The Magic

While I don’t dispute that Taiji contains higher level energy that may be classified as paranormal I am most interested currently in exploring the mechanical structures in the body that create the dynamic systems that allow for these energies to manifest.

There are 3 states that interest me from a Taiji perspective; the cognitive state, the fight or flight state and the relaxation response state.

In learning new things we often have to use the Cognitive Mind to listen, observe, read about and think about concepts. By understanding the concepts they become software in the Fight or Flight Body; by doing them slowly and consciously they become firmware in the Relaxation State Body and as that type of movement becomes written to body shape they become hardware in the Physical Body.

Body mechanics require more data than the cognitive mind can keep track of. For this reason many aspects of movement are routed to automatic pilot relying on whatever resident program takes over there. I have found that by slowly and mindfully exploring these sub-routines one at a time it is possible to reprogram and upgrade them. Through the repetition of Forms practice I can write them into Firmware and over time doing these movements with conscious feeling produces changes in the Kung Fu body as they create Hardware. I can now be conscious of experiencing the feeling of these processes in the body without having used up my bandwidth trying to run everything. I can feel more. This makes me way more conscious of the deep body mind and I can see the blocks and trouble spots and start to iron them all out.

Perhaps there are those who develop Skills on the more external Kung Fu level of the applications and by making them reflexive and replacing startle reflexes with these more Martially useful techniques they allow them to become available at the level of the Relaxation Response. I am saying specifically that there may be a Pathway from External training to Internal Training.

It has been said that there are many roads to the mountain top but they are different mountains. Maybe the different mountains are somehow connected. Or is it just that the general knowledge of mountain climbing gained in climbing the external mountain allows a more efficient ascent of the Internal Mountain? The one thing for sure is that the progression through these stages is pretty universal and it is at the very highest levels of the mountain that we find the real art – The Magic.

The Three Levels

1) The Thought Engine learns and knows techniques, can be tricky and plan and can evade and attack. It is how we learn in general and many people never progress past this operational state. The Brain Mind has a limited bandwidth and interfaces with muscle memory to augment its efficiency.

2) The Sympathetic Engine is fast and has a higher bandwidth to handle the amounts of information that Haptic Control requires. It comes from the factory with a default "Fight or Flight" kind of twitchy jumpy energetic operational mode which can be reprogrammed with more Martially useful techniques. The high level External Artist who has become fluid and relaxed in their automatic movements uses this engine but it still controls contraction type muscular activity. There is a certain type of Fajin that is generated by this engine.

3) The Parasympathetic Engine is instantaneous and has more neural capacity than either of the other 2 engines and has the bandwidth in the required range to monitor movement. It interfaces with the Relaxation Response, Expansion Coordination and has the Myo Facial Fiber Optic Web under its control. It is this Engine that produces the more Super-Luminary Fajin and the body shapes and structure naturally fill in to support with sound postures. This causes some to think this is simply a higher level structural Newtonian technique because it generally requires a good posture and mechanical connection to the opponent.

Some people want to use Chinese terminology and argue the meaning of Fajin, Fali, Hua and Na but my Chinese friends tell me that the ancient texts are written in a style of Chinese that is so abstruse even for a native speaker who has studied internal arts that you are better off relying on the excellent translations that catch the essence of the text. Many of these translators were not Chinese but they were scholars of Ancient Chinese and Martial Arts. To claim that the concepts hidden behind the traditional terms are reserved for the culturally Chinese is silly. That being said these concepts may be spoken of in the language of Neuro-Science and Neuro-Physiology without reinventing or watering down the concepts. If a thing is true it may be spoken of (Except the Dao!)

Rather than the highly idiosyncratic terms that everyone seems to have private definitions of I choose a more modern language that comes from Neuro-Science that has allowed continual progression we see in Sports and Performing Arts. I concern myself initially with The Three Levels.

Mastery and Ability

There has been a longstanding belief amongst Tai Chi players that one must come from a certain lineage or tradition or culture or manifest certain specific skills, otherwise they’re not really doing Tai Chi. Among the principal skills claimed by the aficionados of the so-called indoor schools to be necessary for real Tai Chi to exist is Fajin. This Fajin must furthermore be of a particular style in which the mechanical aspect of using the foot Pump and Hip is minimized. Some people will say that this no-force Fajin by definition will not work against inanimate objects like its cousin the more external Fajin. BTW, I use Fajin in a general way here.

