About the principles
Tai Chi means 'not emptiness' or 'not nothingness'.
Why?
In the beginning there was nothing. All that existed was emptiness.
Chinese call that emptiness Wu Chi.
Taoists believe that Wu Chi (emptiness or nothingness)
gave birth to it's opposite.
They call that opposite Tai Chi (not emptiness or not nothingness).
Taoists believe that Tai Chi divided itself to Yin and Yang.
That those two, Ying and Yang, gave birth to three.
That three gave birth to a ten thousand things....
Tai Chi Chuan:
One gave birth to two
Two gave birth to three.
Three gave birth to a ten thousand things.
Tao Te Ching is simply language charged with
meaning to most possible degree.
Tai Chi Chuan is simply movement
charged with meaning to most possible degree.
Practicing Tai Chi Chuan without understanding some Taoïstic principles
is like trying to fly without wings.
Not knowing the intent turns Tai Chi Chuan into a dance.
Dance provides a rare opportunity to experience the body
as both functional and symbolic.
Ideas generated by the dancing body
can include images of physical identity
or they might include physical representations of thoughts,
moods, intuitions or impulses.
But
dance is dance and Tai Chi Chuan is Tai Chi Chuan.
(Photo: Wuwei dance fest)
Tai Chi Chuan cannot be limited to dance
nor to any other specific aspect.
Tai Chi Chuan is a Taoistic way to improve
the universal scale of all things:
Yin and Yang.
That way Tai Chi Chuan becomes a universal-cosmic dance.
Yin Yang
In Taoism nor in Tai Chi Chuan there is no need for complicated philosophy.
The philosophy is observation and kindness for all things.
You have only to understand some yin-yang principles.
Reinventing Tai Chi Chuan is a learning process.
Try to see the general principles in each particular Tai Chi posture.
Everything in the universe sings the song of yin and yang.
Yin (negative) needs yang, Yang (positive) needs yin to become yin and yang.
Yin and yang are relative to each other.
All things in existence are relative to all other things.
In Tai Chi Chuan a concept at work is what Einstein termed ' relativity'.
Yin / Yang
Female / Male
Passive / Active
Internal / External
Descending / Ascending
Soft / Hard
Stillness / Movement
Eternity / Time
Potential energy / Kinetic energy
Close / Open
Conservation / Transformation
Slow / Quick
Centripetal / Centrifugal
Cold / Warm
Deep / Large
Anti-matter / Matter
Anti-particles / Particles
Electron / Positron
If there is matter there must be anti-matter.
If there are particles there must be anti-particles.
If there is an electron, there must be a positron.
SCIENCE :
Matter is made of atoms. Atoms are particles of elements. There is no such thing as "a human atom".
Humans, as with most animals, are made of various elements which, in turn, have their own individual atoms. I certainly
don't consider myself as a specialist nor as an expert at/in/on atomic or sub-atomic structures, but to a certain degree,
relationships exist between Taoism and modern science. For example : matter. There is much more matter than anti-matter.
In each particle of matter there is an anti-particle, which is essentially the same as the particle
of matter but with
opposite electric charge. Matter is made of atoms, atoms are made of protons, nuetrons and electrons.
The negatively charged electron has his anti-electron called positron, which has its positive electric
charge (a positron has a positive
charge but only exists as anti-matter). And so on... The proton has an anti-proton, and so on... And so on,
if there is something, there must be it's opposite.
TAOISM & TAI CHI CHUAN :
If there is someting, there must be something else, if there is yang, there must be yin. If the Yin
represents stillness, then the Yang would represent movement. In the universe -the great cosmic circle- there is no
separation, the successive movement of yin and yang reveal the two modes of the one.
If there is Yang, there must be Yin.
In Taoism there is no need for complicated philosophy.
Photo : Hugolorent
If there is something, there must be something else.
In the beginning there was something; there was nothing.
Absolute nothingness is the something else
that accounts for any thing at all.
If there is Yang there must be Yin.
Taoist theories of Yin and Yang were easily applied to
Tai Chi Chuan in tune with the natural order of things.
Yin and yang in the hands.
Yin and yang in the feet.
Yin and Yang are relative to each other.
There are really no such things as good or bad weather,
only different kinds of weather.
There are really no such things as Yin or Yang,
only different kinds of Yin and Yang.
Who made male ande female?
Who made different kinds of Yin and Yang?
I who speak don't know.
The Tai Chi symbol:
The Tai Chi(yin-yang)symbol may have different meanings in a different context.
His energetic manifestations are many and often profound be it in an object or a process of an idea.
There are many examples, see of you can think of others?
An understanding of the Tai Chi symbol can provide us with answers to many questions.
A Tai Chi form is an embodiment of the Tai Chi symbol.
The outer circle represents everything.
The black and white shapes within the circle represent
the interactions of two energies:
Yin(female) and Yang(male)
There are two polarities, Yin and Yang
to attach to one of the other would be misunderstand them.
