| Interview
Your Body is Your Instrument - Learn to Play It Well!
– interviewed by Instructor Lis
“Tai Chi is like playing the slow movement in a piece of
music. Every part is exposed, every note and every transition are
important and must be perfect. It requires flawless technique. People
often think that the slow pieces are easy — not so. You can get away
with murder when you’re moving fast and people often do."
Any musician will understand immediately what Andy means and
so will any Tai Chi practitioner. Control and balance, coordination, sensitivity,
softness, strength and flexibility all come into play in both art forms.
Andy plays the cello and also piano and church organ. He sees many
similarities between music and Tai Chi.
Practice springs to mind. Not just the ability to shut
oneself away and go over and over the same things until they’re mastered
but also the understanding of how to practise, the ability to make the best use of limited time, to select
particular parts that need work and repeat them. Choose the most useful
exercises and do them regularly. Your body becomes your instrument.
Another parallel is the concept of a steady rhythmic flow to
the Tai Chi form and how that is natural, or should be, for a musician.
Awareness of the movements of others is second nature to a musician
used to adapting and reacting to the nuances in making music with other
people. This is an intrinsic part of the “listening energy” developed
in Push Hands practice.
Andy has been with the Academy for four years, attending once
a week at Page. In the time leading up to his enrolment in the
Beginners’ class, his body was telling him he needed to do some extra
form of exercise. He owns a horse and rides regularly, exercising legs
and torso. However, his shoulders and arms were causing the problems.
Occasionally, he experienced a pinched nerve in the spine and when he
sat at the computer keyboard or played the piano, he felt pain in the
upper arms.
Andy said quite bluntly that doctors were of little help in
finding a treatment, offering anti inflammatory drugs and x-rays. He
was equally unimpressed with the chiropractors and physios he visited,
one of whom told him she couldn’t help because he was extremely tight in
the upper back and shoulders. Andy looked around for some form of non
competitive exercise. He knew about Tai Chi. His sister had been
coming along to our classes for years and he has always taken an
interest in Chinese culture. He saw an ad and he decided to give it a
try.
Within a few months, the pain had disappeared and it hasn’t
recurred. He reports no health problems of any sort, bar the odd minor
cold which doesn’t last long anyway. Other benefits ensued:
-
more relaxed when
playing the cello, particularly during long sessions. Players often
have back problems due to the awkward posture
-
better all round
concentration
-
calmer and more
serene in a general sense. Although never quick to anger, Andy is now
even less inclined to lose his cool
-
more capable of
coping in stressful situations at work
-
more relaxed on
horseback and aware of sinking the centre of gravity which aids the
horse
Andy likes constantly learning more about how his body works
and the awareness that comes with this. He gave the example of using
the principles of the Yin Yang Fish when opening a drawer - relaxed
upper body and arms, minimal use of force, whole body coordination.
For Andy, the Qigong practice is an invaluable part of the course.
He uses the technique when he has had a difficult day at work.
From time to time, his job as a Quantity Surveyor can be quite
intensive stresswise, with people wanting "instant" but accurate
answers. He deals with costs of building - estimating costs, cost
planning, cost auditing, cost benefit analysis and a lot of building
economics issues.
Tai Chi certainly helps to deal with the stress pressures,
and also the long hours that he sometimes has to spend in front of the
computer. Concentration and clear logical thinking are required when
dealing with clients too - Tai Chi has helped with this as well.
Andy enjoys coming out of class every week feeling energised,
regardless of how tired and thus reluctant to attend he was beforehand.
He likes the non competitive nature of Tai Chi and the fact that he
doesn’t need special equipment or a uniform and it can be practised
almost anywhere. He likes this form of exercise where practising really
does relax you instead of increasing stress, as can happen in sports
such as golf where competition, for him, spoils the game.
“You end up worse
off in golf than when you started, sometimes,” he said, jokingly. On
the subject of golf, several of our Tai Chi students who are also
golfers have commented that Tai Chi has changed their golf game. They
find that their game has improved because they are able to be more
relaxed, use their waist and coordinate the whole body.
(This is an actual interview, but the name has been
changed for reasons of privacy.)
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