And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth

Looking back over the past few years I see that the areas I was working on and writing about moved from forms, applications and techniques to principles and psycho–spiritual aspects. Now it has gone to a whole new wavelength involving why I do Tai Chi, who I do it with, what I’m looking for and what it really means to me. Yes, it can be a bumpy ride! I imagine as this passes it will be back to forms and techniques and how to gain real skill there. Here is a brief history of time.


Forms

1. Starting movement
2. Step up and make Seven Stars
3. Step back and ride The Tiger
4. Wild Horses mane
5. The Black Dragon waves its tail
6. The Hero makes his strike
7. The Fair Lady works at the shuttle stick with the knives
8. Push the boat
9. The White Crane spreads its wings
10. The Five Element Palm
11. The wind sweeping up the Lotus leaves
12. Diagonal single whip
13. The Fair Lady works at the shuttle no. 1
14. The Fair Lady works at the shuttle no. 2
15. The Fair Lady works at the shuttle no. 3
16. The Fair Lady works at the shuttle no. 4
17. Three Star Stance
18. Repulse The Monkey from the South East With a turn in the wrist


Applications

Person A steps forward RF and punches RH.
Person B steps left RH palm up at wrist and LH palm down at shoulder (roll back).
As person A retracts person B steps in RF touching outside of A’s RF (slightly behind), hook their arm shoulder to shoulder and step left with LF as you turn left for a throw. The more subtle version of this is that you don’t even need to step forward with the LF. Just sink and you’ll naturally turn slightly left.


Techniques

In this technique your partner should come in using press against your press. At the very beginning of their push while they are rear weighted and you are forward weighted you let a little pressure build up and then let it off and then deliver your press with a little pop or light Fa Jing. You have to be careful not to go back at all when receiving them and to time your press just before or with theirs. The press gets stored momentarily in the rear foot and bounces them off.


General principles

Find the center of rotation
Press on hinges for reaction
Go into neutral, hitch a ride
Find the corner or “sweet spot”
Entering
Turning the body
Sticking
Circularity
Timing
Reaching out and hooking the punch first, receiving
Looseness
Rolling out of locks


Physical transformation

There is a thinking center in the stomach (Dantian) that becomes activated in a particular way through slow meditative practice and by the proprioception awareness that the brain in the head can not process. That is the expansion of awareness from the sympathetic nervous system to the para-sympathetic system. This allows the development of tendons, ligaments, sinews and bones to become conscious.


Spiritual aspects

We live in a modern world. Our spiritual advances are being made in a world of phones and computers in buildings of steel and glass. So our world suggests a different way to achieve balance than the old ways. We do not have the luxury of retiring to a cave or a monastery to study in depth. We must find the opportunity in our world to do so.


Psychological growth

Dedication
Imagination
Inquisitiveness
Research
Conceptualization
Study
Ideology
Understanding
Inductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning
Reasoning by metaphorical analogy
Philosophy
Defining goals
Strategy


Emotional growth

Striving
Playfulness
Sense of grace
Self image
Judging
Relationships to students, teachers
Finding yourself
Stubbornness
Ego
Attachment
Virtue
Determination
Anger
Resentment
Joy / Peace


Psychic transformation

Breath / Meditation
Singularity consciousness vs. group consciousness / Individuation vs. neural network
Psychic centers - three levels – hinge, nerve plexus, and psychic center
Energy – ability to perceive, collect, transmute and express
Vision – peripheral vision, colors, auras, shapes, energy
Being transported
Perception of higher order energies – other realities, entities, spirit guides, higher self
Entrainment / Osmosis of energies around you
Universal mind / Cosmic library / Akashic record / The void
Cellular level / DNA
Time – time codes, time slipping, transcending linear time, enfolded, recursive, layered
Earth energies / Telluric energies
Enlightenment / Consciousness / Higher consciousness
Redemption
Ecstatic transformation


Integration

The energetic, extra sensory and body awareness skills are practiced separately or they will not emerge. The changes in the temperament, mind function and perception are likewise practiced consciously. They do not generally appear magically with the study of blocking, punching and kicking. Although this is a solitary journey, no one gets there alone and the connection that we share is so direct and important as we come together over our love and devotion to this thing in our lives, our Tai Chi. It seems in the end we will not keep getting better in Martial Arts unless we become better individuals and work on our core issues that we hold in our minds and our bodies. Softness is a way of letting people in at you, able to touch you at your core. This creation of shared space is one of the deepest places to explore in this art and it is a cooperative exploration in shared space. It is here we discover new levels of meaning and quality of movement.

