My kids can’t/won’t have their breakfast, brush their teeth, get dressed, go to school in the morning until I have done their breakfast first – it is a time honoured sequence – there are many occasions in life where one action or outcome depends on a defined sequence like making a cup of tea. In my golf I find that the ball does not go where I want it to unless I prepare in a particular sequence then hit it – if I omit part of the sequence then it does not do what I would like. If I decide to have a shower and get myself dressed first in the morning then I am late doing the breakfast and the kids are potentially late for school, if you do not boil the kettle first then you have only cold tea. We can of course multi-task – but that simply involves juggling a number of parallel sequential processes – we still end up constrained by the length of the longest sequence – check out Critical Path Analysis.
So far so obvious – but look around and check just how basic this is – whether or not time exists in the quantum world – here in the macro world it certainly involves one thing happening after another – likewise in Tai Chi.
You cannot crack a whip without first moving the handle then sequentially each and every part of the whip one after the previous one – each building on the movement of the last to accelerate the next until finally the very tip is moving at the speed of sound – your relatively slow hand movement of the whip has been transformed into supersonic speed. Consider then if we work backwards from the handle to the hand and arm into the body to the centre and even further down our legs to the ground. Now let us travel backward – surely the force of the whip is rooted on/in the ground by our feet which are stationary, with the force itself initiated by the movement of our centre and augmented in the legs controlled and directed by the centre then transmitted sequentially out through each segment of the body, all the way down the arm where it initiates the movement of the whip itself. Our body has become a part of the whip – and infact works like the whip. Similarly with a weapon or a golf club – so we can say that the Chi is projected down the weapon or club to the tip or the head where it gets transferred to our opponent – or ideally the ball.
It is this movement which gives us the feeling of connectedness and fluidity – derived from the way each segment interacts with its neighbour and as with the whip any stiffness inhibits that interaction – we can say that “the Chi is blocked”. So we relax the stiffness, then we can move from the centre to initiate the power so that it can move outward in a fluid segmentally sequential movement. Indeed everything moves together – from the centre to the feet and from the centre to the finger tips.
If we get the sequence right then as with the whip we can create great speed and power in what looks like a very simple way. So perhaps in life – get the sequence right and life can be simple?
I saw a piece yesterday on a David Attenborough program about Archer fish – the young learn quite a complex hunting technique – shooting water at prey on branches above the surface – and they do it by following and watching the older fish. After a few days of watching – without actually practicing – they go off on their own and are able to shoot accurately themselves – just by watching.
Seems to me that we could and should learn how to do this in our Tai Chi – maybe watching Youtube videos is a good idea after all. But don’t forget to practice as well just to be on the safe side!
Here’s a couple of links on the subject:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16488871
http://www.eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk/archerfish-model-sophisticated-social-learning
So which came first – conflict or co-operation?
Martial Arts or Social Interaction?
The aggression and violence of “I want to eat you”. The defence of “I don’t want to be eaten”.
The approach of “I want to procreate with you” The defensiveness of “I don’t trust you” or “I don’t want to procreate”.
Well, it does seem that biologically speaking eating others probably came first with its attendant fighting and violence, quickly followed by social co-operation for mutual defense and to facilitate better eating.
Sex apparently came later (even sideways according to recent research) and took quite a while (in archaeological time) to get off the ground as it were. When it did, and especially when mammals got hold of it, then the whole thing of defence against being eaten and defense of young and improvement in social conditions came together in a sophisticated group sort of way.
People started to think about relationships in conflict (with nature) and in social co-operation – martial arts was born along with politics, philosophy, sciences and social sciences.
It seems to be that these are all so closely bound up with each other in their causation and their resolution that at a fundamental level it is impossible to separate them. Away from the fundamental – eat/get eaten, procreate – attract/reject scenarios, each aspect takes a different approach, but that is really all it is – a different perspective on the same human condition.
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I am delighted that our move of the Luton class to its new venue at Chaul End Community Centre went smoothly yesterday with a good number of new beginners coming along.
The lesson plan was simply to give an introduction to Tai Chi with a fairly broad sweep of exercises and verbal description.
My thanks to the Chaul End Centre who have been very supportive to the class – so hopefully the very special introductory offer of £2 per class will bring Tai Chi within reach of many more people in the Luton and Dunstable area.
No need to book in advance – there is plenty of space – you can turn up on the night – please wear loose clothing and flat soled trainers. Contact me if you have any questions or check out the website here for further information.
My friends and colleagues at The Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living have put together an excellent review of medical reports on the statistically significant effects reported in medical studies attributed to the practice of Tai Chi.
These include:
“Better physical and mental health statuses, lower blood pressure, less mood disturbance, more positive mood states”,
“Breast Cancer survivors: significant improvements in health-related quality of life and self-esteem”
“statistically significant improvement in self-assessed health of women aged 72 to 96”
and many many more – including bone density, cardiorespiratory function, lipid profile, sleep quality, Fibromyalgia symptoms, balance and blood presure – read the whole document here.
