Studying T'ai Chi in a sequence of images {3}

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My instructor had several old T'ai Chi books in Chinese, full of descriptive calligraphy and illustrations or photographs of movements.  He knew only a smattering of Chinese, but he'd pour over the images.  It was his way of learning how the old masters did T'ai Chi, which in turn he'd teach us.

Studying T'ai Chi in a sequence of images {2}

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In lieu of an in-person class, you might study T'ai Chi by looking at a sequence of images, plus watching a video, in order to see how the movements flow.

Studying T'ai Chi in a sequence of images {1}

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It may not be easy at all to study T'ai Chi from a sequence of images.  Certainly it's commonplace to recommend that you attend a class and follow the teaching, that is, in person.  Nevertheless, studying images can stretch your learning "muscles," and ultimately strengthen and sharpen your T'ai Chi.

Chen Shiyu (2) Wudang T'ai Chi 28

Deeply concentrated and centered is Master Chen Shiyu amid flute and strings, as he performs Wudang T'ai Chi 28.
 

Chen Shiyu (1) Wudang T'ai Chi 13

Amid rising steam, lush broad leaves, and singing birds, Master Chen Shiyu performs Wudang T'ai Chi 13.
 

Chen Shiyu (2) Wudang T'ai Chi Sword

On a grassy clearing, amid fog and shadow gray hills, Master Chen Shiyu performs Wudang T'ai Chi Sword.
 

Chen Shiyu: Wudang Qi Gong (Turtle Form)

Amid lush hillsides and foliage, Master Chen Shiyu performs Wudang Qigong (Turtle Form).
 

How T'ai Chi Builds Awareness (3) Empty Mind

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T'ai Chi builds our awareness, not only of ourselves (i.e. body, mind and spirit) but also of our surroundings (immediate environment and broader universe).  It does so by fostering an open mind, which Westerners may call mindfulness but which practitioners call empty mind.  It is a mind that neither allows nor disallows thoughts, but simply remains still, centered and nonjudgmental.  It is a mind, in other words, that is open to everything but doesn't attach itself to anything in particular.  T'ai Chi as empty mind helps us sense things in ourselves, in people, and in our surroundings which may be out of view or earshot. 
 

How T'ai Chi Builds Awareness (2) Open Noticing

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While we T'ai Chi practitioners may have the look of (tunnel-visioned) focus and concentration, our mind must keep divergent at the same time.  That is, we cast our attention widely and openly, so we can notice things that sit at our periphery.  We can then shift our focus and concentration accordingly, if those things we notice are salient and compelling (e.g. an emerging threat or attack).
 

How T'ai Chi Builds Awareness (1) Calm Focus

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To learn T'ai Chi well, we have to focus.  Your instructor may take an holistic approach (i.e. demonstrate the movement in its entirety) and-or a piecemeal approach (i.e. breakdowns or segments of movement).  Regardless, we as students must concentrate on what he or she does, and follow suit, even though it may feel rather self conscious or awkward in the initial stages.  So part of building awareness is converging attention onto particular postures and movements.  In T'ai Chi, we pay attention in calm, purposeful ways.
 

T'ai Chi is Meditation in Motion

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I learned early on that T'ai Chi was like meditation in motion.  I took this to mean that whatever state we gained from sitting meditation, we worked at sustaining throughout the practice.  For me, this notion was the foundation of bringing T'ai Chi in our everyday life, that is, that calm, that centering, and that mindfulness. 

T'ai Chi Meditation: Mind and Body

Meditation Lesson 1: Be involved, be productive, be connected. But step back, too. Meditate, and simply observe.

Meditation Lesson 2: How well does your mind focus in meditation, and how do you bring it back when it wanders? 

Two-Person Practice in T'ai Chi

Two-person practice in T'ai Chi may be like sparring in other martial arts.  The important thing to keep in mind is that you're working together to challenge and strengthen each other.  You follow T'ai Chi principles, as you would with other postures or movements. 

When I get distracted

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I have an active mind.  I love to think.  Often my insights come at the most unexpected moments, in the most unlikely places.  Coming out of a nap in bed, for example. 

So when I do sitting meditation, or when I practice T'ai Chi, my mind is probably nothing like what experts or masters instruct us to do.  I have thoughts galore in my head. 

Over the years, however, I've learned not to follow everything that experts and masters say.  So if I am particularly full of thoughts, and rather distracted, going into meditation or T'ai Chi, I simply let myself be and leave all of that alone. 

I do my best everything to follow T'ai Chi principles.  Which means that when I meditate, I keep myself quiet and still.  My mind might be a pond with flowing or swirling waters, but by keeping quiet and still I gradually settle the pond and clear its waters. 

I relax, and root, and center, when I practice the form, and that settles my mind enough to have a truly fine workout. 

On the whole, I don't criticize or judge myself for having a distracted mind.  That is simply part-and-parcel of my nature.  To me, following the Tao is to acknowledge and respect, and work with, not against, my nature.

