Tai Chi Notes #2

“What is the difference between a good student and a bad one?” asked a new student.  

Master Li said, “The bad ones makes distinctions about the other students.”

Instead, focus on the opening of the Kua, relaxing into a sitting posture, loosening the hips, and reaching the top of the head upward.  The Kua helps to determine the positioning of the knees. 

 

Rooting oneself means to have a solid foundation, where the feet are planted but relaxed.

I've found relaxation of the feet to be one of the more important lessons.  For a long time I was experiencing tension in the feet, and it was because I was not properly rooted.  My shoelaces were on too tight, there was a tenseness in the phlanges because I wasn't allowing the feet to open naturally.

The Classics refer a meridian point on the bottom of the foot where the weight should be centered over as the "Bubbling Well" (Yong quan).  This area is found in the "depression in the heart of the sole" as per the Golden Mirror text (Yuzhuan yizong jinjian).

Loosening and relaxing the feet can allow one to become more properly rooted, so that the muscles are not exerted into overcompensating for being off balance.  Like a tree we want to be rooted but also flexible; we are open to receive an opponent the same way a tree sways with the breeze.  Because we are rooted our potential mass increases, requiring the opponent to use more force.

A Zhan Zhuang exercise involves, after the point of working with chi in the lower dantien, inhaling from the Yong quan to the lower dantien, and exhaling from the lower dantien back to the Yong quan, which helps to develop a strong sense of connection with the ground.

"Before you can develop your root, you must first relax and let your body "settle."  As you relax, the tension in the various parts of your body will dissolve ... If you let dirty water sit quietly, the impurities will gradually settle to the bottom, leaving the water above it clear.  In the same way, if you relax your body enough to let it settle, your qi will sink to your dan tian and the bubbling wells in your feet and your mind will become clear.  Then you can begin to develop your root ... When your weight is placed into the bubbling well, you will have a natural and comfortable feeling in your abdomen." 

- Yang Jun 

Cooresponding with coordinating the upper and lower parts of the body, keeping the joints in alignment means keeping natural positions versus unnatural positions (e.g., twisting).  A common example is when the toe is not facing the same direction that the knee is pointed in.  In Tai Chi we utilize the range of motion which our joints allow for, without adding undue stress or exceeding those limits. 

"I remember my Tai-Chi Chuan teacher Yang Cheng-Fu who did not like to talk much.  He used to sit all day without saying a word if no one asked him questions.  However, in our T'ai-chi class he would tell us to "relax" repeatedly.  Sometimes it seemed like he would say the word hundreds of times during the practice so that the word could fill up my ears.  Strangely enough he also said that if he did not tell me of this word that I would not be able to learn T'ai-chi in three life-times (meaning never).  I doubted his words then.  Now that I think back, I truly believe that if he did not keep reminding me of the word "relax," I doubt if I could have learned T'ai-chi Chuan in six life-times.

What is the meaning of "relax" in T'ai-chi?  Here is an example to help you understand the word.  When we go visit a Buddhist temple we usually see a statue of Me-Lo Buddha.  The one who has a big rounded stomach with a big smile on his face.  He carries a large bag on his shoulder.  On top of this statue we see a motto:  "Sit with a bag.  Walk with a bag.  It would be such a relief to drop the bag."  

T'ai-chi Chuan is difficult to learn. To relax in practicing T'ai-chi Chuan is the most difficult phase to go through. To relax a person's mind is the most significant obstacle to overcome in practicing T'ai-Chi.  It takes a great effort to train and exercise one's mind to relax." 

- Cheng Man Ching

As the ability to relax becomes developed over time, the joints become more loose and flexible.  The body becomes less rigid and tense and more able to respond to internal momentum and external forces (i.e. Jie Jen or 'receiving energy' from an opponent).  The more relaxed one is, the more the energy flows.

When sinking energy, we allow softness to happen by letting tension go within the muscles, tendons, and nerves.

It is said in the Classics, "where the Chi goes, the blood follows."

A quote from the Inner Chapters of the Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) says, “The wise man breathes from his heels,” in regards to developing awareness of feeling the sensation of breathing throughout the entire body, guiding the breath from the lower dantien to the upper body and down to the finger tips and feet.

In addition to suspending the head from the crown, this awareness makes the body light and nimble.

Buckminster Fuller once said, "Don't oppose forces, use them." 

"If my opponent desires to attack me the attack will have a definite direction.  The answer goes along with that direction." 

- Cheng Man Ching

 

When accepting an opponent's receiving energy (Jie Jen), we neutralize it by sticking (adhering) and guiding or leading the opponent's movement away.  This might also be applied within the context of solo practice. 

The Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) advises to "keep to the center," which encapsulates the process of finding equilibrium (Zhong ding), exemplified in the Classics (Yang Chengfu) as 'mutual interchange,' or the exchange between the Insubstantial (emptiness, yin) and the Substantial (solidness, yang).  In learning to feel the sensation of weight shifting between the two sides of the body, Cheng Man Ching recommends standing on one leg and then alternating (one can also practice Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg from side to side to explore this principle).  Master Yuan Gang Yiu advises this practice can also be used for stilling the Heart-Mind (Xin).