One of the main obstacles to understanding the Tai Chi symbol is that a good proportion of men still believe they are intellectually superior to women.
We were brutally separated from the forces and the lessons of Nature.
And we have not regained this ability yet.
The Yin-Yang symbol (taijitu) symbolizes the Yin-Yang duality
and the complementarity of the whole universe.
Two rulers, one universe.
"The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence".
Lao Tse
The best of all rulers is a shadowy presence.
It is one thing to understand the interactions
of Yin and Yang
(tormented by philosophical questions which bring itself in question).
In Taoism the only fundamental relevant question is:
"How does this actually relate to our material lives, to our daily lives,
to our relations, and... to the art of Tai Chi Chuan"?
What does Ying-Yang partnership mean,
how does this relate to our daily lives?
Photo : Hugolorent
Neither man nor woman need to be equal with each other
in order to be happy with each other.
There is no partnership among equals because
equality doesn't exist in the Universe.
Equality has no partner.
Yin and Yang are not equal.
"Equality may be a right, but no power on earth turns it into a fact."
Honore de Balzac
Polarity
All birds have two opposite wings.
"Two wings of a bird the harmony of women and men."
Chinese saying
Society has a lot of idealisms that it likes to put into practice, but in reality it's all
very different and that's when problems start and people get mad and expect things that are
never going to happen. I can't help but feel that many people want a genderless society which
isn't possible.
Nobody wants a genderless society.
Don't judge the Universe.
The worst form of judging the Universe is to try to make everything equal.
Equality doesn't need partnership.
There really isn't anything wrong with feeling separate and incomplete. But why do we feel incomplete,
unless we are in a relationship with something else: be it a partner or anything else? All things are
one, Nothing in itself is separated from Everything, so the reason why love is such an intense and universally
sought-after experience is that it seems to offer liberation from a deep-seated state of incompleteness
that is part of the human condition in its unredeemed state. True love is complete, it is the realization
of Unity in diversity, which is love. Eckhart Tolle: " What is love? To feel the presence of the one life
deep within yourself and all creatures. What is God? The eternal one life underneath all the forms of life.
Therefore, all love is the love of God.
Taoism promotes unity in diversity, the beauty of oneness of Tao, not the equality of Yin and Yang. Equality
doesn't exist in the Universe, but Taoists consider that all things are of equal value; that nothing in this
Universe is worth any more than anything, from the smallest atom to the largest star to dark matter, they are
all one and the same. Nothing has any more value than anything else. We, as human beings, share the same equivalency
as a rock, even a rock could show you the way back to oneness, to yourself. Even a flower or a bird can show you
the way back to oneness.
"Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds
them. Aren’t you worth more than they?" (Matthew 6:26) We are no more important than a wildflower; no less important.
What of the wildflowers? They don’t spin thread to make clothing, yet not even King Solomon in all his glory was
ever dressed like one of them. They appear today, but the day after, they are either scorched by the sun or picked
by man and eventually thrown away. The pain that we create is always a form of nonacceptance, some form of unconscious
resistance to what is. All fear is the fear of losing something and thereby becoming diminished and being less.
Less is more! Taoism claims that If one is not careful in understanding or accepting the concept of oneness in
diversity, it can lead to a very, very dark place.
We try to make everything equal.
But
we need a partner, an equal thing has no partner.
What is always speaking silently is the body, the body never lies. We create our bodies as we create the experience of
our world. If we want to find the answers to the Big Questions about the world and the Universe, we’d best begin with
the little answers about our own body. In Real Taijiquan you have a selection of shapes that must be balanced on obstacles.
Perfection is key in this fun shape partner balancing game. We never learn anything by being told, we have to find out
for ourselves. So we need a partner and a tool to do that.
We then move into partner work, learning turn patterns with rotating partners. We learn from failure, not from success.
"How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment." (Eckhart
Tolle) The universal Law of Attraction states that we draw to us those people, events, and circumstances that match our
inner state of being. In other words, we attract experiences that are consistent with our beliefs to turn our wounds
into wisdom.
In a non-academic way I am trying
to present the great art of Tai Chi Chuan in a universal context where it belongs.
I am trying to present
Taoism in a way that makes sense to living people living in a modern age.
To me Lao Tse was the first non-academic software provider, and that's not really
the way academics work.
Don't know where this belongs but,
I have found Yin and Yang are not symmetric and,
the outer circle of the Tai Chi symbol is black if you draw it with a black brush.
I have found
the best thing to do is to practice the martial aspects of Tai Chi Chuan,
rather than getting hung upon the theory and terminology.
There is nothing which could not be said in
'the wordless martial language of Tai Chi Chuan'.
My master said:
"Taoism is not a philosophical theory but an activity.
Don't talk about Taoism. Show me your applications!"
People talk too much anyway.
Tai Chi Classics: about yin and yang.