Approach to T’ai Chi Chih

As I have mentioned before, the attitude with which one approaches TCC lessons is all important. With faith in the results—and there have certainly have been enough proofs of it—one only has to perfect his and her performance and to practice faithfully every day. A student does not learn to do it correctly in order to please the teacher. The yinning and yanging is all important for the effect it has. The softness is absolutely necessary, and correct performance requires the understanding that TCC is not an exercise but a form that is done primarily below the waist. The “effort of no effort” must be understood. As a student progresses in the lessons, he or she begins to sink into the essence of TCC, which is not like any exercise. Leave the muscles out of it.

It is not emphasized to beginning students, but TCC has a very strong spiritual influence. It is not a treatment for a specific illness. The circulation and balancing of the all-important Life Force, the Chi, influences the metabolism and helps the whole system. Overweight people who practice regularly tend to easily drop pounds. Many letters I receive speak of this weight loss. Eat moderately and practice regularly, a simple formula. When one teacher, who had had brain surgery, began practicing immediately after the operation, it resulted in her soon going back to work, a result that her doctors said they had never seen before. She certainly had the right attitude.

TCC is definitely a different way of life. Most of those who write me say, “T’ai Chi Chih has changed my life.” When someone asks me if this is good for some ailment, I answer, “Why don’t you try it and find out?”