|
|
||
| Alerting the nervous system | ||
classes qigong tai chi kung fu about us reviews a-z
.JPG)
Involuntary
reaction
Jerky, fast, forceful action will alert your
opponent's nervous system. This will enable them to
react to your movements.
Aggressive, sudden physical contact
invariably triggers a reaction.
This is a natural response to unexpected stimuli.
Smooth
Tai chi is practiced smoothly and slowly in order to avoid triggering your
opponent's nervous system.
If we can use timing and positioning skilfully, it is possible to
trick your attacker's body into failing to
perceive the threat.
Drills
Most of the drills we explore teach you how to move without advertising your
intentions.
This requires a lot of practice.
Listening and
sensitivity must be cultivated.
Eventually all of your training must consolidate and be applied in
combat practice.
If you cannot pull it together in combat, your
tai chi drills are useless.
You cannot tense up either
A secondary feature of the drills is to train
your own body to overcome the
involuntary physical response to unexpected stimuli.
Everyone reacts when startled.
A tai chi person must learn how to rapidly shed the effects of the
surprise and move on.
In time, the reflexive response becomes almost imperceptible.
No threat
If you can move without alerting your attacker, you create a window of
opportunity.
You create time.
There is no need to move quickly. Just carry on doing
what you are doing.
The very act of not alerting your attacker has bought you time. There is no
need to rush. Use the opportunity wisely.
Force
Seeking to force a result will also create an involuntary nervous system
response.
The attacker's body will resist without any conscious
thought being involved.
Instead of forcing, we must allow.
We must find accord.
Blend
What you are seeking is to move with the attacker.
Force versus force is not tai chi.
Trick the opponent's body into complying with you.
Startle
It can be advantageous for you to alert your attacker's nervous system.
If they are momentarily startled, they lose composure and become distracted.
A shock can also result in fear.
Knowing how and when to use this requires training.
The ability to throw your assailant mentally and emotionally 'off-kilter'
can give you an edge.
Intimately involved in
the fight or flight response, the psoas can curl you into a protective
foetal ball or flex you to prepare the powerful back and leg muscles to
spring into action.
Because the psoas is so intimately involved in such basic physical and
emotional reactions, a chronically tightened psoas continually signals your
body that you're in danger, eventually exhausting the adrenal glands and
depleting the immune system.
As you learn to approach the world without this chronic tension, psoas
awareness can open the door to a more sensitive attunement to your body's
inner signals about safety and danger, and to a greater sense of inner
peace.
(Liz Koch)
Page created
15 May 1997
Last updated
16 June 2023
▲