Internal Movement

 A primer on internal movement for internal rigor mortis!

The Tai Chi Classics say:

“A feather cannot be placed, 

a fly cannot alight 

on any part of the body.”

Some reasoning why we move slowly in Classical Tai Chi forms a rule that works for all varieties of sensory perception, including sensations of muscular effort. So, imagine you are holding a one pound weight in your hand while blindfolded. If a fly or a feather landed on the weight you would not know the difference, but if a little bird landed you would know. Now imagine holding a fifty pound weight.  You wouldn't be able to feel the little bird landing. It would have to be an eagle. The point is that when you increase the weight from one pound to fifty pounds, you become about fifty times less sensitive to changes in the amount of muscular force you are using to lift the weight.

Why do we care? Because if you want to make your Tai Chi movement more efficient, you have to be aware of when you are working too hard. If you slow down and thereby increase your ability to sense differences in muscular effort level, you increase ability to sense and correct any extra movement and unnecessary effort. You will be much better able to sense and inhibit this inefficient moves by moving very slowly and easily. By contrast, if you move fast and hard, you will never be able to sense and correct the problem.

There is a variety of ways to do simple movements in life, different angles for the joints to assume and literally different muscle activation patterns to execute them. As you age, you will likely use less and less of these movement possibilities until you are stuck in a narrow range of options. For example, there may be a chance you have one or two thoracic vertebrae that almost never turn to the right. You had an operation and just stopped moving that way one might say “internal rigor mortis” has set in. 

You are wondering about this, good!  The answer is yes!  Classical Tai Chi can put you back in touch with with an increase of movement options, so you can start “living in the springtime of life”.

IT CANNOT BE CHANGED

"IT CAN NOT BE CHANGED"! BUT YOU CAN CHANGE YOURSELF

"TAI CHI IS MINDFULNESS"! SO RELISH YOUR FRUSTRATION WITH LEARNING, THAT IS TRUE MINDFULNESS

I once surprised myself when I said "Guilt is of no help in learning this". I said that to a Psychologist who was a teacher at a College in Buffalo. I said it in response to his saying "...that internal discipline is hard, I don't feel like I can do it...". Notice the word "feel", now if that was only true in terms of one's body and not just the mind. My own teacher has said "Tai Chi is hard" and I have a video of him saying that. I would agree with that. Let me also say that each beginning student makes it so. Don't you just dislike that?

 

Tai Chi does not do itself. There is a saying by Grandmaster Wu Chien Chuan: "It can not be changed". It had to do with what the Wu's learned from the Yang Family no doubt because it looked different. "Grandmaster Yeung Wabu said Wu told him that Wu did not change what they learned from the Yang family and insisted that they cannot be changed.' I could see why Wu said that it cannot be changed. With all the interlocking relationships between various elements, any change would result in some collapse of the logical structure. (See Uncovering the Treasure, p. iv)

 

Tai Chi may seem hard/challenging/difficult but don't fool yourself with that thought. What is difficult is changing prior habits of body and mind. Example of resistance to change: In an election the winning candidate for governor ate the same lunch every day so he would not have to make unnecessary decisions. Was the candidate "mindful" of doing this?

It is natural for the body and mind to want to cling to information provided by the senses. eg. 

 

Once having learned to walk, as your parents taught you, of course, the body and mind resist changing to Tai Chi walking. Are you "mindful" of your resistance or do you blame the Tai Chi?

I had a student who said he was leaving Tai Chi and taking "Mindfulness Meditation". My take on "mindfulness" other than Classical Tai Chi is a discipline for a lifetime, in one's frustrations one learns to observe their habitual nature....this is "mindfulness"

 

This "observation" comes when one sees an opportunity in their frustration rather than an obstacle. How do I as a teacher and vice versa for students, react to unfulfilled expectations of self and performance. I have never heard anyone who quit say "I did not like the sensations and feelings I experienced". It is what they don't say that speaks volumes. I have never heard "I am not good at this".

 

Most times if anything, one hears: "It is not your fault as a teacher", what I think it means euphemistically is "because I don't understand what I am doing". That is an intellectual observation, dualistic thinking, what of your feelings and sensations regarding the frustration?

 

I see that many people come to Tai Chi with intellectual aspirations (moving like flowing water, relieving stress, etc.) Classical Tai Chi is nonverbal, the language of sensing and feeling. This is frustrating to students who relish thinking and concepts rather than the body.

