Whole-body? | ||
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Goals
Tai chi aims to cultivate:
In
practice, very few exponents every achieve this. How come?
Adulthood
By the time people reach adulthood there are often a number of
bad
physical habits present. Slouching, stooping,
leaning, hunched shoulders, inflexible
legs, tight elbows. Many
adults cannot even squat.
These actively impede natural,
free movement. Essentially many of the
joints are incapable of accomplishing a
healthy range of movement.
This is further restricted by residual muscle tension
throughout the body.
In motion the whole body should be light and agile,
with all parts of the body linked as if threaded together.
(Chang San-feng,
Wudang Mountain)
The older you get, the worse it is
Older adults often step very heavily. Their
legs are
locked and
immobile.
There is a sense of
clumsiness.
They frequently walk in an
agitated manner;
over-striding and erratic.
The lower back is inflexible and the sacroiliac
does not move correctly.
The back is stooped, the neck stiff and the hands are tight.
Stubborn?
In addition to the physical problems, older people
tend to be quite stubborn and fixed in their
ways. They have found a rut and intend to stay
there.
Charles Darwin said that it is not the
fittest or the
strongest who survive, but
the ones most able to adapt, change and improvise.
To do this you need a very flexible mind.
Being stubborn is the opposite of this; leading
to fixity of both body and mind. Stubbornness is the act of resisting
change. Yet, everything in life changes. Change
cannot be avoided.
Contrast with youth
A youthful body has a sense of ease.
No struggling, grunting or groaning, no pain in the
back or the
knees. The body responds instantly to the dictates of the mind.
A young person is spontaneous and free.
All things being equal?
If the goal of tai chi is to train the body to accomplish whole-body
strength, whole-body
movement and whole-body
power, there is an obvious
problem facing the average adult.
Can the student's whole body even move
properly? The answer of
course is NO.
Face facts
Every tai chi beginner - whether they
are interested in tai chi for health/fitness
or tai chi - must address the fact
that their body is simply incapable of whole-body movement.
Many people try to ignore this and let their ego
run wild. They imagine that they can perform
complex martial arts skills when by contrast the stark reality is
somewhat humbling.
Remedial training
The solution to limited physical ability is to
undertake remedial training designed to increase your range of movement and
reduce unwanted muscular tension.
It requires both patience and dedication.
Body usage
Tai chi uses the body in a manner that conserves the use of energy.
This is accomplished in a number of ways:
No excess muscle tension is used
The movements are functional and economical
Good postural muscles support the weight of the skeleton
The larger muscles of the torso and legs do most of the work
Whole-body movement is employed rather than local limb strength
Beginners are encouraged to use less and less muscular strength; reducing
tension further.
This also calms the mind and relieves stress. But
only if you practice...
90 minutes a day
Dr Michael Greger (author of How Not To
Die) recommends 90 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise
every day.
How many people read Dr Greger's expert advice and immediately dismiss
it?
Quality of life
It is wise to consider the origin of Dr Greger's advice. He's not saying
it to be bossy or unreasonable. His insight is the outcome of many years of
professional research, exploration and study.
His suggestion echoes what three doctors wrote in The
Okinawa Program after an exhaustive 25 years of study and
practical research. The Okinawa study was
investigating longevity.
Your opinion?
Now ask yourself a single important question: given that four doctors are
giving professional advice backed up by many years of
experience,
can
you simply dismiss it? And on what grounds?
Have you any credible, professional, provable basis to debunk these doctors?
The problem with following your own opinions/views is that these
opinions are precisely what led to your physical deterioration in the first
place. True?
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)
Learned helplessness
When faced with the challenge of a major physical overhaul, most people
assuage themselves with a pleasant fantasy/idea of being fit. They don't
actually do anything.
Supporting this myth is a whole range of viable seeming excuses: no
time, no money, too tired... OK. It's your life and these are your
choices. Just don't pretend that you're a
victim here?
I don't have time to practice...
Marcus Aurelius (2000+ years ago)
said that "not having time" was one of the most pathetic
excuses a person can give.
It was considered lame back when the Roman Empire was at its peak.
We all have the same amount of time.
What we do with it... this is the issue.
Limited
A tai chi teacher will tutor each individual student to the best of that
student's ability. Factors such as physical
condition, flexibility,
listening skills,
commitment and
attention span are relevant.
People are frequently over-confident or
in denial. The teacher does what they can with what they have to work
with.
Stagnation
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.
Remaining a beginner forever is pointless.
No matter how much you learn it is still being
performed at the first level of skill. Years
of practice don't mean anything if you're still a beginner.
There's been no progress.
Your beginner's misconceptions
remain.
At best, your practice is merely crude and inept.
At worst, it is potentially injurous.
Rehabilitation
These training methods are systematically taught
as the student works through our curriculum:
Standing qigong (various)
Moving qigong (4 sets)
Form (5)
Solo drills (various)
Partnered drills (various)
Weapons drills (various)
Balls & grips
Leg stretches (2 sets)
Psoas exercises (4)
Neigong (50)
They offer the student the opportunity to potentially
undo a lifetime of bad habits. But the teacher
cannot perform miracles and the
student must do
all the work...
Conviction
Our tai chi syllabus offers all the tools
necessary to rehabilitate a student's body to the greatest extent that they
can accomplish.
How far you get will depend upon what you started with and how
earnest you are about improving.
Hopes and dreams are nice but they won't lead to any
physical improvement at all.
Instead of creating a fantasy wishlist of ambitions, why not invest
in your body and take concrete, tangible action? You need to
exercise.
Workshops
Sifu Waller offers workshops every month. Some
of them are specifically designed to encourage whole-body strength, movement
and power.
Many of these workshops target physical areas of weakness and neglect e.g.
Qigong in
Detail,
Biomechanics and Joint Health.
Every beginner would benefit significantly
from attending these workshops and then
applying the insights to their home
practice.
Enhanced practice
When a student practices daily at home
and shows an increased degree of flexibility, the teacher is able to show
them more refined body skills. These provide a
stronger, deeper workout.
Instead of crudely moving one or two joints, an entire series of joints and
muscles are involved. This takes the student notably closer to whole-body
concerns.
Freedom to move
Once the student has finally prepared their body for whole-body training,
they can begin earnest work on neigong.
Page created
18 April 2005
Last updated
16 June 2023
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