Softness In TCC

Softness, flowing, and moving like slow motion in a dream are all T’ai Chi Chih principles, the basis for our movements. Most people think softness means to “go limp.” Nothing could be further from the truth because limpness has no substance, meaning it can’t be felt.

With true softness, we can feel the Chi as it moves through us. We don’t think about it, we feel it. I heard a recent statement, “Don’t mistake softness for weakness,” which made a big impression on me. Softness is full of substance while weakness has no substance. Softness has the feel of strength. When you pick up a baby, you do it with softness, with confidence and strength. If you don’t do both of those, you may drop the baby. Let’s not drop TCC.

Let’s explore the idea of softness in Rocking Motion. Begin the movement. As our hands move up toward the middle of our chest, feel the strength of the Chi as our hands move through very heavy air. Don’t imagine it; really feel the flow of Chi as it moves from the tips of our fingers, up our hands, then our arms, and begins to relax our shoulders and back. We are actually moving through the substance of life, in harmony with it.

We like the terms describing our movements as “no one is doing anything” and “the effort of no effort.” But do we know what they really mean? Softness equals substance means our total involvement, that everything is generated from the tan t’ien. We are not making it happen, it is happening all day long, we just miss it happening. And when we do our TCC practice we have the opportunity to really become aware of it. This awareness can bring about a very deep change in how we view our life.

Now let the hands turn over and release the substance, let it go. We do this several times in the course of doing Rocking Motion. As we do the movement I’m going to say several words and I ask you to feel what they mean in our movement: smile, swim, non-violent, sweet. We let our bottom relax, as the substance moves all the way up the spine. These were words and phrases that our Thursday Albuquerque group felt as they did their TCC practice. This was spontaneous; they had not been asked to focus on a word or phrase as they did their movement, but rather to focus on what they felt. Later they were happy to know that their experiences would be shared with you. TCC is an experience. We let ourselves experience the Chi so that we can love and share the Chi with softness.