Useful Exaggeration

In an attempt to define Tai Chi in a way that meaningfully distinguishes it from other Martial Arts I am creating a curriculum list of basic skills. This turns out to be quite a list and I find myself asking why it is currently that only a few of these provide the reason that I practice. I am not motivated to practice so that I will have longevity, be able to kick ass and take names, be able to do the super luminal types of techniques or reach some particular level like Mastery; all things I had written on my syllabus and believe intellectually are components of Tai Chi.

What keeps me showing up every morning is the Interest, The Quest, The Exploration of Inner Space and the Mechanics of Moving. The Feeling inside my body as I Sink this hip or Relax this Side or Expand the Body comes from Becoming Conscious of the Movement and Conscious of all the little unseen Sub-routines in the Body’s Operating System that assist in or govern the movement. The Examination and Re-programming of those Sub-routines allows me to increase my bandwidth of Inner Space by simply monitoring things instead of having to run them all.

The Forms provide the Context and I provide the Subject. Picking up the foot, stretching into space, turning, moving, coiling, opening and closing provide the Experiments and while the results are Martially Useful that is rarely my focus, it’s more about the Feeling or the Experience. The Ego, Anger, Frustration, Desire to Succeed and other Psychological manifestations that come to my attention during this work are one and the same as the ones I involuntarily Act Out under duress when I am pressed in Push Hands beyond my Ability to respond to in a Taiji way. (Yeah, sorry about that one friends…)

At any rate that is my Useful Exaggeration for now and I will pursue it until it is less useful and move on to the next Useful Exaggeration.