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Rip It Up
In the 2015 book Rip It Up by Richard Wiseman, the author details an
experiment in which two coachloads of elderly people are taken on holiday to a
destination they once visited when younger.
Coach 1 was like any normal coach.
Coach 2 was different. The people had to dress as they did when younger, listen
to the music of their youth and were offered the opportunity to
participate in holiday activities akin to those they did when
young.
After the holiday the people in Coach A exhibited no real improvement in
health. Coach B people showed significant, measurable
health benefits from their experience.
Consider this:
Most people live lives that are
not particularly physically challenging. They sit
at a desk, or if they move around, it's not a lot. They aren't performing
manoeuvres that require tremendous
balance and
coordination. Thus they settle into a low level of physical
capabilities - enough for day-to-day activities or
maybe even hiking or biking or
playing golf or tennis on the weekends, but far from the level of
physical capabilities that a highly
trained athlete possesses.
The reason that most people don't possess
extraordinary physical capabilities isn't because they don't have the
capacity for them, but rather because they're satisfied to live in the
comfortable rut of homeostasis and never do the work
that is required to get out of it.
The same thing is true for all the
mental activities we engage in. We learn enough
to get by but once we reach that point we seldom push to go beyond.
(Anders Ericsson)
A rut
Most people have fairly routine lives. They stay safely within
their defined 'comfort zone'. Nothing really
challenges the status quo and there is no real reason to
change and grow.
Often, gratifying illusions provide the impression of higher level
mental activity:
But these don't
actually require any change. When somebody watches TV or regurgitates
political opinions/commentaries, they are not
using any higher brain functions at all.
Opinions are the result of memories, thoughts,
ideas, the past. By contrast, challenge lies with the
unknown, the unfamiliar,
the uncertain...
An observer
Much of modern life makes people passive.
Instead of actively engaging in life, people are content to just watch.
They form opinions, they judge, criticise and
remain spectators.
Whilst this is taking place, their own life is
ebbing away hour by hour...
Rather than do, people observe.
Apathy
In Greek mythology there is a story about an island in which the inhabitants
consumed lotus plants; making them dull and
apathetic.
This is what TV, news, politics, social media and mobile phones do to people.
These activities hypnotise and stupify the mind.
The flickering screen entrances the viewer and they sit gawping for hours on
end. Passivity is fostered, not action.
Invest in loss
A major theme in tai chi is letting go of what you think.
Students are encouraged to recognise that we
don't know very much at all. And yesterday's tools are not equal to the
challenges of today.
We need to engage with life with a fresh,
receptive, open mind. Not with
ideas,
preconceptions, opinions and a desire for
confirmation/gratification.
Failure to engage
In tai chi is quite common for a student to reach a rudimentary
level of skill and simply remain there.
They may learn many new forms and
exercises.
But everything is performed in a simplistic manner.
The problem with training long-term at a
simplistic level is that
the training is intrinsically incorrect.
Provably so.
Tai chi is a refined, subtle, complex, sophisticated
art.
If your progress halted at a lower grade and there are
13 belts to pass; this is hardly impressive.
Ba duan jin #7
The seventh exercise of ba duan jin involves an action of the arms that
looks similar to a karate reverse punch. For novice students there are 3
ways to perform this action:
Using just the arms
Connecting the arms to the scapula and moving with relaxed musculature
Version 1 is what the
student started out with: tense,
disconnected and focussing upon
localised elbow joint movement.
Version 2 is a notable improvement; albeit somewhat robotic. (Most beginners
never reach this stage and stay tense;
indicating that they have in fact
learned very little in class).
Version 3 is higher-level and employs
the 5 bows.
The body
mechanics of the
internal martial arts are
significantly more sophisticated than those of the
external martial arts.
(Bruce Frantzis)
Easy tai chi?
Despite the popular notion that tai chi is easy to learn, it is anything
but easy. So why do people persist in thinking of
tai chi as being easy?
The answer is simple. Most people are not doing anything remotely authentic.
Also, when you compare tai chi to running, lifting
weights or other
martial arts, tai chi is not
strenuous or exertive.
But don't be confused
here.
The movements of tai chi are
physically sophisticated. The
mind must be be engaged to
the utmost. This is why most tai chi people in
the world are merely beginners...
Engage with the syllabus
Engaging with the tai chi syllabus entails
actively climbing the syllabus. Getting better.
Stronger. Deepening
understanding. Broadening knowledge.
Constantly re-thinking/re-evaluating (metacognition)
what you are learning. The process is
on-going and has no conclusion.
This is not the same as simply attending
class once a week...
Awareness
Tai chi requires the student to deepen their
awareness of what is taking place moment-by-moment.
This is called 'mindfulness'. It requires the
student to have clarity, to pay
attention.
Not to space out, daydream or get lost in
thoughts, memories, ideas or opinions.
Our syllabus features a number of 'guided awareness' lessons designed to
increase presence:
breath meditation, meditation on emotions,
meditation on body
sensations, meditation on hindrances
and walking meditation.
Engaging with life?
Being more present enables the individual to see what is happening right
in front of them and fully engage with it. You may
think that you are
already doing this and maybe
you are.
Most people are not. They are distracted.
The typical tai chi new starter is eager and curious,
but they are also incredibly tense, have
poor concentration skills, bad
coordination and exhibit signs of
stress.
One of the unique features of
authentic tai chi is that it teaches the individual to engage more fully
with life.
Keep you alive
Running, swimming, the gym,
yoga, Pilates etc may all work the body in a manner
that improves fitness. However, none of these
pursuits comes to close to tai chi when it comes to
rejuvenation.
Tai chi has been employed in countless clinical trials that
prove unequivocally that the art significantly
affects aging.
Mind, body,
spirit
Tai chi is quite different from
sport and conventional exercise.
There is no competition, no
stress, no ego, no
aggression and
absolutely no pressure at all.
The body is exercised in a careful, gentle, relaxed manner.
Natural, healthy, comfortable movement is encouraged, with an
awareness
of what is taking place at all times.
Students encounter new ideas and new skills every lesson.
There
is the joy of discovery; of finding out for yourself what works and
why.
Daily tai chi
Dr Michael Greger (author of How Not To
Die) recommends 90 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every day.
The three doctors who wrote The Okinawa Program maintain that tai chi -
with its ancient origins and incredible health
benefits - is the ideal form of
daily
exercise for modern
people.
We walk, and our religion is shown (even to the dullest and most insensitive person) in how we walk. Or to put it more accurately, living in this world means choosing, choosing to walk, and the way we choose to walk is infallibly and perfectly expressed in the walk itself. Nothing can disguise it. The walk of an ordinary man and of an enlightened man are as different as that of a snake and a giraffe.
(R.H. Blyth)
Degree of
engagement
Progress in
tai chi is entirely
contingent upon the
individual students degree of engagement.
Somebody who trains their tai chi at home every day, reads the
relevant books, attends weekly lessons
and workshops will make sustained strong
progress through the curriculum.
The art will yield
incredible, rich rewards to any student who
makes tai chi a notable part of their life.
Films
These three films illustrate how meaningful engagement with stimulating,
unfamiliar, challenging situations can provide an anti-aging benefit:
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Mr Holmes
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Page created
21 May 2005
Last updated
16 June 2023
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