

Many excessively bounce around learning the next 'new' form or movement set without ever extracting the real internal value from any of them.

 (Bruce Frantzis) 


The way most people do tai chi, it's not a martial art. They could never use it the way they're doing it. Everything's in their hands, they just fill in the rest with fantasy talk.

 (Pale Gale) 


If all you learn is a lot of forms, you just become a good dancer.

 (James Wing Woo) 


Some of you have talked about learning a short form of tai chi, which has certain transitional motifs eliminated. The reason for these repeating transitions is to help you flow within the form - to ride over it without thinking. When these repetitions are cut out, some of the major movements become awkward and jam together. The sequence loses some of its smoothness.

 (Chungliang Al Huang)


Students of the martial arts in the West feel that they must use their art to fight, or at least to compete, to show people how good they are. In tai chi, this is unacceptable, because that is against the principle of tai chi.

 (Gabriel Chin) 


The standard Yang set today is Yang Cheng Fu's final revision of 85 postures, which he
demonstrated in his book published in 1936. Most of the other books published since then,
including many Western ones, are either variations or reflections of the author's own personal
expression of the set.

One should note that right from its creation, Yang tai chi has
always been combat-oriented. Yang Cheng Fu always emphasised that the set should be
practiced with its martial applications in mind. These applications may be taught through
the fast set, individual posture explanations, tui shou (push hands), san shou (fixed-step
sparring) and san da (free sparring).

(Alex Yeo)


Yang Cheng Fu (1833-1936) exemplifies the highest natural talent and achievement in
tai chi since he was entirely self-taught after his father (Yang Chian, 1839-1917) died.
His great example encourages us that even if excellent teachers are hard to find, we can
develop by ourselves if we really understand and apply the theories and principles of
tai chi.

(Jou Tsung Hwa)


Tai chi is about changing our internal environment so that life becomes a joy to live and not a burden to drag into old age and death. It is about helping your body to let go of the past and your mind to slow down and cease churning. Tai chi encourages your internal focus to shift toward cherishing and remembering all that is wonderful in your life. It predisposes you to look forward to ways to make life better, rather than remembering how unsatisfying it has been.

Most importantly, tai chi gives us the ability to realise a greater human potential in ourselves and to have genuine compassion for others. Tai chi, with its gentle strength, moves us closer to feeling more truly alive.

(Bruce Frantzis)
 

What is the meaning of wardoff energy?
It is like the water supporting a moving boat.
First sink the qi to the tan tien,
then hold the head as if suspended from above.
The entire body is filled with spring-like energy,
opening and closing in a very quick moment.
Even if the opponent uses a thousand pounds of force,
he can be uprooted and made to float without difficulty.

(Tan Meng-hsien)


Wudang is not for everyone. 

(Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)


The body should respond immediately to the requests of the mind. The less the gap between the two, the more efficient the action will be (in medical terms this is called 'reflex').
 
 (Vanda Scaravelli) 


Losing touch with your core can happen in myriad ways. You may be born with structural imbalances that eventually lead you to engage the psoas for support. All sorts of physical traumas can compromise the optimal, healthy functioning of your psoas: injuries to the pelvis or spine, surgery, broken bones and joint injuries in your feet and legs, even a torn ligament from over exuberant stretching in yoga. No matter what their source, muscular imbalances that compensate for injuries, overdeveloped muscles, and chronic muscular tension all add to structural instability that affects the psoas.

In addition, our living environment often does not support the proper use of the psoas. From car seats to constrictive clothing, from chairs to shoes that distort posture, many features of modern life curtail our natural movement patterns. In fact, a chronically tightened psoas may date back to your first steps. Baby shoes that constrict the foot, impair the movement of bones, or limit ankle mobility can alter a child's skeletal balance and stifle psoas vitality. Other child-rearing paraphernalia can add to the problem. Rigid plastic baby carriers limit movement, eliminating the natural protection and give-and-take of a mother's body, and playpens restrict the crawling essential for neuromuscular and skeletal maturation. Walkers give infants a false sense of stability, encouraging them to stand and walk before the bones are fully formed and ready to bear weight. Rushing development in this way teaches children to rely on their psoas muscles, rather than their skeletons, for support.

As an adult, learning to consciously release your psoas can rekindle vital energies by re-establishing your connection to your body's internal signals—your instinctual somatic wisdom. Releasing your psoas encourages this process by allowing you to trust your skeletal stability instead of holding yourself up by muscular effort. Sensing your bones supporting weight translates into a physical and emotional feeling of "standing on your own two feet." With a properly functioning psoas, the bones bear weight, the muscles move the bones, and the joints connect the subtle energies of the body. Energy flows through the joints, offering a sense of continuity, like the string flowing through a pearl necklace that transforms it into something more than the sum of its parts. The psoas, by conducting energy, grounds us to the earth, just as a grounding wire prevents shocks and eliminates static on a radio. Freed and grounded, the spine can awaken.

Once you've learned to sense and release your psoas, you can apply these lessons to your yoga practice and everyday life. Keeping your psoas released during yoga practice liberates attention previously directed toward your contracted core, allowing you to sense more clearly the delicate balance of action between other muscle groups. And freeing your centre creates a sense of relaxation and calm that can infuse all your activities. In his poem "Burnt Norton," T.S. Eliot wrote a phrase that perfectly captures the inner stability and peacefulness that accompanies a properly functioning psoas: "the still point of the turning world."

(Liz Koch)


Barry was telling us a story about the woman who always cut the end of the ham and somebody asked her why she did it. She said, "Well I don't know, my mother always did it that way." And they asked her mother and she said, "I don't know, my mother always did it." And they asked grandma, and she said, "Well, I did it because otherwise it wouldn't fit into my biggest pot."

