Many things in life require us to have an intent in mind.
This is a natural requirement since we cannot always simply drift.
One of the dangers of having a target or a result is that we may become fixated on the end.
If we fail to pay adequate attention to the means, this can cause problems.
How we do something, the way in which it is accomplished is really what tai chi is concerned with.
In tai chi you must always remain within your natural range of movement.
Any stretching is done subtly and never forced; the body is allowed to open by itself, rather than be forced.
By encouraging the joints to be free, mobility increases radically and the body can move more comfortably.
Tai chi should never strain or hurt the body.
Some movements may feel uncomfortable if you have bad postural habits and this is to be expected - your body is already used to set patterns of movement and poise - and the tai chi is gently changing these.
Tai chi works in a way that is completely opposite from many forms of dance, specifically ballet. It seems that more and more people interested in dance and movement are turning to Eastern forms of movement as they search for a richer and more supple expression.
In tai chi the body is placed in a position where the six outward rotators are eccentricity contracting with the abdominals and gluteals relaxed. This eccentric contraction of the the six outward rotators counteracts the short resting length of the iliopsoas as well as gravity. Being in the tai chi posture utilizes gravity to one's advantage. The main difference then is in the use of the abdominals and the gluteals, and that in tai chi the force of gravity is utilized to stretch the iliopsoas and flexors, while in ballet gravity is not used.
It is possible to use gravity to stretch the flexors and iliopsoas in ballet but this is not understood in the teaching of this art.
(Liz Koch)
Many people don't look after their feet. They have poor sense of balance, dry skin, cracked heels, limited flexibility and exceedingly poor sensitivity.
Invest in your feet. You use them all day long. Slough off the dry skin, massage them, apply cream to keep the skin soft and pliable.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)
When you walk quickly, you do not really notice the walk. Our style of tai chi is process-oriented - so the how, the way is most important - we need to be aware of our walking habits.
If you stroll, amble, wander... you cease to put stress upon your body.If your noises advertise your movements, they are way too loud. Noisy footwork and clumsy habits reflect your lack of sensitivity. Slow down. Stop rushing. Let your scattered mind settle.
Feet are exceptionally sensitive. Your body must interpret a vast quantity of data and respond very rapidly.
Inactivity and neglect can reduce the sensitivity of the feet, as can certain types of shoe that are harmful.When your mind is calm and still, you will absorb information without forcing.
You will see rather than look, hear rather than listen.People like to be treated with fairness and respect.
Some want more than this:
They want to feel special, important, above other people.
Their insecurity leads them to abuse: they take more than they need, they demand recognition, prestige.
This behaviour has consequences; it affects everything else, it creates an imbalance that spans the world.
When people only look after their own wellbeing and think nothing of others or the future, they make life difficult for others.
Impatient people push for results.
Yet, who are they really pushing, who is suffering the pressure of their impatience?
They are.
Pushing is a form of exertion.
Once you realise that conscious thought can affect tension, you can begin to let-go of it and relax.
Feel where your body is holding, and soften the muscles by thinking them longer, looser and heavier.
If you are sweating, you are exerting.
Why?
This is tai chi, and tai chi does not involve exertion of any kind.
Tao Te Ching (chapter 55) counsels you to be like a child that can cry all day without getting hoarse.
It also speaks against aggression.
Aggression is a tool of 'pushing', of forcing - and force is not the way of tai chi.
If you find yourself prowling the web looking for some way to assuage your boredom and vent your wrath, you may have some problems.
Rather than pour your heart out via TikTok, why not talk to a real person?One of the problems with the internet is that it encourages all manner of unpleasantness.
Blogs and chatrooms allow malignant people to insult strangers anonymously.Make the time to do nothing at all.
Have a 'do nothing day' in which you ignore:
the phone
chores
responsibilities
commitments
Shedding unnecessary belongings, commitments and habits can free up your life. Instead of doing 15 things, you do 3.
