Talking

Tai chi teachers talk. At least my North American English-speaking tai chi teachers talk. And I am glad of it. Tai chi is mind-body-spirit work. For me, this means engage my mind – explain to me what you experience internally, that I may also notice this experience in myself. Encourage me to name and describe my experiences that I may learn, integrate, and affect the world around me. Yes, absolutely -  move in the form that I may see you and imitate you. Push hands with me, that I may feel the effect of your energy interacting with and affecting my own – and as my teacher, tell me what to look for, how to recognize and know the components of what seems at first both magical and mysterious.  

I am fortunate to have found a teacher early in my martial arts training who taught me the value of moving. There is much wisdom to be found in one’s own body and one’s own experience and it is only through the actual practice of the art that we gain the great benefits of the art – health, self-defense, and enlightenment.   That’s why, unless my teacher has asked me not to, I will often move while she is talking.  I move in ways that are consistent with the lesson, trying to incorporate or feel what is being discussed.

And, sometimes talking can be a distraction from accessing the wisdom that comes from the practice of the art. In the same way that we can forget that the teacher is pointing to the moon and is not the moon itself, talking about the art and thinking about the benefits do not actually gather the benefits. It is only to one who practices over time that the benefits accrue.But without a teacher capable of and willing to share the teachings, to point to the moon, if you will – one’s practice is that much harder. It is like taking a journey without a guide – you might find your way there ultimately, or you might get lost and never arrive – but if you have a guide who has been there before, you have a greater chance of arriving. You, of course,  still have to walk.

“To enter into study one must have the oral teachings; to labor without rest is the method of cultivating oneself”  (from the Song of the Thirteen Postures, The Taijiquan Classics, trans by Barbara Davis)

Notice it says  “oral “  - not visual, not written, not kineaesthetic,  - it says oral!   Notice the words your teachers use, question them, clarify them, seek to understand them, take them with you into your practice and add to them as you learn and discover. 

Enjoy your words

Dorian

Gong Fu

My tai chi teacher Jan Parker is coming to town this weekend to teach a two-day seminar Saturday and Sunday (see the Weekend Seminars page for more details). Two full days of tai chi – form, push hands, moving step – lots of learning and laughter for sure!

For those who are accustomed to a 90-minute class once a week – two full days straight out can seem like an awful lot of tai chi. And it is. As is four days, or even practicing 20, 30 or 60 minutes every day (or morning and evening as the classics suggest). So why do it?

We all know that practice makes easier – and devoting a bit of time to something results in improved performance. It’s called “gong fu” which means, simply “effort over time” And I have noticed, for me, that studying over longer periods of time – 2 or 3 or 4 full days at a time not only improves my practice, but deepens it as well. It usually takes about an hour just to get into an exercise or drill, to start feeling good in it,  and then after that I can begin to explore how it really works.

I have also noticed how my partners, classmates, and I will settle into the work after a couple of hours or by the second or third day.  We all notice the improvement in each other over the short span of days that we practice together. Giving myself the experience of being so deeply immersed in the work, away from the trials and tribulations of other aspects of life, allows me to more easily drop into that settled calm space more frequently.  I guess it really is work as meditation.

We have to honor all our passions, giving time to develop and grow in balanced ways, and we must be mindful of our health and well-being and our need for rest and food and, devoting time to livelihoods and family.  But in the hurry-scurry of our lives, if we are always only giving one hour here, two hours there – are we not perhaps missing the quality that comes from dedicating some genuine effort over time?  Every now and again it is essential that we give an extended period of time to concentrate on some work or play that we love.

Enjoy your gong fu

Dorian

Circle Study

Once a month or so, I travel to study with a circle of tai chi players. We are all working on the same Yang Style Curriculum; most of us with the same teacher, some in weekly classes, some in private lessons, some in seminars when we can. What we all have in common is an interest – perhaps for some, a passion – for the material, and a willingness to meet with each other on common ground. It’s this meeting each other that I find so fruitful.

We have different amounts and kinds of experience. We have different skills. And it’s easy to focus on our differences sometimes – to get caught up in who we like to work with and who we’d prefer to avoid.  Somehow in class or in seminar, these differences can be solidified. Perhaps it is the classroom focus on the teacher and the self-definition that comes from the comparison, and situating myself relative to my classmates.  The circle study seems to set up another way.

In the circle, we are all equal– equal in our ability to be as honest, to be as present, to stand as fully inside ourselves and connected to one another as we can be. The teacher is there and teaching, but in the circle what’s important is the connection. Whatever differences exist, the growth of my skill emerges in the connection. And this to me seems to be the heart of learning partner work in tai chi.  

I guess that’s why it is called a circle.  And in truth, I guess I am learning that in all my classes, seminars and lessons, I am part of a circle.

Enjoy your circles

Dorian