Build Strength by Ken Gullette

Ken Gullette offers good instruction on how T'ai Chi helps you build, and use, strength.  

As a martial art, T'ai Chi belongs to the internal school (or Nèijiā), and as such it focuses on mind (i), energy (chi) and spirit (shen), rather than muscle, tension or force.  Focusing on the internal doesn't mean you neglect the external, that is, your body, the ground, or objects.  It's a matter of principle or priority.  

In fact, what Gullette teaches is this:

• In T'ai Chi, proper body mechanics, rooting to the ground, and mind-redirection are all part of how you respond to, and neutralize, attacks.
• You receive the opponents force (push), redirect it through your legs, and release it into the ground.
• In practice, you become more skilled and stronger at such a response, when you work with a teacher or classmate who literally pushes us and helps you learn and develop.
• But it's the daily practice of the solo movements - following T'ai Chi principles, such as relaxation, continuity, and energy - which helps you build internal (and external) strength.

The notion of an iron fist, wrapped in cotton, is how T'ai Chi develops your body over years of practice:  steel-hard on the inside, but cotton-soft on the outside. 

T'ai Chi philosophy says, Soft defeats hard.  

If you're primarily used to the physical arts, this may be difficult to believe or conceptualize.  But think about water or wind.  Yes, a tsunami or tornado can definitely create destruction.  But even the gentle flow of a river and the easy passing of the wind can carve astounding landscapes like the Grand Canyon in the southwest US.  

It may take time, and it may not be anything we notice, but water and wind can definitely move mountains.        

It was Bruce Lee who said, 'Be like water, my friend.'  

Keep our Sword Sheathed

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In T'ai Chi we may greet each other like so.

First, it's a gesture of peace to keep our sword sheathed.  But just as it's our sign of respect for others, others must reciprocate with the same gesture.  

Second, it's a reminder that it's still a sword, so others never lose track of that.  A samurai can unsheathe his sword at a moment's notice.

We Are Nature

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The Tao Te Ching coaxes us to follow the way of nature.  T'ai Chi is essentially that - following the way of nature. 

The Person Doing It

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I have heard that Pa Kua masters can practice their martial art on the rim of a basket like this.

Self Defense Lessons #2, by Robert Agar-Hutton

When Robert Agar-Hutton deflects the oncoming attack upward, steps inside, we call it 'Entering your opponent's face.'  As he shows, this inside position gives him options for striking his opponent: 

• On the nose with the heel of his palm
• On the neck with the blades of his hands

Remember, your opponent is rushing or lunging at you, so you don't have to strike with much force to be effective in neutralizing him.  In T'ai Chi, it's about using your opponent's own energy (i.e., momentum) against him.

Self defense in T'ai Chi may be step-aside-and-evade, too.  We want to avoid getting ourselves hurt and also avoid hurting the opponent.  So if a simple evasion works, as we see in the video, then all the better.  You can run, and call for help.

Self Defense Lessons #1, by Robert Agar-Hutton

Robert Agar-Hutton offers really sound lessons on the self defense applications of T'ai Chi.

T'ai Chi is an art of simplicity.  You want to do the least possible to get the most result.

The challenge for beginners is to learn the principles and movements, so they practice the form correctly.  But for them to apply the form for self-defense, they must be able to do two seemingly contradictory things:

1. Through conscientious, daily practice, the form ought to be come second nature.  That is, they don't think, they don't deliberate.  They simply do the form naturally, and let the mind - or i - command the chi.  They become at one with the flow of their chi and the energy of the Universal around them.  
2. Through even more conscientious, daily practice, advanced practitioners know to let the situation dictate how they ought to apply what they've learned.  You see, the form is only a means to a end, which is strengthening body, mind and spirit.  Then, it becomes a platform for departure or variation.  That is, the form is modified according to the threatening situation, and even discarded if necessary.

It was Bruce Lee who talked about the form of no-form.  It wasn't formless per se.  Rather, in brief, it was anything goes - strategy, technique or ploy - when it's a life-or-death matter and you must defend yourself.

Relaxation in T'ai Chi, by Ting Kuo-Piao

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To be relaxed means to release tension, but not to let go of substance.  There is a quality in-between stiff and loose which is stable, yet flexible, that has fullness without being rigid, that is calm in motion yet conveys a vigorous presence. For lack of an equivalent English word, I refer to this concept as flowing within firmness, firmness within flowing. Flowing and firmness do not gain support from a rigid skeletal posture or strength from muscular tension. Rather, their integrity comes from expansion. Expansion is the ability to spread out in all directions. This is the key to relaxing without collapsing.

Reference:  "Understanding Flowing and Firmness," by Ting Kuo-Piao.

This is the thing about shoong:  It does not mean that we make our bodies flaccid (e.g., like a wet noodle, as some say).  There are forces in nature - for example, gravitational and atomic - that are essential for keeping things intact or in place.  Rather, we use whatever force we may need to sit down, stand up, and move about, and shoong requires us to let go of any unnecessary tension.

At one point, I learned about “extending in all directions.”  Shoong is about nurturing, circulating and extending chi.

Ting Kuo-Piao speaks to the yin-yang of relaxation:  hard within soft, soft within hard.

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Michael Garofalo culled information, quotes and references on relaxation - Relaxed - and I am grateful for his effort.  Over several days in July 2011, I meditated over each one of these quotes and made notes in my T'ai Chi journal:

Not just to be really, really, but truly to be completely and absolutely shoong.  I would like to imagine that in the future, I can be completely impervious to some people's craziness and shenanigans, by being absolutely shoong.

Going forward I will post regularly on relaxation, with more quotes and notes.