One thing that has always surprised me in the free thinking open minded Tai Chi community is the amount of ideology that people have around what Tai Chi is and isn’t. Well, ideology can mean belief or view but the way it comes out here is more like doctrine or dogma - Belief divorced from Reason.
This doctrine can relate to their school or master and the likely supremacy of both. Besides delineating sects it often relates to what constitutes good Tai Chi, which styles are valid, what Push Hands should be, what time of day to practice, what to wear, (I swear to God I’m not making this up) and how the fingers should come together for the beak in Single Whip.
Usually the imprinting of what people believe comes early in their practice. The weird thing is that it seems easier to grow and mature as artists than to update preconceived notions that no longer serve. It is a good idea to take stock of things once in a while. In my own practice when these beliefs fell apart it supercharged my practice. After that I used Tai Chi as a way to test out different ways of doing things. If I could make sense out of it then it became part of my working model but it had to make sense.
Many times with other Martial Artists or at workshops some assertion is made about the way things are. I want to get all I can out of new ideas even if they conflict with what I think I know so I treat it as a provisional truth. It may turn out upon further examination to be untrue or true or even capital “T” True. Usually it turns out to be a useful exaggeration. Probably all the sects that stand unnaturally straight or hunch their backs started out by the exaggeration of one particular energy that does happen in Tai Chi, its just that you don’t get stuck in that shape, it is part of a complex sequence of movements. One school says go forward with the hand first and then the body and another says just move the whole body forward. My current ideology is definitely more the first at this moment but I got a lot out of trying to understand the second so I’m glad I didn’t try to argue it away in advance and instead took it as a provisional truth.
I have stood in many classrooms over the years where the teacher has declared “If there is tension anywhere in the body then there is no Tai Chi” or “If there is no opening and closing then there is no Tai Chi”. I do what I can to pass the baton. In my classes I tell my students “Once you raise your hands on the first day with the intention of doing Tai Chi then you are doing Tai Chi”. I do hope that even this they will accept as only a Provisional Truth.
Goodbye 32, Hello 33!
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Seeing as I'm about 3 weeks into year 33, I thought I should review the
goals I set out to complete for year 32. Alas, I can't say there has been
much of a...
12 years ago
Preconceived ideas about how our practice should unfold often get in the way, preventing us from honoring where we are now, preventing real growth. When we are faced with a variety of teachings and practices, we may best serve ourselves by maintaining a sense of inquiry and curiosity. For our practice to come alive and grow, we must eventually put aside the dogma and reach within ourselves to discover what we truly know about Tai Chi.
ReplyDeleteYes, very good - inquiry and curiosity is key. I feel that it is necessary to inquire into the method of inqury itself otherwise "putting aside dogma" will probably not occur.
ReplyDeleteMonk
The simple strategy of bringing awareness, the child-like observation and acceptance of whatever state of our body and mind is present each time we practice, assists us in releasing habitual entanglement in dogma. By observing what is present, we create space for whatever situation we find, and learn to use the transformative power of attention in a flexible and malleable way.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting discussion....as we know, it is neither one nor the other, except that all the practice and dogma won't necessarily bring one to that center within of child like innocence that is essential. As with all the paths to the Garden, each is designed to facilitate and support the opening of that center, but if one gets caged by the dogma and technique, he/she may miss the critical path. However, that is where the teacher is so important.......as the student becomes infused with the pattern.
ReplyDelete