Understanding softness | ||
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Hard and soft martial arts
The external martial arts are
sometimes referred to as the hard-style
arts whilst the internal martial arts are soft.
This distinction is accurate but can lead to
misconceptions.
Novices often associate the word 'hard'
with strong and 'soft' with
weak.
Hard style
The external arts use the
human body in a
habitual fashion that is common for both martial and non-martial people
alike. Muscles are tensed, joints are
locked, balance is ignored.
Aggression and force are favoured.
From a martial arts standpoint, this method is quite good.
It capitalises upon existing habits of body
use.
It favours the strong, the
fast, the fit and the
young.
How
The internal martial arts
appear to offer similar
skills to the external
arts.
There are applications which look quite like the
techniques seen in other arts e.g. judo, aikido or ju jutsu.
What is fundamentally different is the
emphasis.
In tai chi our concern is with the
way in which the movements are
performed and applied.
Not internal...
A kung fu (Chinese boxing) student may apply a chin
na application in an accurate seeming manner.
However, they might have achieved the outcome by
using local muscle tension, force and disconnected arm
movement.
This is not tai chi.
A
feather cannot be placed, and a fly cannot alight on any part of the body.
(Wang
Tsung-yueh)
What is
softness?
Softness refers to the play in the joints and the
spine.
This is only possible when the muscles relax and the joints cease to lock.
The limbs are connected to the torso in a
manner that enables the legs to power
the whole body.
Sensitivity, softness and yielding allow the exponent to skilfully use 4
ounces of pressure at all times.
There is no blocking, banging, bracing, tensing,
being awkward or fighting back.
Why softness is important
By being soft, the tai chi student avoids
fatigue.
They reduce wear and
tear on the body. This is good for your
long term fitness.
Force is unnecessary.
There is no need to become upset or
aggressive.
Your mind
It is necessary to have a receptive,
open, pliable, flexible
mind in tai chi. Stubbornness, resistance,
fixity and obstinacy are not valued.
There must be change,
adaptation, spontaneity and
freshness.
Only with a supple mind can a tai chi student
hope to practice this art.
Abilities
In tai chi, you are not learning
skills or
techniques akin to the external arts.
You are acquiring abilities: 4 ounces
of pressure, balance, centre,
jing, listening,
peng, sensitivity,
yielding, stickiness,
wu wei... etc
These abilities can be applied in all situations - martial and
otherwise.
They are explored in class with a partner, but honed with daily home
practice and
usage.
Natural unnaturalness
Only a student who trains daily at
home can hope to cultivate softness; for one lesson a week in class is
nowhere near enough training for this ability to
emerge.
Being able to relax and be soft
deliberately and
consciously is good.
But this will not aid you in combat.
Softness needs to be second nature -
present and expressed - irrespective of
your state of mind.
Beginner
A beginner is typically external in all
respects.
They use their body in a clumsy,
forceful manner.
Qigong,
form practice and simple
partnered exercises encourage the individual
to soften and release.
The student adds
yielding basic skills and
pushing hands to their repertoire.
These powerful drills train the body to avoid being tense.
Some people approach such drills
with a competitive, external attitude and make
little progress.
Sensitivity exercises
The exercises serve to identify and work
on your own weaknesses, not those of
somebody else. There is no one to compete against and nothing to
win except freedom from
tension.
Not tai chi
To move beyond the lower grades the student must
prove themselves adept with softness. Bracing, blocking, force
and tension clearly indicate that the student is not ready for more
material.
At present, their training is not tai chi.
They have yet to embrace the exercises
Sifu Waller has taught them. They are
not ready to move up a grade.
People at birth
are soft and supple:
At death,
they are hard and stiff.
When plants are alive,
they are green and bending;
When they are dead,
they are dry and brittle.
Soft and bending is the way of the living;
Hard and brittle is the way of the dying.
Therefore,
a great strength
that is inflexible,
Will break in the wind
like an old dead tree.
So the arrogant and the unyielding
will fall;
And the humble and the yielding
will overcome
(Lao Tzu)
Skill
with softness
Once the student has become soft, they are
doing tai chi.
And they are capable of learning
more.
Without this necessary softness, new material would simply
mean even more drills and exercises being
performed externally. What would be the point of that?
Worth reading
•
Confusing internal & external training methods
•
External to internal
•
Using the mind instead of force
Page
created 21 May 1997
Last updated
16 June 2023
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