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www.patrickkellytaiji.com
Table of Contents
What is Taiji? 1
Taiji History 2
Taiji Today 3
Taiji Practice 4
Taiji - Principles 5
Loosening Exercises 6
37 Move Short Form 7
Pushing-hands 8
14 Important Points 9
8 Paths Meditation Appendix
Chapter 4 - Taiji Practice
Understanding.
Understanding grows when knowledge combines with personal experience. The
principles are explained in the Taiji Classics, but their truth must be
experienced for ourselves. The understanding of these principles is not
static. It becomes more subtle as our Taiji progresses. Humility is a consequence
of growth in true understanding.
Progress.
It takes 3 to 4 years to learn a reasonably balanced set of forms and exercises.
It takes another 3 to 4 years for these to become relaxed and naturally
co-ordinated with the flow of energy in the body. The sequence of learning
should be from big to small and from external to internal. Each process
occurs in cycles where progress produces spirals. The repeated action of
extending and condensing, refines the ideas and methods like the working
of rough iron into finest spring steel. Most cells in the body replace
themselves within a 7 to 8 year cycle. The cells that form while practising
Taiji contain the essence of that practice so that a completely new 'Taiji
body' is formed by the end of a 7 to 8 year period, though it will be still
capable of much physical refinement. Training the Mind takes a further
7 to 8 years for similar reasons. This achieves the 'second change'. Really
this stage is using the Mind to train the Lower-energies. After about 14
years the 'Taiji Mind' or 'Deep Mind' should be apparent. Under ideal conditions
a further 7 to 8 years allows the Spirit to gradually infuse the Deep Mind
and the 'third change' occurs.
Effort.
Effort to change calls forth resistance, producing friction or struggle,
which generates the heat or energy, required to produce inner refinement.
Maintaining a steady, flexible intention in the face of this resistance,
directs the effort. An attitude of acceptance handles unchangeable effects
from the past, and prevents the resistance that appears in response to
effort, from consuming the energy produced by the struggle. An internal
state of self-awareness provides objectivity, taking us outside the learning
process as it is occurring.
Health.
Practising Taiji strengthens the basic energy of the body. Health relates
mainly to the condition of the energy flow in our body, but includes the
state of all our internal organs. Taiji fortifies the internal organs by
promoting the circulation of blood and other body fluids. Practising Taiji
also strengthens the muscles and bones. This provides protection from external
injury and allows for more effective daily living. Some confuse weak with
soft, therefore good, and strong with hard, therefore bad. While the good
are often weak and the bad are sometimes strong, this is just an unfortunate
fact of life. The Taiji ideal is both soft and strong. Minor problems may
arise in the course of training. Shaking legs, aching muscles, or dull
pains in the ankles and feet, often occur as the body adjusts to a new
exercise. Dizziness and mild nausea occasionally appear from the initial
efforts to concentrate the Mind. Knee pain is common but careful attention
to knee alignment, combined with massage before and after training, will
minimise it. Overemphasising the fighting or competitive aspect often leads
to body damage. If any difficulties do persist, discuss them with your
instructor or senior students who will have personal experience in the
exercises and should understand the causes. Pains in the body are just
one type of resistance that may occur when we try to move in a new way.
Each person should decide for themselves, up to what intensity they can
be safely accepted. The health of the body is only as important in Taiji,
as is the health of the brain important in developing the intellect.
Three Levels.
Taiji practice has 3 levels. Body, Mind and Spirit (Earth, Man and Heaven).
The Mind in its deepest aspect (Deep Mind) is central to the training process.
There are 2 connections to be trained - Mind/body and Mind/Spirit. The
Mind and the body are connected by the lower energies which has 3 aspects
- etheric, emotional and mental. Training the Mind/body connection has
2 components - moving with awareness (body active, Mind passive), and leading
the movement with the Mind (Mind active, body passive). We are born with
functioning bodies providing a degree of awareness, but little moving,
feeling or thinking control. Living in life forces some development in
these areas, but the potential of each person lies far beyond what they
usually attain. Taiji is designed to develop both active and passive components
of the Mind/body connection, with a balanced consideration for the 3 aspects
of the lower energies. The Mind and the Spirit are connected by the higher
energies. Training of the Mind/Spirit connection also has 2 components
- deep awareness (Deep Mind active), and response within the Deep Mind
to subtle direction from the Spirit (Deep Mind passive). Training the Mind/Spirit
connection naturally assumes its importance once the training of the Mind/body
connection nears its completion.
