The majority of challenges a student might incur, when studying Tai Chi, can be avoided by following the suggestions offered in a previous posting on this Blog titled Doing vs. Practicing. However this is such an important topic I want to expand on my previous posting.
The single most frequently asked question by students is “When am I going to get it “. My standard answer is “ I’ll let you know, when I know “. The actual answer is … Never. As long a you continue to study you will never Get It. Actually, the longer you study the more you will realize how little you Get It .... and how un-important that quest is. Tai Chi study is a trip, a journey. I know this is a very new age sounding response that is an over used bumper sticker, but in this case it’s 100% on the money.
Studying Tai Chi is an endless process of improving your body’s alignment, learning new moves and transitions, improving the quality of each component, conditioning your mind and body to meet force with lesser force (the connection to functional relaxation), and in the process addressing the many scourges of the 21st century such as; stress, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, stroke, depression etc. In addition you are positively addressing issues and conditions like; osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, neurological disorders, balance issues etc.
Here’s the best news. You don’t have to “Get it” to start getting all these benefits from your Tai Chi playing ( doing Tai Chi is called playing and those playing are called Tai Chi players). Every movement in Tai Chi has the ability to produce profound positive results. The more you practice, the more will transition into the doing part ( see Doing vs Practicing ) and the greater the benefit. You set your pace.
However, if you are always chasing “When am I going to get it”, you will be missing out on the benefit you can derive from every class and every time you actually play Tai Chi. Here’s another bumper sticker.
“Slow Down and Smell the Roses"
Sifu, Gene Nelson
Empire Tai Chi
7/20/12
