Good Teachers Guide Us In Discovery

Why do you do T’ai Chi Chih? Do you actually feel the energy flowing? Do you feel the balancing of this energy within the body as you do a TCC practice? Does it matter to you that this practice is steeped in ancient Chinese philosophy? Maybe some practitioners can answer yes to all or some of the last three questions.

Most of my students would say no, they do not feel the energy or balancing of it, or care about the background or philosophy of the practice. They do it because it makes them feel good, physically and emotionally.

Do we need to know how and why it works, for it to work? No! I have heard many teacher’s stories about a student who has had only one or two lessons and the student tells them that they love the practice and how it has already helped them sleep better, lessened their pain, stopped headaches, or lightened their mood, lessened their stress, and many other such comments.

We know that the flow and balancing of Chi can happen even when we do not do the movements well, but we endeavor to refine our movements in order to bring about a deeper and more thorough flow of Chi, increasing the rewards of the practice. Refining the form is important – doing the movements with our best understanding of how Justin developed them – but often the refinements that increase the flow of Chi are not about the hands and where they turn over in a movement or where they end up at a certain point in a movement or how high or low they should be, but following the principles of softness, continuity, and awareness.

The heart of our practice is to soften, and let go of trying, effort, and perfection. We let our mind feel its way through the practice rather than think our way through it. And I am afraid we are killing the spirit and joy of the practice by our rigidity and trying to make it perfect. We are suffocating our own and our students’ experience and the unfolding process and by have-tos, rules, intimidation, and nit-picky adjustments.

Teachers have a responsibility to help their students find the softness and flow of the practice. And sometimes a small adjustment can be helpful for more openness in the body, but insisting that there is only one way that is correct is shortsighted.

There are teachers who no longer participate in community events because they felt the pressure to have to conform or were corrected by another teacher in a harsh way. Is that what we want, to turn good teachers away, teachers who only want to give the gift of TCC to others? I am not condoning the teaching of TCC that strays from the form that Justin developed. I am asking for tolerance, and less ego that we know what’s right. I invite teachers who have felt intimidated or marginalized to come to conference this year with an open mind and heart and know you are welcomed!

We are each on our own path and what works to guide me on my path may not work to guide you on your path. We follow the general basic rules but must adjust and adapt for our individual journey/essence. And what serves us at one point in our journey may not be of use later.

As we grow in understanding and experience in our practice our form changes. But the changes that are true and lasting are the ones that we discover for ourselves. Teachers help us on that path of discovery.

Justin gave us the outline for TCC. He wrote about the principles we apply as we perform the moves. His explanations and descriptions of the moves lack detail though. By limiting details, he has allowed us to find our own way. He was not ridged and exacting about how the form was to be done, with a few exceptions such as really straighten the back leg in the forward and backward weight shift, no leaning, and a few others that come to mind. When pressed about whether this way or that way is correct, several times I heard him said, “two inches here, two inches there” with a shrug. A couple of his writings state that a good teacher does not give the same teaching to all students.

Justin, like all of us, did his own TCC practice, moving along his own path. I am not on his path and my energy and essence are not shaped like his, thus why would I want to exactly copy the way he did his practice – why would I want to do his practice? Yes, I can listen to his words of wisdom and learned experience which can help shape my own practice but it must be my practice. I cannot parrot him and expect it to be my practice. I must feel my way through the form, honor the form he gave us and follow the principles that guide the form.

TCC was developed as a tool to benefit the growth and development of human beings and to make our lives more enjoyable. Have we lost the spirit of the practice in order to comply with dogma or perceived correctness of the practice? Rigid adherence to ideas and concepts is not the way. A free-for-all is not the way. Love, respect, ego-lessness, acceptance, the bigger picture! Moving beyond the personal to the bigger picture. Just like in our practice, less is more, when we let go we receive more.