Motive.
There are three reasons for practising - firstly to help ourselves; secondly
to be involved with others who also wish to practice; thirdly to contribute
something to the source of the teaching. Receiving, sharing and giving
support each other. Each of these three has many levels. People choose
their own level of practice according to their inner motives, though motives
- conscious and unconscious - are usually mixed. The level or quality is
decided firstly by the intention, then by the feeling behind it, and lastly
by the skill or ability with which it is carried through.
Ego.
Training the body produces change, but with each change comes the need for
its psychological integration. The ego's response to success or temporary
failure, affects the learning process. Conflict may arise between the unrealistic
expectations stemming from the imaginary picture we have of ourselves,
and the dawning realisation of where we are and what needs to be done.
The ego is a shell, a 'Shop Front' to protect our delicate inner life from
the outer world. On a superficial level it prevents those around us from
seeing who we really are. On a deeper and more harmful side it blocks our
contact with our Deep Mind. Sensitive pressure applied by the teacher,
the teaching and the student themselves, combine to break through the areas
of resistance and conflict, increasing the students inner freedom. Well
established and outwardly natural 'Fronts' are often the hardest to crack.
Deep Changes.
At the time of practice good effects can be experienced in the way of body
looseness, increased awareness, greater energy flow and peace of Mind.
Such short term results come easily when we practice and disappear easily
when we do not practice. They heal the infirm and balance the unstable.
Deep changes take time to mature. They require constant effort over a long
period. They affect our essence and alter who we are. Commonly, people
work intensively for some time and then, because the results are not immediately
obvious, they stop. The inner progress will have been occurring but will
not yet have surfaced. Deep changes are not easily lost, and if intense
enough, they crystallise and become permanent.
Practice Space.
The external environment is of limited importance. Special shoes, a neat
uniform, a beautiful room or a quiet park with trees and grass, can be
pleasant. Yet pleasant or unpleasant, either way the effect is minor once
the practitioner begins to mature inwardly and the release from dependence
on external conditions starts to appear. Although using one physical place
over and over can accumulate energy in that space itself, this is the lowest
level at which the environment begins to be important. While helpful, it
may also breed dependence on external conditions. In a broader sense, our
environment is the life situation that we place ourselves in. This is perhaps
90% determined by our past actions and 10% determined by our present actions.
A 'good' life situation may not contribute much to inner development, but
a 'bad' one can interfere with it by sapping and diverting physical, emotional
and mental energy. The group energy field is the most important feature
of the practice conditions. Everybody makes their contribution to this
field by the quality and quantity of effort they provide, while everybody
receives its stimulation during practice.
Which Teacher?
A teacher is no more than a student at a later stage of development than
the people whom they are teaching. Teachers express their personal understanding
of the Taiji principles, varying their teaching with time to suit the circumstances
and people involved. Each student understands what is taught in their own
particular way. When students have studied for 10 years with a good teacher,
they will understand what that teacher is trying to express, although it
will take at least that time again to make it their own. First look for
a teacher who has trained for at least this length of time, or an instructor
who is still under the direction of such a teacher. Then consider the lineage
or quality of the Taiji the teacher or instructor has been taught, and
the teacher's nature or ability to accurately express the teaching. Lastly
consider how openly the teacher gives out that teaching. The end result
of these factors can be seen in the quality of the students that the teacher
has attracted, and the atmosphere generated in the classes. Ultimately,
the source of Taiji is higher than any teacher. Taiji cannot be sold and
cannot be bought. Teachers hold it in trust for those who, due to their
efforts, are in a position to receive it. Any money paid is for the teacher's
time and expenses. There exists a natural intelligence supporting the learning
of Taiji. This is more important than any teacher. As your understanding
grows, practise what you find to be true and you will be loyal to Taiji.
Then you will also be loyal to any teacher who is in harmony with this
Natural Intelligence.