Cultivating Patterns: Flowing Chi

Ed Altman, Redmond, WA

I often place my car keys in the same location when I return home so I won’t have to search for them later. As teachers we cultivate similar habit patterns in our students to help them learn and remember important points about T’ai Chi Chih. How many times were you reminded to “focus on the soles of the feet”, “practice every day” and “move with softness and continuity”?

Unfortunately, some of the habit patterns we encourage in our students do not serve them well later. Consider a student who places too much attention on the checkpoints rather than focusing on the whole movement. The checkpoint focus was appropriate when first learning the movement, but eventually it becomes a distraction. The mature student is aware of the checkpoints, but passes through them without losing focus on the flow of the Chi. In this way, the teaching must eventually be transcended to realize the deepest benefits of T’ai Chi Chih practice. Students are not always willing to do this, and develop habit patterns in response to our teaching. Eventually, we may need to adjust or remove those patterns. The fact that T’ai Chi Chih students cultivate such habit energies indicates how important it is to be fully present when we teach. We must transmit the teaching with as much clarity as possible. Our own extraneous habit energies can distort our teaching of the movements, and may be unwillingly embodied by our students.

Many of us do not realize how readily we create and follow habit patterns in our lives. Although these tendencies can be helpful, they also foster a reliance on past experience, and can keep us from flowing with the Chi. Habit energies encourage the construction of a false identity around the self which can lead to suffering.

Remind students that “T’ai Chi Chih will teach T’ai Chi Chih”. This helps them focus on the intuitive knowledge which comes from doing the movements. Encourage them to approach their practice with a fresh perspective every time, and to explore it with detailed attention. Help them develop habits based upon the feeling of the movements rather than specific checkpoints or details. This will enlarge their focus, and help their T’ai Chi Chih practice mature.

Habit patterns can help us cope with our current level of attention, but they are limiting, and do not encourage our growth. These patterns can even adversely influence our students as they learn T’ai Chi Chih. As serious teachers, we should examine our own habit energies to teach with the greatest clarity, and to directly know what is real.