(Chungliang Al Huang)


What is the meaning of rollback energy?
Entice the opponent toward you by allowing him to advance,
lightly and nimbly follow his incoming force
without disconnecting and without resisting.
When his force reaches its farthest extent,
it will naturally become empty.
The opponent can then be let go or countered at will.
Maintain your central equilibrium
and your opponent cannot gain an advantage.

(Tan Meng-hsien)


 

Eight forces sustain creation:
Movement and stillness,
Solidification and fluidity,
Extension and contraction,
Unification and division.

(Ueshiba)


 As the practitioner incorporates the quality of tai chi movement into his life, he finds that he stops banging into things. The result of not falling into each step provides the opportunity to instantaneously ease back from unexpected barriers.
 
 (Wolfe Lowenthal)


In tai chi we do not train ourselves so our bodies are distorted in one way to achieve something special.

(Chungliang Al Huang)


Mentally focus on the execution of all movements, or try to visualise each movement.
It helps understand the intrinsic meaning or intentions of the movements.

Avoid thinking of anything else, you will find it easier to focus on the movement and use your mind to direct the movements.

(Dr Paul Lam)


Let your practice be short and intense, focussing your attention one one single action, where body and brain meet at the same point at the same time.
 
 (Vanda Scaravelli) 


When holding up the arms, the qi is threaded together continuously.
When the left side is heavy, it then empties, and the right side is already countering.
When the right is heavy, it empties, and the left is already countering.
The qi is like a wheel, and the whole body must mutually coordinate.
If there is any uncoordinated place, the body becomes disordered and weak.
The defect is to be found in the waist and legs.

(Li I-Yu)
 

The yin/yang symbol is the interlocking,
melting together of the flow of movement within a circle.

 (Chungliang Al Huang)

To make the whole body light and agile
suspend the headtop.

(Song of the 13 Postures)


What is the meaning of squeeze energy?
There are two aspects to its functional use:
The direct way is to go to meet the opponent
and attach gently in one movement.
The indirect way is to use the reaction force
like the rebound of a ball bouncing off a wall, or
a coin thrown on a drumhead,
bouncing off with a ringing sound.

(Tan Meng-hsien)


The best form of endurance exercise is the performance of the event.

 (Bruce Lee)
 

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)


If you notice there is one part of the body not moving when other parts are, then your are not in perfect coordination. For example, when doing "Parting Wild Horse's Mane", as one of your hand is moving up, the other moving down, your legs should be moving at the same time but a slower rate (since there is less distance for the legs to travel). A common problem is hands are moving and legs have reached their designated position and are stationary, this is when your body is not well coordinated.

(Dr Paul Lam)


In going forward or stepping back, there is not even the slightest disorder.

(Li I-Yu)


Tai chi does not mean oriental wisdom or something exotic. It is the wisdom of your own senses, your own mind and body together as one process.

(Chungliang Al Huang)


Extension and contraction, opening and closing, should be natural.

(Song of the 13 Postures)

What is the meaning of push energy?
When applied it is like flowing water.
The substantial is concealed in the insubstantial.
When the flow is swift it is difficult to resist.
Coming to a high place, it swells and fills the place up;
meeting a hollow it dives downward.
The waves rise and fall,
finding a hole they will surely surge in.

(Tan Meng-hsien)


The mind should be calm.
If the mind is not calm, one cannot concentrate, and when the arm is raised,
whether forward or back, left or right, it is completely without certain direction. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a calm mind.
The entire mind must also experience and comprehend the movements of the opponent.

(Li I-Yu)


Control your movements so that they are slow, even and continuous, gradually your inner force will develop which will become unceasing. Think of the circular path of each movement, in tai chi every movement is in curve or circle that has no ending or beginning.

(Dr Paul Lam)


As we work, we use the form as a guide. It is something we work with, not something you learn to show off.

The form is a process that serves you, not an adornment you bring back to hang on your wall.

(Chungliang Al Huang)


Ju jitsu, aikido and especially tai chi, work in a way that is completely opposite from many forms of dance, specifically ballet. It seems that more and more people interested in dance and movement are turning to Eastern forms of movement as they search for a richer and more supple expression.

In tai chi the body is placed in a position where the six outward rotators are eccentricity contracting with the abdominals and gluteals relaxed. This eccentric contraction of the the six outward rotators counteracts the short resting length of the iliopsoas as well as gravity. Being in the tai chi posture utilizes gravity to one's advantage. The main difference then is in the use of the abdominals and the gluteals, and that in tai chi the force of gravity is utilized to stretch the iliopsoas and flexors, while in ballet gravity is not used.

It is possible to use gravity to stretch the flexors and iliopsoas in ballet but this is not understood in the teaching of this art.

(Liz Koch)


Upper and lower coordinate,
and the opponent finds it difficult to penetrate.

(Song of Push Hands)


You must not allow the opponent to put any force on you.

(Cheng Man Ching)


Tai chi is the one exercise that can universally help solve our growing health crisis. It has stood the test of thousands of years. We have a generation of baby boomers with increasing health problems; old people who are sick, in pain, fearful, and cranky; a middle class that is increasingly incapable of affording most of the drugs that are prescribed for their ailments; children that are flaccid, diabetic and asthmatic. People of all ages are addicted to drugs, alcohol, sugar, cigarettes, and caffeine. Stress follows almost everyone like a shadow.

(Bruce Frantzis)


Another problem is that the master may try to teach you what he can do now as a result of years of practice, instead of showing you a process that can gradually lead you to this.

(Chungliang Al Huang)

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Page created 14 May 2003