Tai Chi Chuan - What You Don't Know May Harm You

Tai Chi Chuan – What You Don’t Know May Harm You.

Well, I don’t mean to be too obvious so let me elaborate.

It is an interesting phenomenon in tai chi push hands that you get pushed as soon as you are not aware of where you are tense or holding on or resisting. If your partner can find that spot, you are in trouble.

But the real trouble is that many times, even when your partner TELLS you where the spot is, you still can’t feel the stuck place. We can’t see what is right in front of us. We have a hard time feeling ourselves and the more experienced player will have the upper hand. In part, it is more than just an inability to feel ourselves. Sometimes we are simply holding on to an idea and we ignore what our bodies are telling us.

So, too, in the emotional world. The unrecognized holding pattern or resistance will leap out and do you in. It almost seems as if it is a law. What you don’t see in yourself eventually will out. And it is never a good thing. Alas, the unexamined life is not only not worth living: It’s dangerous.

I was in a situation recently where I felt a great deal of internal anxiety. But I was also performing to others that I was not in a state of anxiety. I even hid it from myself. We had an exchange, and out came the tension in the form of a joke. It was not warmly received to say the least. I looked rather dumb. Oy vey!

There it was, the hidden tension waiting to expose it and me. In push-hands, the hidden tension is also waiting there to expose you to their push.

Besides lots of practice, the main solution in both cases is relaxation and observation. Being aware of you, and continuing to peel off those layers of habitual tension that hide the fact of hidden tension. It takes time and thoughtful awareness to allow it to come to the surface. After all, hidden tension is there because you DON’T want to see it. Or you are too lazy to look. It stays hidden unless you actively work to let it go. If you don’t let it go, you find yourself in a situation where the tension takes charge and you become a slave to that reaction.

The simple requirement of tai chi practice to relax relax relax can feel unproductive. It’s not. It’s the primary activity to allow you to have real control over your body and emotions. By control, I don’t mean some way of gritting your teeth to insure that the status quo keeps where it is. Control here means that you have the choice of following the impulse… or not.

If you have choice in the matter, you have control.

So work with that primary practice of relaxation and see where it leads you. And see what leads you to relaxation.

One more point: this kind of relaxation is not some kind of slovenly deadening state. It is an alert relaxation, sensitive to your body and spirit, sensitive to the external world.

The goal of being relaxed is a very serious matter.