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

The Art of The “Monkey-Con”

If there’s one thing I really like it’s when something comes along to shake up the scientific community.  Sometimes when I talk about tai chi to people who are “overly scientific” - my opinion - they don’t seem to buy into the idea that our bodies contain energy we can learn to manipulate.  Never mind people having done this for thousands of years.

I have to smile when one of these scientific types points out a person who’s been caught faking moving energy, as proof there is no internal energy.  That argument holds about as much water as saying that a person who claims to be an African Banker with $20 million dollars they want to deposit into your bank account, yet isn’t really a banker, is proof there are no bankers on the African Continent.  I tried this once by the way, and the “banker” not only didn’t put any money at all in my account, but they had the nerve to actually withdraw the $10 I used to open the account.  I was planning on putting that 10 bucks, plus my share of the $20 million toward a Starbucks’ gift card for yours truly… can you imagine!  I guess it was for the best anyway since I’m really not all that fond of Starbucks.

So, now I’m going to make the same argument and throw it back at “them”.  Scientists have been chanting en mass for years that monkeys don’t have the ability for evolved, highly complex thinking.  Well it appears the Tufted Capuchin Monkey from South America has learned the fine art of the con, and is using this knowledge to take what it wants from other, unsuspecting monkeys in it’s own society.  It seems this con man of the jungle has figured out how to get around the pecking order, that’s at the very foundation of the monkey world, by tricking higher-ranking monkeys out of their hard earned, researcher-supplied, bananas.

How does this argument make my point?  It’s quite simple actually.  You see since the scientific community at large was incorrect about primates being incapable of evolved, highly complex thinking, they must also be wrong about us mere humans being incapable of manipulating energy within our bodies.  Case closed, at least according one widely accepted method of “scientific argumentation”.

How are these amoral apes pulling off the jungle equivalent of the crime of the century?  When a low-ranking monkey wants what a dominant monkey in their group is eating, they cry wolf.  They make a warning sound that means a predator is near, the higher-ranking monkey buys the deception, runs for cover, and the con-monkey rushes in for the spoils.  It seems this particular primate may not be unique in this behavior either… imagine that.

Don’t expect too much to come from of this one story though.  There’s another esteemed colleague who thinks this researcher is jumping to silly conclusions.  The more things change the more they stay the same. 

What should you take from this very loosely tai chi related story?  Maybe nothing, you could just do what we’ve always have as humans and believe what you want, look for evidence to support your case, and ignore the rest.  Not that I’d ever do that of course… I’m just saying.

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this story and the monkey photo on ScineceNow.com:  http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/603/2?rss=1

The “Language” of Tai Chi Chuan

Master Cui Zhongsan keeps telling me that in order to really understand tai chi I need to understand Chinese Culture.  I’ve never really been interested in Chinese Culture yet continue to pick up pieces along the way.  I’ve noticed some things about the culture and how they seem to relate to tai chi when visiting China.

While being driven around in Beijing taxi’s I’ve noticed the ebb and flow of “chaos” that is Beijing traffic.  Four lanes of roadway transforms to five with little regard for the painted lines marking the roadways.  One-way traffic refers specifically to the car you’re in going only one direction, not necessarily the direction the One Way Arrow on the sign is pointing.  While drivers here in the US tend to test how man cars can make it through a light as it changes from yellow to red, the Chinese seem to have an unwritten agreement that it’s OK to go through a red light that has just changed, as long as there is no one blocking their way from the cross traffic.

This ebb and flow reminds me of the concept of yin and yang in a profound way.  No space is left unfilled as the traffic flows around and through itself with surprisingly few accidents.  While I have come across the occasional crabby cab driver, people don’t seem the least bit disturbed by being cut off.  The agreement seems to be that if there is room, no matter how small, come on in.

Before my last trip to Beijing I began studying Chinese.  It is a remarkably simple language - hey, isn’t tai chi known for being a simple art?  But just like tai chi, don’t let the simplicity fool you.  The language is contextual and tonal rendering it challenging for those who speak a language that is non-tonally based and has only a hand full of words with more that one meaning. Chinese makes use of 4 tones plus a neutral tone, as well as a large number of somewhat unique sounds.  Each specific sound and tone combination can have a number of different meanings.

While in Beijing and being rather impressed with my own, yet paltry, Chinese language skills I hopped in a cab with a one of my training sisters.  We were looking forward to spending the afternoon at the “Dirt Market”, Panjiayuan, bargaining for trinkets to pawn off on unsuspecting friends and relatives at home.  Well, considering the Beijing dialect is a bit like the American Bostonian accent, with R’s added to the ends of many words, we didn’t make it to the Dirt Market by the most direct route.  Panjiayuan is pronounced more like “Panjaiar” in Beijing… I think.  After the driver looked at me a bit strangely and asked me to repeat myself several times we ended up at the well-known tourist attraction, the construction site of the Bird’s Nest.  While this Olympic Venue is quite impressive it was not yet open to the public, and therefore held limited entertainment value.

While laughing with each other and admiring the street view of this new Beijing landmark, we again tried to communicate our intended shopping destination.  After another circuitous route, because of the Olympic construction projects, we finally ended up at the Dirt Market.  Interestingly enough the entire cab ride totaled around $5 US.  Not bad for an hour’s unintended amusement.

