John’s Tai-Blog @ Camp Tai ChiTai Chi and anything I can relate to Tai Chi … like life

The Patience of A Tai Chi Player… No Saints Allowed

I was looking around for some fresh material for today’s post.  What I found is, as usual, a bit unusual.  I came across an obscure site while Googling “humor”.  I ended up on a page authored by Denis Robinson of the University of Auckland.  Mr. Robinson has embarked on the monumental project of translating the key ideas of philosophy into words of one-syllable.

The exact reason, or value of such an undertaking is a wonder in itself.  Be that as it may, I found this one statement curiously made me think in a tai chi way.  (No I wasn’t even trying to use only one-syllable words.)  A sample of one-syllable philosophy in a minute.

Of the many uses and benefits of tai chi, is that it helps us feel better, one might even say it makes us glad we do it.  “Gladness”, as an end in itself, is a worthy goal.  Like tai chi it relaxes our muscles, reduces our stress levels, and boosts our immune systems, to name just a few.

Even when I’m feeling extremely tired, I find tai chi has a way of digging into my core and pulling up energy I didn’t realize I had.  I may still be tired afterward, but I seem to forget all about my exhaustion while lost in practice.  I’m always glad I practiced and I find I sleep better too.

Another thing I find it interesting is that people sometimes describe uneducated or dim-witted folk as “capable of speaking in only one syllable words”.  If you actually try to phrase even the simplest of concepts using only one syllable words, you would realize just how difficult it is to pull off.

On a tai chi note, uninformed folks will watch a skilled tai chi player and think, “That looks pretty easy; I don’t think I’d have the patience to do that.  It would just bore me to tears.”  I’ve never heard anyone who’s actually tried tai chi say it was easy, or that it bored them.  Those who don’t stick it out don’t seem to have the patience or interest to develop the focus it takes to get any better, but they never say they’re bored.  The practice of tai chi requires incredible focus and can be all-consuming at times.  It’s one of the reason’s it’s such an effective stress reliever.

So in the spirit of simple things that are not at all easy to accomplish, I give you a bit of one-syllable philosophy.

“Is the right thing to do what makes most folks glad? Or should we say not quite that,
but that the right thing to do is the thing which most makes folks glad,
where when you count folks you weight each one by how glad it makes them?”

Does this bit of philosophy leave you glad or confused, and can you see another way to apply it to tai chi?  I’ll bet someone reading this has a different take on it… your thoughts?

John

P.S.  If you’d like to visit Denis Robinson’s page:  http://fragments.consc.net/djc/2005/02/phil_in_words_o.html

Tai Chi “In The Present Tense”

Say What You Will, But It’s Still Tai Chi

If you don’t do this, it’s not tai chi!  If you do this, it’s not tai chi!  Tai chi is only…  Maybe they’re right.

Everyone has a different opinion of exactly what tai chi is, and what is tai chi.  I’m no exception, but I try to follow Winston Churchill’s example on this one.  Yes, he was incredibly opinionated.  He could be domineering, and was exceptionally eccentric.

When Churchill was at his home outside London his idea of a good conversation was one in which he did most, if not all, of the talking.  When he was in the city however, he believed everyone should have their say.  When you think about it, it’s just plain old-fashioned good manners.

When you’re away from home I believe it’s best to conduct yourself in a manner that allows others to have their say.  It doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, only that you don’t have to cut them off at the knees if they disagree with you.  If you’re in someone else’s home it’s bad manners to insult your host.  This applies to visiting other schools as well.  It’s not your home so bite your tongue and use soft words if asked for your opinion.

At the heart of tai chi is avoiding conflict, not creating it.  Avoid aggression and aggression will generally pass you by.  Is it really important that others agree with you, or are your beliefs so unsubstantial they can’t stand up to those of others?  Do your beliefs require defending to keep them from crumbling?  When we close our minds to opposing ideas we risk stagnation and we stop growing.  When we stop growing, we begin to die.

“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.”
Winston Churchill

Your thoughts?

John

Tai Chi Confusionism

I was just reading some guotes from Confucius and thought this one applied to tai chi particularly well.  Tai chi, like most things, is simple when you get right down to it.  The problem most students have is they confuse simple with easy.  Tai chi is not easy, although those who do it well make it look that way. 

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
Confucius

Your thoughts?

