Sometimes......

.....................it is great to forget everything, all the principles, the rules, the attitudes and just do your form.

Be light, be spirited.

Let your body sing Tai Chi as there is no separation, no divide.

In this way, connect to nature. Be natural.

Afterwards I usually enjoy a cup of tea (well, I'm British so what do you expect! ) and watch the world go by.

Sometimes I have tea before as well!

Emptying

The Tai Chi classics talk about full and empty, but how can you put this into practise?

You can do this in your form.

As an example, when turning to the right from Ward off left in the Cheng Man Ching form, completely empty your right side. It's as if it was full of water which has drained into the left side of the body.

This includes the legs. The right side then feels incredibly light. When I turn I visualise an attack coming to my right side. I have to sink, empty and make space.

A common mistake is to turn but not empty, so your energy is stuck and double weighted. Visualisation plays an important part so it essential to have an understanding of the martial applications.

Yiquan 10

Here is the final poem, reproduced as before with permission from Heron Beecham.

10.

 

Practise and study hard, and you will enter a place of wonder and fascination;

Where there are innumerable gold bracelets and jade treasures stored within.

 

When we are full of vital energy the spirit will never be exhausted;

With a feeling of elation, let us drift along at will without a fixed lodging point.

 

Activities such as walking, standing, sitting or lying are valuable for practice;

This ancient and remarkable skill appears easy to approach.

 

The body is loosened so that the strength feels like it has been derived from soft mud;

The frame appears to have been suspended by a thread from the top of the head.

 

Examine the condition of each body cell silently with discerning eyes;

False versus real, round versus square, the two aspects aid one another.

 

Evil intentions do not arise from the expansive sky or the boundless sea;

Let the heavenly bodies revolve around each other in the appropriate way.

 

To set an object of pursuit and follow it perseveringly is the only requirement;

A grand achievement will surely be accomplished after many years of study.

 

Suppose we fail to adopt this approach to study yet practise day and night;

We will never succeed in the Chinese martial arts and only sigh in lamentation.