Now that I’m again applying myself to learning Chinese, I’m beginning to see similar concepts in tai chi chaun.  While there are only a limited number of forms in tai chi, they can be varied slightly and applied in a number of different ways depending on the context or attack.  This is similar to each sound in Chinese having 5 different tones or ways of pronunciation, while one particular tone and sound combination can have a number of different meanings depending on the context.  Each meaning has it’s own unique character making reading Chinese a bit easier that speaking it, assuming of course you can recognize the characters.  Simple and yet at times, difficult to grasp.

The Chinese are very polite people; tai chi is a “polite” martial art.  Tai chi is based in self-defense and is not considered an “offensive” art.  Speaking of words with double meanings, I believe that was just a double entendre.  ;-)  For the Chinese it’s important to “give face” to those you’re interacting with and to allow others to “save face” whenever possible.  The Chinese consider it acceptable to tell a “Chinese lie” - what we would call a white lie - in order to allow someone to save face and to save face yourself.  The tai chi uniform, or efu, is designed to hide the finer points of the movements from prying eyes, or a hapless opponent.  Thus allowing you to save your own face while removing your opponent’s.  OK… that’s was a more than a bit of stretch so I think I’ll stop while I’m ahead.

I’m still not entirely sure where this journey is taking me but I am enjoying the ride, kind of like my Beijing taxi experience.  It’s all good.

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this Beijing Opera Mask photo here:  http://www.craft-in-china.com/-c-38.html

“Stumbling On Happiness”

I’m on my second time through the book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.  I would go into a little more detail about the book but it’s been a couple of years since I read it, and my memory for those kinds of things just isn’t all that great.  In fact I can go back and read my old blog posts and be just as entertained as you probably are reading them for the first time… that is assuming I actually like what I’ve written.

In the first few pages of the book Mr. Gilbert talks about our insatiable need to seek happiness.  Philosopher Robert Nozick concluded that if there were a machine we could hook up to ourselves that would create a state of complete happiness, while conveniently causing us to forget we were hooked to a machine, no one would choose to be hooked up for the rest of their life.  It seems that humans, unlike happiness seeking pigs, value both the experiences of free will and happiness, not just happiness.

As humans we choose to think rather than simply feel.  I think seeking a feeling of happiness is a worthy goal, yet I too still want the experience of free will.  It seems there is a bit of disconnect here for us non-pig-like humans.  We want to happy but we don’t want anyone doing it for us.  I believe there is an answer here, of sorts.

How do you feel when you practice tai chi?  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you probably feel at least a bit happier than before you started to practice.  That is assuming you’re not running the problems of the day through your head at the same time.  A very difficult task while doing tai chi I might add, but possible none the less.  If you’re doing that… stop it, stop it right now!

Try this little experiment.  Think about something you like, some thing you want.  Now think only about that thing and don’t concern yourself with how you’re going to have the actual experience.  How do you feel?  It’s interesting how we feel happy without actually achieving what it is we want.  All we really need to do is think about it.  Do you think this is a possible key to happiness?

OK back to tai chi.  Think about a time when you were practicing, your mind was on only your movements and your body, and you felt bad.  I’m going to go out on a limb here again.  Don’t worry about me; it’s a big fat sturdy limb.  You can’t do it can you?  Think maybe tai chi really is another key to happiness?

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this pic on Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29033384@N00/880987415

“What Chu Want!?!”

What do you want from tai chi, from life?  Do you know?  Of course you do, if not consciously then unconsciously.  If you don’t consciously know, how will you get there?  Meditation is a key, tai chi is moving meditation.

“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.”
Lao Tzu

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  I found this pic on Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7115819@N05/2746331792/

The Winds of Change Are A Comin’

Is this glass half empty, or Half Full?

Change, it’s an inevitable fact of life.  No matter what we think, we’re always changing, always becoming something more.  The trite old expression “You haven’t changed a bit” is never true because it’s just not possible to stand still.

Yes, as we practice we become better; as we forget to practice, our ability diminishes to some point and we hope to practice more in the future.  My life, like yours, is changing with new things occupying my time, sometimes leaving less time for things I’ve been doing.  For me this is a good change.

Why the cryptic wording?  Well, because I want you to keep reading of course.  What am I getting at here?  OK I let you in on it: I’ll be cutting back to posting 3 times per week rather than the 6 times per week I’ve been doing for some time now.  This will allow me to devote a little more time to other aspects of tai chi, not to mention creating a living.

There will still be the high quality, entertaining content you’ve come to expect from me - that is assuming you considered my writing high quality and entertaining in the first place.  If not, you’re probably not reading this anyway… so never mind.  If you are reading this I hope you keep it up.  If you’ve been making comments, thanks for the input, and if you haven’t it’s time to start.  Comments are good and, although I like my readers, I’ll like you even more if you make comments. 

I’ll be seein’ ya.  (Tomorrow, in case you were wondering.)

John

“A Man Can’t Retire His Experience”

Today I’m just going to leave you with a paraphrased quote about age and experience.

‘Years of Experience [age] are only a number, a cipher for the records.  A man can’t retire his experience.  He must use it.  Experience achieves more with less energy and time.’  Bernard Baruch

To me this sounds like a description of old tai chi masters.  They move very little and waste little energy but can toss their opponents across a room.

Your thoughts?

John

P.S.  This photo is of my Master’s Grandfather.  Master Cui Yishi.