“Accidents Happen”

Let me ask you a question.  How tightly do you try to control your tai chi practice, your life? Do you allow for things to happen that you didn’t expect or do you do your best to stick rigidly to your plan?  While there is value to having a plan, sometimes things happen you don’t expect.  Ignore these things at your own peril.

For those students who actually do practice outside of class, it seems they have a set agenda they need to stick to.  They plan specifically what they will do and make sure they do it, no matter what.  While there is value in having a plan, and working on things you need to, sometimes you get more mileage out of following a different course.  The trick is knowing when to deviate from your plan.

Have you ever been doing something and made a mistake only to find out the mistake made things better?  When this happens while practicing tai chi I normally find out latter I was doing something wrong and my “mistake” was actually a correction I hadn’t anticipated.

While body mechanics are fairly straight forward, each of us has subtle differences that affect the way we move.  A good example of this happened to me several years ago.  I’d always had problems with my knees over the years, and I was going through a time of very heavy practice before and while in China studying with my master.  My knees were really hurting and I adjusted the position of them while doing the drill post exercise (Drill Post Exercise Part One, Part Two).

I found my knees hurts less when I allowed them to come in slightly.  It didn’t take long for me to realize I’d been pushing my knees out so I would look like everyone else and this was stressing my knees.  I’d discovered, by accident, that the structure of my body was just a little different and, once I’d adjusted the stance to my own structure, my knees quit hurting.  I’ve had a number of other experiences where I found I was doing something wrong by accident although these other times weren’t generally painful.

Over time I’ve learned to listen to my body and sometimes have ended up practicing different moves than I’d planned, simply because I’d accidentally discovered something new to me.  By allowing myself to stay open to “happy accidents” my practice sometimes becomes even more meaningful and I find myself making advancements I didn’t expect.  Some of these “accidents” have also been the result of outside circumstances requiring me to change the place or manner I practice.

So next time you find something “interfering” with your practice, whether internal or external, go with it.  You might be pleasantly surprised at what you learn, even if it has nothing to do with tai chi.

Did you know… Life Savers got their signature shape by accident?  The machine used to press out a standard circular mint malfunctioned, inadvertently punching a hole in each.  You know the rest of the story.

What do you think?

John

Be Sociable, Share!

•