Saturday

Tai chi as a creative process

Whoever invented, developed or adapted tai chi did so in order to accomplish certain requirements.
Perhaps they sought to counter specific weapons or allow for group attacks?
Maybe certain movements simply felt better if performed differently?
We will never know.
As a student, the challenge of tai chi does not lie in the past but in the immediate.
We gain an understanding of the tai chi through the doing of it, through the creative application of the forms and drills.
How we perform the tai chi and what we do with it must be relevant to our time and our culture.
We do not live in medieval China.
People will most likely not attack you with spears, swords and metal fans.

What we do with the tai chi must be pertinent to now.
It is essential to breathe life into our practice and discover what lies at the root of tai chi. 

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