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| Martial concepts | ||
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Naivety
People who attend a tai chi class practice for about 2 hours in
class.
Then they go home and forget about tai chi until the next lesson.
Yet, somehow, the student imagines that martial skills will emerge when needed.
Isn't this a little naive?
Habits of thought
Our thoughts reflect what we do, what we are exposed to, what is
important to us...
Football, politics, gossip, money, work, family,
health and so forth.
If you watch the news, this is what you will think about.
Martial thoughts
If you want martial skills to emerge, you must
think martially beyond class.
Daily home training should involve both physical
practice and reading.
Read
Reading martial books will help to
cultivate the required perception.
A fictional story does not count. The Art of War, The 36 Strategies and The Book
of Five Rings represent a good place to start.
You will begin to feel that your tai chi practice
goes beyond simple form training, and you will be able to perceive things as
energetic combinations, rather than as static physical objects. Your
training partners will appear to your senses as dynamic patterns of energy,
rather than as clumsy physical bodies. When this happens, you can skilfully
switch strategy and tactics in any situation.
(Yang Jwing-Ming)
Seeing
A martial artist perceives situations in a certain way.
They aim to avoid conflict, to refrain from backing themselves into a
corner.
They explore possibilities and embrace ambiguity.
Cultivate
Martial perception is no different to
driving a car.
It must be actively cultivated, trained and put into practice.
Musashi said that martial arts is 'The Science of the Advantage'.
Physicality
Once martial perception begins to develop, the student takes a keen
interest in human biomechanics,
positioning,
alignment, structure, timing
and momentum.
They begin to see other people differently.
Physical imbalances seem glaringly obvious, prevailing
emotional habits are
easy to observe.
The entire realm of physical usage becomes
fascinating.
Tai chi chuan syllabus
Students in our school are introduced to some basic martial
concepts quite early on in their training.
These are simple concerns designed to encourage a more 'martial'
way of thinking:
Playing the attacker
Fear of falling
Floor work (intro)
Countering (intro)
Loose striking
Hitting a focus mitt
Ball game
Each of these considerations will enable the student to start changing their perception. When coupled with required reading, the student has the opportunity to become a martial artist.
One of my friends studied judo for years and years. She was waiting for a
chance to use it, but for a long time nobody tried to attack her. Then one
day somebody grabbed her in a parking lot - and she slugged him with her
purse!
And then she thought, "Oh! What happened to my judo?"
She must have been practicing judo as if it were an isolated thing. We
should always practice to let the immediacy of the moment come through. Then
you always have a sense of what you are doing now.
(Chungliang Al Huang)
Concepts?
A concept is an idea, an
insight, a framework
for understanding.
Tai chi is not like judo or
karate - you cannot simply transfer an
external martial arts
attitude and expect tai chi
to work.
The student needs to learn a
fundamentally different way of viewing
combat, and the use of the
human body.
A direction
Concepts provide focus; a direction,
a purpose.
Without a deeper grasp of what is taking place,
the student will flounder indefinitely. This is a why a highly detailed
syllabus is essential.
Dig deeper
The further a student progresses, the more
complex and subtle the insights involved.
It is necessary to employ fascinating approaches that deviate
considerably from how mainstream
martial arts regard the experience of combat.
The student must read, understand and apply the books of
Taoism,
martial principles and The Tai Chi Classics.
Understanding
tai chi
The importance of developing martial thoughts cannot be overstated.
How can a student possibly hope to discuss or
engage in realistic combat with an
instructor when they do not even think like a
martial artist?
Page created
21 May 2006
Last updated
10 November 2023
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