How to Develop Weak Tai Chi

chen family taijiquan tai chi chuan Apr 11, 2014

I read a blog post this week by a well-intentioned (I assume) person who teaches Tai Chi and calls it the "art of gentle movement," a description that misses the essence of Tai Chi. Let's forget for a moment that Tai Chi fighters were often hired to guard caravans and train the men in villages to fight. Let's just forget that.

The author of this article says that by doing Tai Chi, you can feel the universe flowing through you and you can achieve enlightenment.

Here is an excerpt from this article that was titled "Entering the Quantum Era of the New Energy":

"Tai Chi Chuan finds it place back amongst the most powerful ways to become a condensed person that has clarity of mind, health of body and emotional countenance. It is said that the real meaning of the martial art is the cradle of enlightenment, that it is about self-discovery through a state of being that allows the universe to flow through the empty space between the particles and that this state brings a higher consciousness to the practitioner."

When I read things like this, I tend to lose my center for a moment. Oops, it's happening again. My mind is boggled by the many people who have this strange idea about Tai Chi, an idea cultivated, nurtured and promoted by countless people who are looking for the mystical and metaphysical in a martial art, and by Tai Chi teachers who want other people to believe that they, somehow, have tapped into the mysterious secret of the universe and achieved a supernatural calm -- a "higher consciousness."

I suppose it will come as no surprise to those who read this blog on a regular basis that I have a different view. Let me sum it up simply:

Here's a secret of the universe -- some Tai Chi instructors are very nice people, but just as many, if not more, are as messed up, egotistical, territorial, jealous, petty and greedy as a Wall Street tycoon. I have met one or two that were mentally ill, with violent tempers that flared while, at the same time, they talked about how enlightened they were.

If you put Tai Chi teachers on a pedestal you need a guardian to oversee your affairs. If you are a Tai Chi teacher who needs to be placed on a pedestal, you need counseling and perhaps some strong meds.

There is a real problem in thinking that the practice of Tai Chi is going to give you some breakthrough insight about the universe. If anything, the more Tai Chi instructors you meet, the more you have breakthrough insights into the jealous nature of empire-building money grabbers.

Is this harsh? If you believe Tai Chi gives you special insight into the universe, then perhaps the universe needs to bitch slap you with the Cosmic Hand of Reality.

You can theoretically find "enlightenment" while mowing the yard -- while cooking dinner -- while touching the hand of your spouse or your child. You can find enlightenment sitting on a bench. I once had a flash of enlightenment when I saw the light of the moon reflecting off my hand at night.

You can find confidence in working to achieve skill in anything -- basketball, drawing, Taekwondo, a good marriage, well-adjusted children, Tai Chi, or being a middle manager in a business. You do not need a martial art to find confidence, calm, or enlightenment. Martial arts can give you confidence about your ability to defend yourself, but NOT if you are using it as an "art of gentle movement."

Borrowing phrases from quantum physics and dressing them up to sound scientific (what the hell does "flowing through the empty space between the particles" mean, anyway?) makes it more ridiculous. It's a way to make people think you know something you don't know. There is absolutely no scientific validity to the "facts" stated in the article.

If you are detaching your mind from the intent of your Tai Chi movements so much that you can feel the universal energy flowing between the spaces of the particles in your body, you are doing it wrong, my friend, and you are losing sight of the true intent of your movements. Any exercise should make you feel good, and Tai Chi is no exception. You should also feel the same benefits just by taking a good walk or playing softball.

Martial arts are designed for self-defense. Tai Chi is a martial art that is NOT an "art of gentle movement." It is an art that combines movements of relaxed strength with explosions of power (what is known as "fajing"). Real Tai Chi is strong and relaxed during some movements (iron wrapped in cotton) but fast and furious in bursts of hand strikes, elbow strikes, forearm strikes, shoulder strikes, bumps, joint breaking, kicks, throws and takedowns.

Tai Chi is practiced slowly at first so your body mechanics are developed, and you can eventually break an attacker and put them on the ground. When someone attacks you, the goal is to knock them back into their own "cradle of enlightenment."

If you want to become enlightened and feel your connection with the flow of the universe, do qigong and ponder Taoism or Zen Buddhism. But don't do it while you are performing Tai Chi, because they are two different pursuits. The more you detach to feel the glory of the universe, the less you will be able to focus on the quality of your Tai Chi.

--by Ken Gullette

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How to Develop Weak Tai Chi

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