Mental Control

 I'm going through the old instruction books that were given out when I started studying T'ai Chi with John Kells at what was the British T'ai Chi Ch'uan Association back in 1982.

The important points at the beginning of each book were an invaluable guide to the principles. This one on mental control reads:

"Our movement must in the first place be brought under conscious mental control. All our movements have some kind of intention preceding them. Our aim is to make this intention completely clear and precise so it can be effective. It is important to think of using the mind rather than simply using energy. This means that in the practice of T'ai Chi the intention of the mind in making the movement is given priority over the movement itself.

After a sufficient length of practice this conscious mental of our movements becomes unconscious, so that we can respond naturally in any situation, when up to till now a conscious mental process came between the stimulus and response, thereby , slightly slowing the response. This means that the response is spontaneous, no intermediate mental process between the stimulus and the response. 

The response is as quick as it can be, and thereby as effective as it can be. To reach this stage requires instruction from a qualified teacher over a number of years. So the beginner should concentrate on the use of the mind in the movement rather than the movement itself. He should direct the relaxation of the his body from his mind and use just enough energy to support himself while keeping sufficiently alert to enable him to concentrate enough to practice his mental control. "