Chi Lies at the Heart of All the Marital Arts
Over all the years that I studied various marital arts, and it was SELDOM that I was aware of the flow of chi.
I can recall at the height of my training in Sil Lum Kung Fu, the sensation of energy separate from muscle and effort, something apart of my physical training – but that came and went in one fleeting moment. The irony of that moment is that I NEVER forgot it…
Fast forward 30 years… Here I am 50+ years old, learning Tai Chi AGAIN… and there’s the sensation, there’s the energy that I felt so long ago. The huge difference is that now, it’s doesn’t just disappear. It comes back when I practice Qi Gong (Tai Chi warm ups) and Tai Chi.
Sometimes I feel it in a business meeting, or on a walk or wherever…
As I have mentioned, I am not interested right now in studying anything other than Tai Chi, but I am absolutely certain, that the Chi that I now experience was always there, always present and a driving force, but just had to be properly coaxed, had to be awakened.
It’s not hard to do, it does not take great discipline, it just takes persistence and some stillness. I am no master, I am a student and I am learning.
I really don’t care what art you are studying – Tai Chi can and will augment and enhance your training… Try it, it won’t take you long to determine whether or not I am full of it…
Daily Tai Chi Practice and Body Knowledge
Practicing Qi Gong and Tai Chi on a daily basis is to me on par with eating and drinking water. Without it, not only do I feel mentally unprepared for the day, but also my physical energy and vitality suffer as well.
I think that it’s safe to say that those that do practice regularly and daily, progress much more rapidly in the Tai Chi journey, at any martial art or other physical activity.
The physical aspect to this is what I refer to as “Body Knowledge”…
I don’t think that I have ever read about it anywhere and it’s just a lesson that I learned a long time ago that goes something like this…
When learning a form, regardless of what it is, Tai Chi, Kung Fu, whatever, at first – strive to go through motions just learned without a great deal of thought. I know this sound’s ludicrous but hear me out…
For me, the body retains the motions more readily than the mind. To watch, listen, take it “in” and SHUT the mind down, to let the body absorb the movements – each one – and one to another, is a method of retaining movement that is far superior to thinking too hard…
One night many years ago, my Kung Fu instructor – Lee Burchfield, was working with me on a technique with which I was having a great deal of difficulty. After a period of time and in exasperation, Lee recited the following to me…
“A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, “Pray, which leg comes after which?”
This raised her mind to such a pitch,
She lay distracted in the ditch
Considering how to run…” *
Lee smiled at me, and said “Guess who you are?”…. Turned and walked away…
What else could I say?