As with all things in life, your success in this endeavour is entirely relative to how earnest you are.Tai chi chuan is a Chinese martial art. It was developed hundreds of years ago and draws upon Taoist observations, Chinese traditional medicine, biomechanics, physics and combat. 13 patterns of movement are used to express power.
To train the art correctly you need a highly-skilled Instructor who can offer a very comprehensive syllabus.Locked knees or overly-straightened legs prevent the knee from acting as suspension for the body.
Relax the knees but do not bend unless squatting down to lift something.Most people have very tight hamstrings.
Unfortunately, the back compensates for tight hamstring muscles (by slouching); giving the illusion of greater flexibility than is actually present.Most men and women sit too much. This can lead to under-developed gluteus maximus muscles; which is bad for the back in particular. Weakness in these large muscles can affect the whole body.
Buttock muscles are supposed to be akin to a vertical oval for each buttock. There should be notable muscular development; the outcome of healthy everyday squatting.A lot of people experience pain in their shoulders and reduced movement.
If you ignore the shoulders entirely and focus instead on their legs you will inevitably discover that their legs are tense.The main problem with sitting is gravity, loss of circulation and the tightening/shortening of your muscles.
Muscular tension stops your joints and vertebra from moving freely. When the hips, groin and sacroiliac freeze-up, the overall skeletal mobility is reduced.Monkeys, horses and other mammals have arms and legs of the same length. Humans are different. We are bipeds. Our legs are much longer and stronger than our arms.
A lot of people sit at a desk, operate their mobile phone, drive the car or watch TV in what is essentially a standing/sitting version of the foetal position.
Appeasing the symptoms will produce no lasting benefits. It is akin to taking a pill in order to mask/hide the symptoms whilst the underlying pain remains.
Fixing the problem usually entails some sort of lifestyle change.For optimal body use we need the pelvis to naturally sit beneath the abdomen.
The physical centre of the body contains a lot of water, our intestines etc and needs to be pretty stable.The pelvis is pretty large. If you turn it to the right or to the left, the entire upper body is affected. Turn it too far and the knees bear the brunt of the turn.
If you tilt it forwards or backwards, the entire balance of the body changes. Pretty soon you are leaning.People talk a lot about core strength but not much about core stability. The two concerns are not the same.
Core strength is about the muscles of the lower body (crotch, groin, hips, buttocks, lower back, legs and abdominals) whereas core stability is about keeping the pelvis favourably aligned.
The body must be exercised carefully, with a clear emphasis upon safety and relaxation. Dr Paul Lam (an expert in using tai chi for arthritis) emphasises the importance of:
1. Higher stancesIn order to increase mobility the emphasis needs to be upon working the body both in class and at home between lessons. Adopt a multi-faceted approach:
• Strengthen your muscles
• Align your skeleton better
• Sit less
• Stand less
• Stretch more
• Improve balance
• Gain coordination
• Increase bodily awareness
• Be mindful of how you use your body
It is absurd to think you are going to get anywhere by giving only an hour a week to your practice or that you can regularly skip classes. Martial arts is not like a bridge club, where you drop in when you have nothing better to do. Martial arts will always make greater demands on your time than would most hobbies or avocations.
(Dave Lowry)
The Chen form derived from battlefield military movements, where people wore medieval body armour that had to be compensated for. The Chen-style stances were specifically designed to achieve these compensations and obtain a workable position from which to realistically throw an armoured opponent.
By the time Yang had reached Beijing, times had changed. With the advent of firearms, battlefield armour became obsolete; hence, the need for techniques to deal with armoured foes had passed.
Yang and his students had to deal with situations encountered by bodyguards, not armies opposing each other.
(Bruce Frantzis)
There is a point where something is weak, then it becomes strong, only to become weak again. Like a 'bell curve'... The human lifespan is like this: a baby, to adulthood, to decrepitude and death.
