Step?

In order to get closer to something, we step. This is a fundamental human skill, yet so many people reach beyond their natural range instead of stepping. Why is this?

Laziness? Poor body awareness? Naivety? If you reach rather than step closer, you sacrifice your balance, and with it your strength.

It is absurd to think you are going to get anywhere by giving only an hour a week to your practice or that you can regularly skip classes. Martial arts is not like a bridge club, where you drop in when you have nothing better to do. Martial arts will always make greater demands on your time than would most hobbies or avocations.

(Dave Lowry) 

 Some people in this culture believe that the “consumer” is entitled to good service and if they feel wronged are entitled to take their custom elsewhere. This may or may not be a useful strategy with plumbers, electricians etc but foolish in the extreme in relation to tai chi.

(Peter Hobson)

The Chen form derived from battlefield military movements, where people wore medieval body armour that had to be compensated for. The Chen-style stances were specifically designed to achieve these compensations and obtain a workable position from which to realistically throw an armoured opponent.

By the time Yang had reached Beijing, times had changed. With the advent of firearms, battlefield armour became obsolete; hence, the need for techniques to deal with armoured foes had passed.

Yang and his students had to deal with situations encountered by bodyguards, not armies opposing each other.

(Bruce Frantzis)

An inch

There is a point where something is weak, then it becomes strong, only to become weak again. Like a 'bell curve'... The human lifespan is like this: a baby, to adulthood, to decrepitude and death.

Seek to do only what is necessary to find that optimal point of strength. Sometimes it requires just an inch of movement.

Just enough?

It is so tempting to stretch, to extend, to reach. To force, to push.

Don't do this. Just do what you need to do to accomplish the result and nothing more.

Aim for this ratio: minimal effort achieves maximum results.

A different way?

Tai chi advocates moderation in all things. e.g. over-training is as bad as under-training. If you do not train enough, there will be very little fitness benefit and no martial development.

If you train too much, the body will become tired and there is an increased risk of injury.

 

Tai chi poise is healthy. The body is used naturally and comfortably. The mind is quiet. We listen to what the body is telling us rather than push and punish ourselves.

Hands

Over-use and wrong use of the hands can cause immobility and arthritis. Main culprits:

• Computer mouse

• Mobile phone

• Tapping a touch screen

• Unnecessary application of force

• Gripping too hard

• Knitting

• Sewing

• Repetitive activity

• Using a keyboard

• Playing video games

Sitting

The main culprit for loss of mobility in most adults is sitting on their backsides too much. Sitting causes:

• Strained neck

• Sore shoulders

• Stiffness

• Upper back pain

• Lower back pain

• Loss of circulation

• Joint compression

• Swollen legs

• Heart disease

The solution is easy. Switch off the PC, the TV and walk whenever possible rather than drive.

Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV, and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death. The chair is out to kill us.

(Professor James Levine, The Mayo Clinic) 

Aging

As people get older they lose the ability to move freely and easily. This reduces our quality of life. Tai chi was designed to off-set the stiffness commonly associated with aging.

Our aim is to regain the degree of mobility we started life with.

Birth

You started life with a natural condition of suppleness and flexibility. A baby does not have sore knees, a bad back or arthritis.

The limbs can move comfortably within their natural range of motion. There is no stiffness in the muscles.

  Consider this: Most people live lives that are not particularly physically challenging. They sit at a desk, or if they move around, it's not a lot. They aren't performing manoeuvres that require tremendous balance and coordination. Thus they settle into a low level of physical capabilities - enough for day-to-day activities or maybe even hiking or biking or playing golf or tennis on the weekends, but far from the level of physical capabilities that a highly trained athlete possesses.

The reason that most people don't possess extraordinary physical capabilities isn't because they don't have the capacity for them, but rather because they're satisfied to live in the comfortable rut of homeostasis and never do the work that is required to get out of it.

The same thing is true for all the mental activities we engage in. We learn enough to get by but once we reach that point we seldom push to go beyond.

(Anders Ericsson)

Status quo

People are biologically inclined to be lazy, to stay put, to refrain from change. Breaking the status quo requires a deliberate, conscious effort. We like to stay in our comfort zone.

 

Tai chi for healthy aging...

Tai chi re-trains the body to move like it is supposed to move. Like an animal would. No tension, no impediments. Free, spontaneous, comfortable movement.

Sure, not all tai chi classes do this. Everyone has their own agenda. But trained correctly, tai chi was designed to restore the body to its natural, healthy state.

How well you do and how far you can rejuvenate your body is down to you. It is your responsibility. The more you put into the training the more you will get out of it.

Ideal form of exercise?

According to the book The Blue Zones it is important to think of exercise in terms of what you can reasonably do long-term.

The ideal form of exercise is moderate enough that you can do it for the rest of your life. It needs to be joint-friendly, provide a gentle workout and be sustainable.

This sounds rather like tai chi, doesn't it?

Stiffness?

Stiffness and inflexibility are indisputable signs of being old. Work on this. Once your muscles are tense and your body is stiff you cannot remedy this situation overnight.

Hitting the gym or buying an expensive drop handle bicycle will not get rid of stiffness. You need to do something else. Rather that force and hammer your muscles, they need to be softened and relaxed. Patience is needed.