Peace à la Buddhism, by Kadam Morten

Kadam Morten Clausen is a Buddhist teacher in the New Kadampa tradition, a modern, worldwide tradition founded by Buddhist master Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. He is the Resident Teacher at the Kadampa Meditation Center NYC as well as the Vajra Light Buddhist Center in Hartsdale, NY. 

Transcript -- The whole sort of atheist critique of religion doesn't really address Buddhism insofar as Buddhism is established really as a science of the mind. It's based on observation of the mind. And everything that Buddha taught can be empirically verified through your own experience. In other words, you can test it. Actually, I think it's a very interesting science because you're the scientist. You're not just reading about what other scientists have done and, you know, confirmed and so forth like that, but you, yourself, are the experimenter. You experiment with your own mind. 

What Buddha basically said is that we can understand through our own experience that happiness comes from inner peace. And we can explore that in our own experiences and see, well, that's true, happiness does come from inner peace. And maybe even more importantly, we can also then establish, I have the capacity for inner peace in my own mind. In fact, we might even say that through training of the mind, through practicing meditation, you can see that it's actually not difficult. All we need to do is learn to let go of our unhappy thoughts, and our mind automatically becomes peaceful. 

So in other words, you don't have to, like, make your mind peaceful, you just have to let go of your unhappy thoughts, your angry thoughts or your anxious thoughts. 

And what happens through that is that you then begin to experience a sense of peace, a deep inner peace. And you can verify that through your own experience. And through that, you get in touch then with your own potential for peace or other virtuous minds, like love or compassion or joy or kindness, generosity. In other words, you can verify it through your own experimentation that that is the case.

What we then discover is that the mind has this incredible capacity for profound peace or, we might say, for limitless love, for limitless kindness. That's where I find some fault with the -- you know, as you're calling it, the "new atheism." Simply because I don't think they are paying enough attention to the science of the mind through which we can establish, so to speak, an alternative science, but it's equally, empirically verifiable that there is a spiritual dimension to our being that you can discover through your own practice, in fact, that there is this, yeah, you might say a divine element to our nature because we discover that the mind has this capacity for limitless love, limitless compassion, limitless joy.

Some people may pit science against religion: Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins, for example, against God.  But science and religion can certainly co-exist, and in their essence may even mirror one another.  In this respect, I appreciate what Morten relates, and it's very relevant for our study and practice, our meditation and reflection, in T'ai Chi.

Jackie Chan Martial Arts Scenes

Jackie Chan has to be the most comedic and creative in the genre of martial arts hero.  I mean, what's funnier than fighting while drunk and saving precious vases?

I couldn't think of another movie that I could tie-in to one of Jackie Chan's, but I found this bit with Jim Carrey.  So my articles this week have been, I hope, entertaining at least.  Carrey pokes good fun at what happens in dojos, including some excessive self-promotions.  Neither T'ai Chi nor martial arts in general have to be so serious all the time.

Jet Li Martial Arts Scenes

Jet Li didn't resort to shirtless scenes as much as Bruce Lee did, but he had his own panache, humor and steely face.  He was superb in his own right.

Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang had a handful of superb fight scenes in `Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but the gravity-defying bout and rooftop chase were the best.  Jet Li's `Hero takes a bit of its choreography from the two ladies' extended hang-time.  All of these scenes are staged, of course, but a bit of inspiration and imagination can lift real-life Parkour practice, for example, to a higher level of athleticism and impact.  

Bruce Lee Martial Arts Scenes

Bruce was a great martial artist in his own right, and he was also a great show man in front of the camera.  In either case - fighting and acting - he was determined and disciplined.  He was constantly practicing and training, for example.

This is the most stunning, kickass fight scene I know, and while the martial arts choreography and movie making were more sophisticated, `Matrix Reloaded pays homage to `Enter the Dragon.  There are lessons to draw from these movies, such as using our opponent's energy against him and even using the opponent himself as a human weapon.  

Mind, Body and Spirit of Bruce Lee's Punch

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Drawing upon both physical and neuro power, Lee’s devastating one-inch punch involved substantially more than arm strength. It was achieved through the fluid teamwork of every body part. It was his feet. It was hips and arms. It was even his brain. In several milliseconds, a spark of kinetic energy ignited in Lee’s feet and surged through his core to his limbs before its eventual release.

Reference: The intriguing science behind Bruce Lee’s one-inch punch.

This is a good review of the biomechanics of Bruce Lee's devastating punch.  In brief, he nurtured an amazing ability to converge mind and body, and spirit, too, no doubt, onto a target and to do so with breathtaking speed and power.  This happens only through countless practice sessions, as Lee was known to practice his martial arts constantly.  These sessions are not just physical, but also mental and neural, offering testament to the T'ai Chi Ch'uan principle of the mind being the commander (i) over the chi and over the body.

Strengthen Your Mind via Application

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While you may think of T'ai Chi application in a purely self defense manner, it isn't just that.  Essential principles like rooting, centering and relaxing aren't merely the purview of practice, but ought to be what you bring to your day to day life.  Mindfulness, clarity and steadiness are also essentials in a calm, strong and healthy mind.