P.S.  I found this quote here:  http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/25848.html

The Medicinal Side of Tai Chi, Is It What You Think?

My senior training brother and fellow taiji disciple, Michael, coined the term SPD for those times when we think we’re really good at our forms and it’s true… in our heads.  SPD stands for Self Perception Disorder and I’ve come to the conclusion we all do this all the time, with many things.

In tai chi I can work hard at a form until I think I’ve really gotten it down, and then my teacher, Miriam, or Master Cui come along and point out how it could be better.  With tai chi, as with life, the refinements never end.  To me that’s the real beauty of it.

We do this with others too.  We see them doing something we don’t yet know how to do, or we project things on to them that exist mostly in our minds.  Later we inevitably learn we’ve distorted reality yet again.  Usually by then we know the person well enough to accept them for who they are.  Duhism Master Bob Tzu put it so eloquently in his blog yesterday.

Well that’s just perfect

“When you can see all beings as divine and perfect, then it’s time to cut back on your medication.”

Your Thoughts?

John

P.S.  Visit Master Tzu here:  http://www.duhism.com/

I found this image on Fliker.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karlburn/2742420441/

Spiders, Snakes and Tai Chi

I was just reading an interesting article on LiveScience.com.  It was about our animal instincts: the knowledge we have, that we either don’t know we have or don’t know how we came about it.  I see this kind of thing in tai chi all the time.

Whether we realize it or not, we all have pretty similar abilities.  Aside from those rare few who can touch their tongues to their noses, our bodies and what we are actually capable of remains very similar from person to person.  Now I know some of you are saying to yourselves “John’s not paddling with both oars today”, so allow me to splain myself.

Richard Bandler and Dr. John Grinder discovered that, with the right mental strategies, you could teach anyone to do what anyone else could do, assuming of course they weren’t limited by some physical difficulty.  The world is filled with people who have limited physical resources, yet have achieved things everyone else thought was impossible.  Spud Webb, a professional basketball player in the 80’s & 90’s, comes to mind.  Because of his short stature he garnered little interest from college scouts.  This despite consistently impressive performance on the court all through high school and his early college years.

When Mr. Webb joined the ranks of Earl Boykins and Muggsy Bogue, as the third shortest player in the NBA, he measured in at a full 5′6″.  (He was a grown man by then so he didn’t get any taller either.)  I remember watching the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk contest where Spud Webb walked away with the trophy.  Spud and a student of his, Nate Robinson, are the only two NBA players under 6 feet tall to have ever won the competition.

John Bandler - remember him, the mind over matter guy - experimented with hypnosis and placebos to help people heal in a number of ways.  He didn’t bother with the sugar either.  He just gave people empty capsules and told them, under hypnosis of course, that he was giving them empty capsules.  He also gave them the suggestion, “the more you think about the fact that you are taking placebos, the better they will work.”  When they woke up he handed them the empty capsules and said, “These are placebos and they’re particularly effective for your condition.”  This worked so well in fact, that when Bandler and a partner tried to market their brand of placebos, the FDA shut them down.  How’s that for a great example of, “I’m here from the government and I’m here to help”?

By now I imagine you’ve forgotten all about the LiveScience.com article haven’t you?  We’ll let’s get back to it.  The article is titled “Fear of Spiders Can Develop Before Birth” and deals with our ability to learn from previous generations.  Not by reading grandpa’s diary, but more like sleeping with a book under your pillow before the big test, and then acing the test without ever having cracked the book.  Pretty cool stuff hey?

Well, with students I sometimes ask them to feel the energy in their bodies.  Often I get, “I doesn’t feel nuthin’.”  Yet, when I ask them to imagine it and then tell me “what it would feels like if’n they coulds”, or better yet where it starts and ends, they can almost always describe it with remarkable accuracy.  I even point to the wrong part my own body just to make sure they aren’t saying what they think I want them to.  Then I ask them to pretend they’re feeling it as they move, and viola, their movement improves dramatically.  Wha’s up wit dat?

Given the right techniques and mental processes, we can all learn to do what we already even do better.  We may not all be Spud Webbs in the rough, but we can all do much more than we realize.  Yea, that includes you too.

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  Now go read the LiveScience.com article:  http://www.livescience.com/animals/fear-of-spiders-100218.html, you’ll like it.