Feel That Energy!
Tai chi is an internal art. What does that mean? Does it mean you should use what’s within your body? If this is the case, then what’s in your body? There is muscle, there are bones, there is sensitivity to our environments, and there is energy. The short answer to the question “Do you use what’s inside your body?” is yes.
All of these components, and others unmentioned, are necessary. The physical aspects of our bodies are used to provide the structure. Without structure, there is no control. The energetic parts of our bodies provide the strength and power.
Some may argue that there is no proof of internal energy, and say it doesn’t exist. Have you ever walked into a room and felt the tension, even before you looked around? Have you ever heard of a circumstance where a child is trapped under a car and the mother lifts the car to save their child’s life? This same mother will tell you she can’t even lift her suitcase when it’s full. Have you ever known something so completely yet there was no way you could explain how you knew it?
A short time ago I was looking to demonstrate for a student the use of internal energy. We did a simple exercise called un-bendable arm. In this exercise you pass energy through your relaxed arm with the intent of keeping it straight while a partner tries to bend it. My student was having a difficult time feeling the energy, so I told her to just pretend her arm was a hose and she was sending water through her arm and out her finger. When she did this I immediately felt her energy start to move, told her she was now doing it, and she was able to easily keep her arm straight as her partner tried to bend it. Her fist question was how I could feel when she was doing properly.
This is a paradox of sorts. If you don’t believe the body has energy pulsing through it, it’s hard to notice it. Once you notice it however, it’s hard to deny its existence. Once you can accept there is energy there, you can start learning how to feel it. You have to feel it before you believe it and you have to believe it before you can feel it. By helping someone else feel the energy, you help them to believe it at the same time. I think these two criteria must be met at the same time. I think this because I’ve met people who want to believe it, but just can’t seem to get to a point of feeling it. These same people will say they believe it’s there, but then resort to reason rather than feeling.
As children we all knew how to feel and we all understood the importance of feeling. How many times have you heard a child say to a parent, “You don’t understand what I’m saying”? The parent, in their intellect, is certain they are right but they’re not feeling anything, while the child knows they’re right and can feel it completely. It’s a rare parent who can stop and try to move to the child’s point of view rather than simply proclaiming their child is just too young to understand. This is one of the ways most of us are trained to stop feeling; it’s just easier to stop feeling than it is to argue with adults.
The energy in the body is said to be a very subtle thing, yet there are times when this energy feels to me like a raging current. Have I just become more sensitive or have I increased the flow of my energy? I’ll let you know when I’ve figured it out. For now I’ll just keep on feeling and learning to use the power of mind to direct the flow.
Your thoughts?
John
P.S. I found this picture on someone’s Squidoo Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/youarepsychic
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Jul 12, 2009 - 06:07:49Hi John,
I am with you man, my tai chi training so far is still very early stages, and in the past I have always tried to rationalize chi, that it’s a concept that embodies hot, cold, good bad, blood flow, nervous system regulation, kinetic energy… etc etc and it is all those things and many more…. but there is something else that I can’t articulate yet, something that one week made me feel heavy yet light as a feather, and toasty warm all weekend.
I need to keep at it, it’s constant revelations for me every day, totally stimulating.
Cheers,
Sheld’s last blog post..Enjoyment
Sheld,
Rationalizing chi is not very effective is it? The experience you describe of being “heavy yet light as a feather, and toasty warm all weekend” is very interesting. I think your experience will help others if they can just look for the feeling without trying to figure out how it happens. My Master tells us, “If you try to make chi flow, you block it.” We just have to let go and, like you described it, it will happen on its own. Later we learn to control it.
John
“There is muscle, there are bones, there is sensitivity to our environments, and there is energy.”
You know, I had no particular reaction to this post — or, not enough to leave a comment, anyway — but when I did my practice this morning, your delineation (above) of structure-and-energy helped me feel these things more clearly. So I think there’s no question that, by making clear distinctions, our experience and awareness can be heightened.
You might be surprised to know how many “ripples” your posts send out!
Thanks Walt. It feels good to know that, in some small way, I’m making a difference. I do believe that you would have gotten there anyway, and glad I could help it happen a little sooner.
By the way, I like ripples!
John
Hi John,
Just beginning with ‘going beyond’ the movements of my Tai Chi (started just 3 years ago) and found it very interesting to read your posts and experiences. Some day I hope to be able to get to a point that I can experience what you write about.
Paul,
I’m very happy to have you following along and to have you sharing your experiences. What I write about here anyone can experience. Sometimes I find it helpful to “pretend” I can do something and a realization comes to me that makes it real. Other times I just ask myself “If I were able to do this, how would I do it?” Then later on the answer comes to me during practice or someone shows up to answer the question. What I find really interesting is sometimes that someone who shows up is a student or someone in a class I’m attending. More often than not it’s my teacher or our master who give me the answer, at times whether I ask for it or not.
Good luck,
John