| Feature Article
More Than Words Can Say
–
Chief Instructor Brett Wagland
When we listen to a poem, watch a beautiful sun set,
visit a magical mountain or fall in love, it is hard to put into words
the feelings we experience. Sometimes, words are inadequate to express
such phenomena. Once we begin to categorise and break everything down
analytically in order to convey the experiences, they no longer have the
magic and flow of the actual events.
This is what can happen when learning Tai Chi. The
movements of Tai Chi are an organic process. They are the expression of
energy flowing in our bodies. They grow out of the practitioner; not
something separate.
When first learning Tai Chi, we tend to do and understand
the movements on an intellectual level. However, learning like this
tends to stifle our energy and our ability to feel the movements. We
all go through this stage of struggle initially. It takes time and
faith to let go of our controlling tendency which is usually a
subconscious habit or fear of failure. Once we begin to flow and let
go, our learning and practice become more enjoyable. In ma ny ways, Tai
Chi is like dancing or painting. In the beginning, there are rules or
principles to follow, just as a painter or dancer needs to learn certain
shapes, procedures and steps. Gradually,
they combine everything with their nature and discover the principles in
them. Slowly, the doer and the doing become one. The practitioner is
no longer performing Tai Chi; the practitioner is being himself.
In “Taoism : Way Beyond Seeking” (London : Thorsons, 1999. p.48), Alan Watts tells us that the Chinese use the term
“Wu Tzu”, which means “without law and yet orderly”, to describe
nature. Chinese apprehend in nature a principle of order, such as, the
grain in the wood, the fibre in muscle, etc. This principle of order
and the organic pattern in which nature unfolds itself cannot be
reproduced in mechanical terms. That is why the Tao, the course of
nature, is that which cannot be explained. Sometimes, that which makes
a work of art perfect is itself an imperfection. After all, labels of
perfection and imperfection are man made. In nature, high or low
mountains, short or long branches, dense or fluffy clouds and big or
small waves are all perfectly natural. They follow their own nature and
are all expressions of the Tao.
Chinese arts, such as Tai Chi, calligraphy and medicine,
all teach us to respect nature and learn from her. The more we practise
an art like Tai Chi, the more we see that we are a reflection of nature
and its ways. No amount of telling or explaining will help you realise
this. Only being and sometimes, the pauses between words and
activities, reveal our inner selves.
Taoist sage, Chuang Tzu (c.369-c.286 B.C.), wrote, ”The
shoes of a person who forgets his feet are naturally comfortable. The
belt of a person who forgets his waist is naturally comfortable. …… The
most comfortable of all is the person who forgets comfort altogether.” (The
Doa of Zhuangzhi : the harmony of nature, Tsai Chih Chung,
translated by Brain Bruya. New York : Anchor Books, 1997. p.94) Devoid
of forced concentration and coordination, one’s Tai Chi eventually looks
and feels comfortable and spontaneous like drifting clouds and flowing
water.
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