My wonderful friend and colleague Judy Hammond has recently posted her new website movingmindfully.com with some lovely ideas and imagry. Judy and I have co-presented a number of Tai Chi / Moving Mindfully seminars in the past 2 or 3 years on subjects as diverse as falls prevention, spiralling, meditation and movement – she is an inspiration in my work and to many students as well as great fun to work with!
The ideas and exercises which we both use in our trainings share common concepts throughout and I know for example that a number of students move between classes and experience a benefit in their practice.
“Moving Mindfully is an unusually eclectic, enjoyable approach to movement and alignment, including key elements of Pilates, yoga and chi qong, and always incorporating the AlexanderTechnique principles of safe conscious use of the spine and joints.”
As Judy explains she “employs a multidisciplinary approach, gentle partner work and vivid imagery ….. to move mindfully and be conscious of our alignment and breathing patterns” – I can tell by the improved posture and smiles on the faces of students that her approach certainly works.
See here for details of seminars with Judy.
For some time I have been interested in the link between martial arts and health – particularly with regard to the practice of Tai Chi which is widely recognised as excellent for both.
In particular I have been intrigued by the questions:
“Why do the greatest health benefits come when the practice most closely follows martial effectiveness?”
and
“Why does focus on healthy practice bring significant development in martial skill?”
The following article expresses some thoughts as to how Tai Chi in particular and martial arts practice in general relate to those two questions by looking at some of the elements involved and describing some achievable outcomes.
I could only manage a day with Master Chen Ying Jun at his recent seminars in the Reading area – but it was a very full day – both interesting and enjoyable. Thank you to Steve, Vickie and Phil for organising this.
This type of seminar – with a master of his skill, and working with other students of various abilities – always serves as a reference point and an inspiration for my own training – both on my own and with my teacher Karel Koskuba. Such sessions also reconfirm that to be a good teacher it is necessary to continuously improve one’s own Tai Chi.
Immediately I remember the corrections, low stances and very practical approach of Chen Ying Jun – but I suspect that longer term much more subtle transmissions have been absorbed and I look forward to finding out what they were in my training until his next visit.
I thought I might pass on some personal thoughts on how Tai Chi fits into the mix of approaches to “bad back” syndrome arising from deterioration of posture and poor habits of body use.
Tai Chi emphasises keeping a relaxed straight back leading to a vertical posture carried with poise. Tai Chi achieves this by using principles and practices which it has in common with Yoga, Alexander Technique, Pilates, Chi Kung etc. For example:
- Intention and Visualisation such as the “golden thread” – with head floating up, body weight sinking down.
- Balance exercises – such as a number which involve “spiralling” the body while co-ordinating the arms/legs with the central core movement of the dantien. Wherever possible these can be done with feet together and eyes closed.
- Holding of postures – such as the “standing pole” Chi Kung exercises and the relaxed maintaining of Tai Chi postures.
- Hands on corrections – which enable us to understand the difference between what we think we are doing and what we are actually doing – and so correct to a more vertical posture.
- Mindfulness – maintaining the awareness created in our practice.
- Relaxation – allows the body to straighten – where otherwise tensions might have pulled it out of shape.
- Opening of joints – by opening the vertebrae we can extend and straighten the back – opening other joints relaxes the way the weight is carried and distributed along the spine.
- Internal body awareness – by being sensitively aware we can be more mindful.
- Concept of Chi, Prana, energy etc. – enables us to compare the way we move and to develop strength and fluidity.
However Tai Chi goes further by incorporating its own ways of continuing this relaxed vertical back and posture into everyday movement.
These additional principles take use of the back from slow standing movement through to vigorous activity by cultivating:
- Resilient skeletal muscular structure
- Moving from the centre
- Sequentially segmental body use
- Spiralling
Clearly the best approach is to initiate habits of good posture and movement before any problem presents, or failing that to catch a back problem before it becomes too severe or chronic. The principles of Tai Chi establish good habits of body usage from any point – and can offer a healing pathway if a situation of dis-comfort is caught early enough. Even when the spine fails to relax or straighten then practice can still lead to improved balance and mobility – in other words even if a back problem does not resolve then improvement in general body usage may significantly improve the overall situation.
It seems likely that best results would be achieved by sufferers working in conjunction with their medical practitioners and other therapists as well as using Tai Chi practice e.g. physiotherapy, osteopathy, acupuncture, Shiatsu etc.
We are fortunate that in addition to regular visits by Grand Master Chen Xiaowang we also now have seminars in the UK with Master Chen Ying Jun and Master Chen Bing.
Please see links for details:
Chen Ying Jun – Reading – October 2014
Chen Xiaowang – London – November 2014
Chen Bing – Chichester and Oxford – November 2014