Here’s the deal, it appears to be necessary to learn good clean mechanical Fajin first. As one becomes more proficient, the exaggeration of bouncing into the feet or sitting with the pelvis becomes less pronounced. That is to say that the Useful Exaggeration that most of us go through becomes less useful.

Level three Fajin begins with one pressing into the other person or them pressing into to you and you causing their reflexes to fire. As the wave energy passes into them their reflexes involuntarily fire. This “Wave Energy” comes from the Dantian and is transmitted through the Myo-Facial Web and the body structure; not through muscular contraction. At the moment that their reflexes fire, you can add level two Fajin at the soft or hard level of kinetic energy to their reflex response. The high level player seamlessly combines and sequences all 3 levels of energy at will.

Level three Fajin done without a mechanical element grafted on to the end often looks like the partner has simply jumped backwards.

Now back to the discussion of what Tai Chi is or isn’t. I remember a discussion in music school over what was music at what was not music; or even what is art and what is not art. In music one can become a true master in Classical performance without having even a proficiency in improvisation. One can be a Jazz master at the highest level without a mastery of the Classical idiom. One can be a Master Player without being a Master Composer.

I feel that likewise in Tai Chi the lack of one particular aspect or another does not invalidate one’s true skills. The main thing about the highest level is that I know it when I see it and it all comes down to Mastery and Ability.

A Search for Self

I see people on the Internet chat groups abandoning all principles of Taiji Push Hands. Instead of a conversation they want an argument and they usually find one. I see them abandon all principles of Scientific Inquiry which should be an important component of our personal work. For instance I’ll say that something is a component of high level practice. They will respond that since this thing is a component of something else as well then I am wrong (There are cows in NH – No, there are cows in VT so there are no cows in NH). Of course furthermore it’s people like me that pollute this art, their teacher can beat up my teacher, I did not get the secret indoor teaching that they did, I study the wrong system or lineage, am not Chinese, that their no-ego system is better than my no-ego system. I swear to God I’m not making this up. Yeah, you can’t make that up because it’s too unbelievable. Of course it can be useful seeing your own words staring at you from the computer screen reminding you that you have not become the kind of person that you want to be, that you still have some personal history that no longer serves you to let go of and that this Art may not confer those gifts of insight and growth simply by showing up...

It gets worse. There are no Masters any more, nobody gets it. You have to be a Master to transmit the Art, therefore nobody has the right to teach. All the people going through the early stages with other teachers or styles at a lower level are wrong. Well my friends, I worked that area of the Mountain and was thankful to have some firm ground from which to progress until those temporary truths no longer served me. Eventually I moved on to truer systems and areas of the Mountain. Why would I deprive others of that experience; of their own experience? Many claim that Spiritual Progress is an emergent property of Authentic Taijiquan, they claim to be some of the very few to be doing Authentic Taiji and yet they are angry, judgmental, intolerant, close-minded, unkind and prejudiced. It’s an interesting juxtaposition and while I believe there is a time for righteous indignation and putting the disrespectful children in their place I don’t think you have to live there!

When I go to a party I don’t stand there wondering if this person I am speaking with is smarter than me or not. I see if we are having an interesting conversation or not. I’ve been bored to tears by those with greater intellectual prowess than me and been moved to tears by those who I could have easily dismissed as less intelligent. It should be the same in Push Hands, it’s not always a contest to see who can push whom. Actually that is the beginning level and you don’t learn as much there. I prefer the volley; catching and returning energy. I allow the flow to happen and find ourselves in cooperative and supportive roles regardless of how vigorous the level of play.

I would rather light a single candle to illuminate an idea than come to burn down the castle armed with torches and scripture. I try to conduct myself in class and out of class, as a teacher or a student in a way that would not prevent our studying together in the future. It takes a lot to cross that line. I write to see my thoughts from the other side so I can see what I think and what I need to work on next. The thing that helps keep everything in balance and not cross those lines is to keep it what it’s about - A Search for Self

The List

Just imagine the number of things that need to be in place to simply receive an attack and issue a return.

Listen, Connect, Stick, Follow, Understanding, Neutralize, Seal, Unbalance and Push. That means you have to be conscious of the Internal Landscape and be able to stay there under duress. You have to be able to expand into your environment and into your opponent and sync up to him. You need to feel the whole 3D nature of the swirling gyroscopic energy coming in and catch it softly, support for a moment, release it and assist its acceleration away from you. All the while from beginning to end you need to attach to the opponents reflexes following their timing, turning them on and off at will.