Seek to do only what is necessary to find that optimal point of strength. Sometimes it requires just an inch of movement.It is so tempting to stretch, to extend, to reach. To force, to push.
Don't do this. Just do what you need to do to accomplish the result and nothing more.Tai chi advocates moderation in all things. e.g. over-training is as bad as under-training. If you do not train enough, there will be very little fitness benefit and no martial development.
If you train too much, the body will become tired and there is an increased risk of injury.Over-use and wrong use of the hands can cause immobility and arthritis. Main culprits:
• Computer mouse
• Mobile phone
• Tapping a touch screen
• Unnecessary application of force
• Gripping too hard
• Knitting
• Sewing
• Repetitive activity
• Using a keyboard
• Playing video games
The main culprit for loss of mobility in most adults is sitting on their backsides too much. Sitting causes:
• Strained neck
• Sore shoulders
• Stiffness
• Upper back pain
• Lower back pain
• Loss of circulation
• Joint compression
• Swollen legs
• Heart disease
The solution is easy. Switch off the PC, the TV and walk whenever possible rather than drive.
As people get older they lose the ability to move freely and easily. This reduces our quality of life. Tai chi was designed to off-set the stiffness commonly associated with aging.
Our aim is to regain the degree of mobility we started life with.
You started life with a natural condition of suppleness and flexibility. A baby does not have sore knees, a bad back or arthritis.
The limbs can move comfortably within their natural range of motion. There is no stiffness in the muscles.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)
People are biologically inclined to be lazy, to stay put, to refrain from change. Breaking the status quo requires a deliberate, conscious effort. We like to stay in our comfort zone.
Tai chi re-trains the body to move like it is supposed to move. Like an animal would. No tension, no impediments. Free, spontaneous, comfortable movement.
Sure, not all tai chi classes do this. Everyone has their own agenda. But trained correctly, tai chi was designed to restore the body to its natural, healthy state.According to the book The Blue Zones it is important to think of exercise in terms of what you can reasonably do long-term.
The ideal form of exercise is moderate enough that you can do it for the rest of your life. It needs to be joint-friendly, provide a gentle workout and be sustainable.Stiffness and inflexibility are indisputable signs of being old. Work on this. Once your muscles are tense and your body is stiff you cannot remedy this situation overnight.
Hitting the gym or buying an expensive drop handle bicycle will not get rid of stiffness. You need to do something else. Rather that force and hammer your muscles, they need to be softened and relaxed. Patience is needed.If you're fat, don't try and run it off. See a dietician and/or follow a measured, gradual diet carefully and consistently. If you are out of shape, start with something that isn't going to hurt your body.
Tai chi for health is perfect for this. It is low-impact, easy to do at home between lessons and will not damage you.Let's be honest here. If you are an adult and unfit - regardless of your age - this is your responsibility. Don't blame somebody else. Nor your job or your family. It's all you. You did this. You made a choice.
Now you get to make a new choice. You get to take responsibility for improving your health, fitness and decreasing your physical age.If you want your physical age to be impressive, put away your ego and commit to making a more tangible effort. Start by being sensible.
Don't just leap into some naive endeavour ill suited to your current physical condition.Think about the qualities associated with youth: nimble, balanced, agile, light, mobile, coordinated, squatting easily, flexible, supple, fit, dynamic, spontaneous, changeable, strong, virile, stamina, dextrous, good poise, free, no pain...
These cannot be faked with hair dye and a risqué outfit. Nor will a fancy car, nice clothing or expensive technology hide a decrepit body.Quite often people respond to aging with vain attempts to disguise their age. Who are they fooling?
Plastic surgery, blonding your hair or dressing like a teenager are superficial, facile efforts to appear to be young. They require no effort and offer only a desultory, aesthetic change.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.
(Lao Tzu)
Their steps are often very heavy and their legs are locked and immobile. There is a sense of clumsiness.
People 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.This is an interesting question. There should be 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.
.JPG)