Second Childhood

Studying Martial Arts is a chance to grow up again. The first time that you grew up it was not done consciously. The hurdles and achievements were made to conform, to not get in trouble, because they were required, to show off, because of lack of self worth, an effort to be validated, acknowledged or whatever.

The second time through it is possible to be more sophisticated in your goals and approach. To do it for self improvement, self discovery, to do it in a way that acknowledges the fellow student and teacher, to allow yourself to be a beginner again, to let go of barriers and behaviors that make you look good and surrender to vulnerability that can make you become good.

I had said at one time that getting to that level 1 kind of mastery is like going to school; 2 years of preschool and kindergarten, 8 years of primary, 4 years of high school, 4 years of undergraduate and 4 years of graduate school – 22 years.

Well, it is really more like growing up with the yes/no rule phase, the my teacher can beat up your teacher phase, the preadolescent self importance, the adolescent willfulness, ideological zeal of youth, going all the way through the life passages up to mid life crises and breakdowns, break ups and redirections, set backs and breakthroughs.

Well, imagine doing it better, with more care the second time. I mean you’ll still suck and make mistakes but this is a real opportunity to get somewhere. Remember though… it’s just a Metaphor. The teacher isn’t your Dad and the fellow students aren’t your brothers (that you want to tool on for some reason), it is more Mythic than that if you are up to it. Yes to be sure it is the classic myth of the quest, a small band on an all important quest. Their mission was not only to journey into darkness and find the magic object but to make the return journey. Yes, that’s a deep one, the return journey. I hope you all make it back home my friends.

Boundaries and Barriers

There are many different opinions about this subject as it relates to Push Hands. Some people say that in combat you would want the opponent to know nothing of you so you should practice having an energetic boundary around you. The thing to remember here is that we are not just building the vehicle that we use in Tai Chi, we are building the vehicle so choose wisely.

You can decide how much and what part of your energies come out and comingle with the other, even in combat. Consider a spy; he has a “false persona” that he projects to the enemy but it has to be real parts of himself or the enemy senses the barrier. It has to be a “good acting job”. (Actually, acting is a brilliant metaphor for the high level artist.) In normal Push Hands situations, the sensing of energy, the ability to return that energy and not let it get stuck in the body are essential skills. In practicing Fa Jing and other harder energies on each other we have all had to learn how to unstick those energies from our bodies when we have been struck. The supposed danger of someone doing Din Mak on you by accident or touching some acupuncture spot and making your kidney fall off is a little silly. Actually, all the healthiest people that I know in Tai Chi have a vigorous practice that includes the bump and grind, not the rainbows and butterflies.

One of the things you will learn when allowing people in is when their energy is not clean. There are many flavors of this. They can go to an inappropriate wavelength or try to attach to you or dominate you or wind up going past some line and actually start a real fight. The rules should be those you learned in kindergarten.

Don’t steal - Don’t take anything that’s not yours
Clean up after yourself - Don’t leave anything behind
Be nice - Play nicely

It is therefore important that your listening skills and sensing skills inform you in every instance, in every moment how to be aware of what is happening energetically. This is especially important when pushing with someone you don’t know and an excellent skill to help you decide who to play with. Of course if people have not reached a certain level emotionally or psychologically it is a bad idea to allow full connection, they will misperceive what is happening.

For me in Push Hands as in life it is not an unconditional open heartedness that I exhibit. It is absolutely conditional as I am always titrating my experience against the current situation. I am always creating more and more opportunity in my interactions to be completely open and connected. This is all made possible by the great advancement that I have made beyond the dreamy notion of unconditional love and my matriculation to conditional love.

Wisdom begins with a definition of terms

Our introduction to Push Hands is usually fixed step Push Hands. This leaves the impression that the object of Push Hands is to make the other guy take a step or to push him. It is furthermore the object to avoid being pushed at all times (especially if the Master is watching).

There is an expectation that certain things can happen and certain things are not allowed. As an aside, the only thing technically not allowed is punching. Generally, we assume certain things are of good etiquette.

· You observe the level of speed and strength in your game and do not escalate
· If it is a light sensing, gentle unbalancing and uprooting game don’t suddenly jump in and throw the person to the ground violating the tacit agreement
· Listen, observe and have a conversation not an argument
· Take your time, connect, follow the energy, take it in and return the volley
· Be crystal clear in your mind which level you are at in this particular game
o Light sensing and sticking
o Gentle pushing and unbalancing
o Pushing and pulling
o Stepping in for trips and throws
o Joint locks, grabbing and twisting
o Fa Jing and jarring strikes to the body
o Full contact
· If you get cagey, jumpy, flinchy and your Chi comes up when the triggers get pressed then stop. Acknowledge the behavior and develop cooperative drills to work on not being triggered but instead to keep the Chi down. Just sink and turn a little instead.
· Make up games with clear rules
· Make yourself equal to the other person. Stand up straighter, narrow the stance if you are pushing someone less skilled so they can find your unbalances honestly and push you
· Let them in!

