Tai Chi

Master Huang throwing Tony using a piece of silk. Sydney Demonstration, 1989

The answer doesn't necessarily lie in the outer look, although there are certain qualities that do appear externally to the trained eye. There is one thing that threads or connects all of the different aspects together and that is its principles.

The same principles are the basis for many other facets of Traditional Chinese culture. Including Chinese medicine, architecture, Feng Shui, calligraphy, and brushwork. Dating back 5000 years they can be found in the Yellow Emperors Classic on Internal Medicine (Nei Jing).

Tai chi's connection comes through Taoism. It is believed that tai chi was created over 700 years ago by the Taoist sage Chang San Feng. Chang combined natural movement with the Taoist principles of yielding, serenity and emptiness, softness and returning and developed a unique internal health exercise and one of China's foremost martial arts, and an ideal method of self-cultivation for the body and mind.

The Taoists believe that all phenomena conform to and abide by the law of Tao. The Tao being the principle of all existence or life itself. The dynamic of this existence is constant change and variation, created by the continuous interaction of two opposing forces called yin and yang. Being healthy, in Chinese medical theory, means that the forces of yin and yang within the body are in a well balanced state. Disturb the balance and illness occurs. From a health perspective, the aim of tai chi is to restore and maintain this balance.

If we can learn to be open to and accept whatever conditions arise in our lives we create the conditions for a state of balance within constant change. Through this we learn to become adaptable and flexible ensuring healthy, happy lives, with the ability to tap into our maximum potential.

Through the daily practice of forms and partner work, we cultivate our awareness, sensitivity and balance, which transforms the way we move, stand, act and interact in all aspects of our life. And as we develop and refine the principles we can create a state of aliveness - physically, energetically and spiritually.

How then should we commence training?

To begin with we need to:

• Look inward, calm the mind and deeply relax
• Let go of all resistance, allow every joint, bone, muscle and tissue to completely open
• Stand upright, align with the constant force of gravity, so that it passes in a vertical line through the center of the body (Tan Tien), to the middle of the supporting foot. Find this line and it will give you the central balancing point for the entire body. All movements begin with and happen around this axis in tai chi.
• The waist controls all movement. The hands, the feet from the top of the head to the soles of the feet, all must follow the turning of the waist.
• In stepping, you must support the entire body weight on one foot.
• Cultivate softness and suppleness, move with feeling and sensitivity so that the changes internally generate the movements externally.

Brushed aside and knocked to the ground. Tenom Demonstration 1987

Tai chi is about the relationship with your environment, with those around you and probably most importantly with yourself. Some students describe the feeling when they start to realise the principles as something familiar, like a coming home.

Tai chi is one of the few disciplines where young and old can practice together, where, as you get older you can continue to improve your skill in all aspects and levels, whether as a martial art, for health. It only requires an attitude of genuine enquiry, patience and perseverance.

The principles of the art, although simple, are truly profound. The method as relayed clearly in the classics, has been developed and passed from teacher to student through countless generations. Tai chi has survived the test of time.  The principles are as relevant and powerful today, because they work.