What Is Good T’ai Chi

It’s been a long, hard day. I return home, collapse into my favorite chair, and try to get myself motivated to practice T’ai Chi Chih before dinner. After awhile I look at the clock and realize that if I’m going to get it in I’d better get moving. I go into the bedroom, shut the door, and begin to move. Soon I feel the energy flowing and have fairly long periods of reasonably steady awareness in the soles of my feet. I feel centered and refreshed. I say to myself, “Wow! Was that good T’ai Chi!”

The next evening, after the same time of clock watching, I again return to my room. I’m a bit more eager to start tonight because last evening was so good. This time I find myself fragmented. The movements do not seem to flow. My mind and emotions go off on tangents. What centering there is lasts only microseconds. At the closing I feel mildly frustrated. I say to myself, “What lousy T’ai Chi.”

“What good T’ai Chi! What lousy T’ai Chi!” Those are judgments that I make and when I share them with you, you know exactly what I’m talking about. But what is the reality beneath these judgments? Am I really making them or is it just my ego expressing itself? How do I know what was really going on during that “good” practice or during that “bad” practice? Yes, I know which one I liked better but I like chocolate better than vegetables too.

So what is “good” and “bad” practice? My ego has all kinds of impressive opinions, but it doesn’t know What-It’s-Talking-About. Good practice is practice that is done. Bad practice is practice left undone.

– Robert A. Buss
El Paso, TX