There is energetic work being done in Push Hands that can be obscured by scuffling. The notion that Martial Art means fighting is a bit skewed. It does include fighting but is not limited to fighting. The energetic, extra sensory and body awareness skills are practiced separately or they will not emerge. The changes in the temperament, mind function and perception are likewise practiced consciously. They do not generally appear magically with the study of blocking, punching and kicking. There is a spectrum of Martial Congress that goes from observation, interaction, conversation, negotiation, manipulation, control, attacking, and fighting. Beyond that the Martial Artist has a context to understand Martial Arts within and those skills are practiced individually. So Push Hands is the most sophisticated art because under duress you behave reflexively. If you have anger, impatience, aggression inside you it will come out when pressed. The only way to fix this is to work on these psychic valves at their source.

Now softness is not merely a technique so they can’t find you as you lay in wait only to pounce out and get them. Softness is instead a way of letting them in at you, able to touch you at your core. This creation of shared space is one of the deepest places to explore in this art and it is a cooperative exploration in shared space. It is here we discover new levels of meaning and quality of movement.

Journey to the Collective

So I go to the Tai Chi camp and I was just thinking about this Sanga, this group of people that I get bound together with in my journey. The friends I see at camp are a different ring in the circles of friends I am usually training with, I mean there are people you see all the time; training partners, classmates, and there are those you see yearly or every several years. Well, I go into this outer ring very deeply this camp and really feel the depth of these “occasional” relationships. How is this possible? Some of the connection that we feel is so direct and important as we come together over our love and devotion to this thing in our lives, our Tai Chi. This kind of makes the conversation safe, it is about something centrally important in our lives but it is not about our own narrative directly.

Well, I was giving this one gal my thesis about group progression and she says she learned that some of the closest relationships that people can have are with those they care for but do not see often. Actually, this woman was someone I hadn’t seen at a camp for 4 years but we picked up where we left off, immediately upgraded the relationship over the conversation to account for the growth we had both had over the period. My God! Look how easily we renegotiated our friendship. Look at how difficult it is to alter the trajectory of our permanent relationships.

I still have not communicated accurately why the quality of this interaction is fundamentally different than any other relationship type I have ever had. There is a feeling that comes from the interactions that feels really important or meaningful to me. It doesn’t have to be connected to our narrative. We can see the struggles and the burdens and the achievements without really going there and connect over things that we have discovered in our internal work. So the conversation might wind up around folding and sinking and spiraling the energy and who we think has a lovely form and meanwhile it’s all there right out in the open. We are talking about ourselves and our journey and just how much it means to us. And we are telling that story to one of the few people in the world who could really understand that story. This is a wonderful moment and it informs me of who I am and how I have traveled and I take that back to my inner circle and I am fuller from it and softer from it. Thank you my band of fellow travelers, until the next time we meet I wish you good journeys.

Buddha, Dharma, Sanga

I have noticed in my study of Martial Arts that there are 3 aspects.

Buddha – The Teacher. This is the thing that sets the tone and energetics of the transmission.

Dharma – The Teachings. This is the body of information, the canon, techniques and forms historical to the art.

Sanga – The group. This is the group of students that study together, classmates and training partners.

It is this 3rd part I’ve been thinking about lately. The group is bound together and they progress as a group. The different ways that this happens is quite complex. Also sometimes it is the insulation of the teacher from this group process that can hinder the teacher’s progress. Although this is a solitary journey, no one gets there alone. It seems in the end we will not keep getting better in Martial Arts unless we become better individuals, work on our core issues that we hold in our minds and our bodies because these are the quirks that come out under duress and we must separate the quirks that make us driven and interested and those that are impediments to naturalness and relaxed behavior. This happens in class and out of class. The more consciously you can engage this process the more substantial the progress is reflected back into the group collective. This is the classic Star Trek dichotomy. The Borg Collective hive mind versus the Federation’s Individualism. That is the age we live in, the age of synthesis, renewal and integration.

The Boddhisatva works for his own enlightenment because his own achievement helps all mankind or at least his own band of fellow travelers.