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| Conviction | ||
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Belief
Your instructor tells you to remain soft
and loose, that you can move somebody simply by shifting
your weight and turning your waist... If you don't believe them, what happens?
You use local muscle tension.
You seek to accomplish the task through the incorrect
means.
Half-hearted
Your lack of faith in the tai chi and the
instructor can result in failure to apply the
art.
Half-heartedness - trying rather than doing - is caused by doubt.
If you believe in the art, you will use the tai chi.
Second-guessing and over-analysing cripple your
ability to act.
Failing from the onset
Your mind and body must join to create intention.
If you commence a task with an attitude of failure, then you will fail because
you have chosen to.
If you try and force an outcome, you still do not
believe and you will fail once more. Set aside your own thoughts and just do as you are instructed.
Faith
If you become caught in the folly of doubt, you
will dither.
A person who wobbles cannot act.
You must see the path and step firmly forward
without fear and doubt.
This is the very heart of faith.
Doubt
Doubt can cripple your ability to learn;
maybe you think that the tai chi will not work.
But - you could be wrong...
Your instructor can manifest the skills, so they must
be doing something correctly.
Put your doubts aside - and act.
Trial & error
Do the tai chi exactly as you have been shown and see what happens. If you fail, so what? Re-evaluate what you did, change what needs changing and do it again.
Trial and error lies at the heart of learning.
Luke Skywalker: I don't believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail.
(The Empire Strikes Back)
Zen way
In Zen traditions, the
student is required to emulate the instructor precisely when performing the
art.
No deviation is permitted.
No embellishments or personal interpretations.
Aim to do exactly what the instructor is doing; to the best of your personal
ability.
Lose yourself
The purpose of this Zen approach is to eradicate self-consciousness and just
move.
By doing exactly as your instructor does, you
slowly begin to feel as they do.
Somewhere along the line, you stop thinking about yourself.
Your mind is on the act itself.
Take yourself out of
the equation
In order to gain confidence with the
art, you must set aside any
preconceptions, notions and opinions.
Focus only upon the biomechanical concerns
involved.
What are the principles being
explored? How and why do they work?
Step-by-step
Treat your martial skills as
techniques initially.
See them as being a method. Adopt a step-by-step approach.
Perform each movement in a careful, systematic way.
Pay attention to balance (yours and
theirs), avoid hurrying and determine whether
or not the application was successful.
Gaps & deficiencies
At each step you can ensure that the technique is working by inviting the attacker to pressure-test your body for
weakness.
If you are vulnerable to a counter-attack,
address this.
Repetition
If you want skills to become familiar, you will need to practice them until
they are second-nature.
Frequency and long term repetition is important.
As is mindfulness.
Non-cooperative
Once you can perform an application
on your practice partner without error, encourage them to become more awkward.
Ask them to deliberately and consciously mess up what you are doing.
This is an opportunity to further improve your
skill.
Confidence
Confidence is the outcome of putting
principles into practice, ambition into
fact.
You accomplish.
You attain.
You achieve.
You have skill.
Find greater challenges
Your ability to perform your art consistently and effectively against a
variety of opponents increases your faith in the tai chi.
Instead of applying the art with doubt, you have the surety of purpose, the
knowledge of success.
Now, you seek to test your skills against more
difficult opponents.
You learn harder aspects of the
curriculum in the anticipation of employing these also once they have become
part of your repertoire.
Success begets success.
Conviction
Conviction combines:
Faith in the art and in yourself
Confidence in your own ability
Intention
An exponent with
conviction is a formidable adversary; they possess the
quiet surety of repeated practice, frequent combat
training and an in-depth understanding of the
principles.
Their eyes reveal their faith.
There is an absence of fear.
Instead; a calm, deliberate, patient gaze.
Unflustered, they wait for the right
moment.
They are strong and they are ready.
To lift an Autumn hare is no sign of
great strength;
to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight;
to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.
What the Ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins,
but excels in winning with ease.
Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for
courage.
He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory,
for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.
(Sun Tzu)
Page
created 9 January 1996
Last updated
16 June 2023
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