When you sense frustration, relish that instead, take the opportunity to notice your habitual nature and what you do in its light, this is "mindfulness".

 

The problem is however as you say, people don't want to do the work on a superficial level, but it runs deeper, give credit where credit is due, they catch a tiny glimpse of their habitual nature and they don't like it, then they really don't want to do the work

 

TAI CHI WALK COMPARED TO EVERDAY WALK

TAI CHI WALKING LINK

THERE IS WALKING AND THEN THERE IS TAI CHI WALKING WHERE THE USE OF ABDOMINAL AND BACK MUSCLES IS PRIMARY. BOTH ARE EXPLAINED BELOW:

"TAI CHI INTERNAL WALK uses core power(internal energy)instead of leg power(external energy). This video teaches how to walk this way and its benefits."

"EXTERNAL" OR EVERYDAY WALKING AND THE OBVIOUS QUESTION:

Are the abdominal muscles active during normal walking?

"It may be surprising, but electromyographic (EMG) analysis of the abdominal muscles has demonstrated that the abdominal muscles are quite inactive during walking on a flat surface" (Sheffield & Major, 1962

SEE THIS LINK FOR INFORMATION ON ALL REFERENCES CITED IN THIS POST

https://www.unm.edu/~lkra.../Article%20folder/abdominal.html).

"EMG analysis is the scientific method of measuring the muscle’s electrical activity and contractility during movement, very similar to the way an electrocardiogram (ECG) measures heart rhythm. The rectus abdominis and external oblique muscles exhibit little electrical activity in an erect posture unless the trunk is inclined backward or laterally and/or resistance is applied to the torso (Walters & Partridge, 1957). The internal obliques, on the other hand, are in a state of tension while sitting, standing, and walking, to help stabilize the pelvis" (Floyd & Silver, 1950; Walters & Partridge, 1957).

Anything goes!

 

Marty S. has left a new comment !

"Like anything else to be proficient in tai chi the practitioner must put the time in. As a practitioner of over 40 years, I've learned and I am still learning. 

With that said if you are interested in learning tai chi as a self defense you must practice push hands with many opponents and then practice sparring with many oponents.

You can not get the feel and practical ability without having the experience of sparring. "



Thanks:


It is true that one must "practice push hands and sparring with many opponents" as an integral part of martial training in Tai Chi.  In the case of Classical Tai Chi however, push hands and sparring are taught after one can show at least some rudimentary internal discipline.  Practicing even push hands before that physical internal development is putting the cart before the horse. All it does, is to confuse the student and merely gives one the illusion of progress.  Notice, I say "physical" internal development, because merely having the right mental attitude aka an "internal demeanor"  does not confer physical internal discipline.  We have spoken extensively of Internal Energy, and to reiterate, it occurs inside the body with the physical turning of the body at the core, using a compact frame not the hips, kua, etc. of a large frame.


Now we have to go a bit off the beaten path from our discussion of internal energy to deal with self-defense.  The reason is that in self-defense...anything goes and we are not limited to using internal energy/internal discipline.  I  do agree with your assertion however about push hands/sparring  being an integral part of self defense training, but with the stringent caveat that it also has severe limitations which are overlooked.  My own 40 years of experience and research tell me that sparring, push hands, weapons, etc. are good martial training but unfortunately most often give people the "Illusion" that they have self defense ability.  


 In all self defense situations however,  I learned the hard way that "anything goes" which Tai Chi in a controlled push hands and sparring does not teach.    I also have rather unfortunate experience with personal self defense in light of violent physical attacks. As it has been said, one can be attacked by people and wild animals but what holds one in stead is an accurate appraisal of one's integrity.  In other words, not only an  honest assessment of one's own abilities and/or limitations martially, but ask yourself do you honestly want to hurt someone or do you simply want to just defend yourself. I've met many people over the years both teachers and others who seem to take enjoyment from the hurt that others have to endure at their hands. 



To close,  I think that in being honest with myself and my own abilities  that the experience of sparring and push hands is  wishful thinking when it comes to being mugged by a large group of people. Sparring and push hands is wishful thinking when it comes to someone trying to run you down with their automobile.  Sparring and push hands is wishful thinking when it comes to someone confronting you with a firearm from 5 feet away.  I think you see my point and I'm sure you would agree that sparring and push hands have their uses but we should also be aware of their limitations.  Hence, my feelings that martial training may often give people the illusion of self-defense in one time situations but internal energy is for life.