I used to categorize these skills according to their traditional Chinese names but it seems that one should be able to define Tai Chi to someone who does not know the private vocabulary. If I talk about the Ting, Wen, Na, Fa cycle it isn’t clear to an outsider that this relates to the application of energy and its timing. Of course the acquisition of Jins and cultivation of Jing, Chi and Shen and all the rest are essential components that comprise the fundamentals, qualities and skills I mention here.

The Tai Chi Curriculum Includes the 1) Proficiency in the Fundamentals 2) The Qualities and 3) The Skills:

1) Fundamentals – Stances, Posture, The Moves, The Forms, Balance, Rooting, Stepping, Head up, Tailbone down, Joints sunk, Functional Use of the Waist and Back, Breath low, Open crown, Opening the hands, The Gaze, Peripheral Awareness, Independence of body parts, Weight forward towards ball of foot, Integration

2) Qualities - Calm Mind, Softness, Strength, Simplicity, Naturalness, Comfortable, Subtle, Clear, Relaxed on the inside, Peaceful, Artistic, Precise, Meaningful, Hidden, Open, Unified, Musical, Continuous, with Straightness and Roundness, Insubstantial and substantial, Quality of Motion

3) Skills - Footwork, Handwork, Use of the mind, Awareness of group energy, Gathering and Issuing, Understanding, Intention, Opening and Closing, Solo practice, Chi gung, Applications, Two Person Practice, Improvisation, Hydraulic Motion/Wave Energy, Transfer of Momentum, Appear, Disappear, Expand and Condense, Consciousness of the Body Field, Continuity, Timing, Yielding, Sinking, Dynamic Relaxation, The Ability to Receive Energy (Push, Punch, Grab, etc.) and Transmute it without undue strength and Return it, Internal Awareness, Fajin

And still… without the Secret Handshake this is just The List.

The Tai Chi Curriculum

You could say that the Tai Chi curriculum is Proficiency in Forms Practice and in Two Person Practice. Everything meaningful for me in Tai Chi would be covered by that.

Unfortunately this curriculum would not help to define Tai Chi to the non-player or distinguish it as an Internal Art. Well, it turns out that there is no consensus reality amongst Tai Chi players with regard to that type of definition either except that we know it when we see it. This is a factor allowing the unscrupulous or delusional to ply their trade.

It is no surprise that in the absence of a clear definition that a clear methodology is so rare. It has been said that the truth about the training methods necessary to develop good internal skills are so counter-intuitive that you are simply not going to discover them on your own. Historically this has been true but as advancing research into Sports Medicine, Anatomy Trains and the Enteric Body has unearthed the Dynamics of Energy involved in reflexes and motor function I think we can find a way to focus our practice to produce verifiable results in less than 3 lifetimes.

Once you are studying Forms Practice and Basic Applications you are Doing Tai Chi. Once you can see yourself inside and get a Radar lock on your partner and you can sense them internally becoming aware that you just acquired knowledge of their center then you are Doing Internal Martial Arts. Your level of skill in these things denotes your level in Tai Chi.

Tai Chi is a Martial Art. It is okay to excel in the Performance Art of Tai Chi as a central focus. A common complaint I have heard is that a focus on the Aesthetic and Artistic will cause people to try and make their forms pretty. Well, anyone who is familiar with high level internal skills displayed in Music or Dance will know that one hint of artifice or self-consciousness will cause the moment to fail.

I think that although Tai Chi is a Martial Art that Fighting Ability is not one of the more important determinants of Tai Chi level. Someone may cultivate partner work rather than combat skills and reach very high levels and conversely those who pursue fighting skills often seem to significantly delay their advancement in Tai Chi as an Internal Art. Furthermore some well-conditioned MMA guy could easily out fight some excellent Tai Chi players so I think a focus on Fighting Skills per se can misdirect our inquiry. If Push Hands was Ping Pong then I personally play a game more concentrated on extended volleying and being the Minister of Silly Spins rather than a game relying upon serves that cannot be returned or slams. When you play that way sometimes you forget who’s serve it was and even what the score is and you give up keeping score altogether.

So the Art keeps me showing up every day and what I learn in that context I test in partner work and free play to keep myself honest.

BTW - I am still zeroing in on my actual Tai Chi Curriculum List and thank you for being patient and giving me the room to get there!

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.