About the second principle
Everything is always changing.
Man when living is soft and tender, when dead he is hard and tough.
All animals and plants when living are tender and fragile;
when dead they become withered and dry.
The hard and said are parts of death.
The soft and tender are parts of live.
(Tao Te Tsjing)
The sea does not cease to grind rock.
Photo : Hugolorent
Things change.
Forever and forever everything flows and nothing stays.
The earth is always shifting.
Photo : Hugolorent
The light is changing, the temperature is changing.
The basic lesson of our relative universe is that nothing stays fixed.
The moon rises.
The Earth is spinning on its axis...
Photo : Hugolorent
and the sun travels with billions of other stars through the Milky Way Galaxy.
No Galaxy is sitting still.
Everything is changing.
We are changing.
Photo : Hugolorent
I am change. You are change. We are change.
Everything is always changing.
How do we deal with changes?
“Be the change you want to see in the World”
Mahatma Gandhi.
Everything is always changing.
All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.
An internal martial artist poses the same
essential question as a sailor does:
“How do I deal with changes?”
Good question.
First this :
Tai Chi Chuan must be the most conservative martial art
ever invented.
Life is change. Tai Chi Chuan is change. Change is defined as in opposition to a given already existing state.
The shoreline is where the land meets the sea and it is continually changing. Storm waves and currents remove
sand from the beach. Storm surges can cause beach accretion and erosion. Water in the air falls to the ground
in several forms. The rising air cools and condenses to form clouds and then rain. The cloudburst changes the
course of the river bed, which is opposed to its previously existing course. All change is in opposition to the
state pre-existing its change. Everything is always changing, but there are two interpretations of this reality.
These two are described as Conservative and Progressive changes.
1 Conservative changes.
Conservative or natural change creates transformation that preserves the old or former states. All natural change
is Conservative. Every tree that falls in the forest leaves by decomposition, conditions conducive to the continuation
of new growth and new forest the same or similar as the old. The value of the changed state is equal to the value of
the former or changed state. Conservative change leaves a condition conducive to its continuation in a same or similar
manner. Thus the opposition is complimentary. The river is the same river after the cloudburst changed its course,
only taking a different path, and the sea is the same sea after the storm. That's what's called conservative change.
2 Progressive changes.
Progressive change is defined as change that is intended to replace already existing states -which are considered inferior-
with new and 'superior' states. All known Progressive change is human created. The 'inferior state' is replaced with a
'superior one'. The value of the changed state is deemed superior to the 'inferior state' replaced. Progressive change
destroys the original condition and replaces it with what is considered as superior. A damn is built on the river thus
changing the character of the river for as long as the damn exists. This means the change is antagonistic to the original state.
Since alternatives to nature take elements of nature to make, like coal or oil to make steel or forests to create paper,
it is usually necessary to destroy nature to create alternatives to. That's what's called progressive change. The sky is
the limit, but the sky is crying.
3 Emotional changes.
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I should have considered all those things I said I' do.
So now I'm changing all those changes that I made when I left you.
Because I made those changes when I thought you were untrue.
But now you've gone, I 're found I'm wrong, and there 's nothing I can do.
Except to change up all those changes that I made when I left you.
The wheel of change moves on,
and those who were down go up and those who were up go down.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Conservative change
versus
progressive change.
Most human conflicts derive from the distinction between Conservative and Progressive, as pertains to individuals, nations,
religions, generations or social groups. This conflict derives from the human interpretation of what is and what should be
of value and worth.
Only humans have the ability to create alternatives to nature. Thus the conflict is, as to what is of greater value, the natural
world or alternatives to it, and if the latter to what degree.
How do we deal with changes
and
to what degree?
"The wind blows where it will blow" (Chinese proverb)
We can change neither strength nor direction of the wind.
Nor can we change the altitude of the waves or the depth of the sea.
We can change the position of the sails and the direction of the rudder.
Yes we can.
But if we do not know where to sail to, then this will not be of any use to us.
This is Wuwei- Tzu-jan.
Everything is always changing.
Well, then.
The goal of Tai Chi Chuan should be to help the individual
to cultivate mental awareness and physical flexibility
using as many fields as possible to adapt to the changing needs of the moment.
Tai Chi Chuan: Yin-Yang changes in the hands and feet.
Changes to adapt to the changing needs of the moment.
All Chinese matial arts strategy
treats change as both a danger and an opportunity.
Speed avoids its dangers, so the sooner I react to change the better.
I can use 'my friend's ignorance of changes' against himself.
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
Lao Tse
One of the most important insights of the Taoists was the realization that
transformation and change are essential features in nature.
That change for the sake of change will certainly lead to dilution.
That success is achieved by developing our strength,
not by eliminating our weakness.
Movement creates change.
My friend's first instinct is to oppose or to block me.
I can use his reaction to pin him against new obstacles.
Everything I do kicks up dirt, leaving signals for him to interprete.
It brings him onto new ground where not all my changes are apparant.
And... order is breaking down.
Nothing is permanent, except change.
Heracleitos
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Chen village.
We know all things are changing, but we act as if they are permanent.
We know things are impermanent, but we act as if they are permanent.
We have a problem.
Nature has no problem.
We have a problem.
Everything is always changing.
Water gives rise to plants and wood is created.
This is the creative interplay of the Taoistic philosophy of the 5 elements (Seng cycle)
Taoistic philosophy divides nature into 5 elements:
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water
These 5 elements represent 5 forces in nature.
Taoistic 'psychology-medicine' divides people into 5 types:
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.
But;
Eech person contains five elements (mixed personalities).
Each person has a positive and a negative side of his personality.
Yin-Yang
The creative Seng cycle: 
1° Wood represents the life force.
2° Wood burns and gives rise to fire.
3° From fire comes ashes (Earth)
4° Earth gives rise to Metal.
5° From the Earth-Metal Water springs up.
Water gives rise to plants and wood is created. This is the creative interplay of the 5 elements (Seng cycle).
The weakening cycle
1° Water weakens metal
2° Wood weakens water
3° Fire weakens wood
4° Earth weakens fire
5° Metal weakens earth
The destructive Ko Cycle: 1° Wood destroys Earth.
2° Earth destroys Water.
3° Water destroys Fire.
4° Fire destroys Metal.
5° Metal destroys Wood.
This is the destructive interplay of the 5 elements (Ko cycle)
1)
2)
The laws of the 5 Elements take on great significance to martial as well as to healing aspects of Tai Chi Chuan.
Yin Yang
Wood----------Liver Wood------Gall Bladder
Fire---------Heart Fire--------Small Intestine
Earth------------Spleen Earth-------Stomach
Metal-------Lung Metal------Large Intestine
Water------------Kidney Water------Bladder
Well then; if we stimulate the Kidney meridian(Water), the Liver(Wood) will also stimulated because water creates wood.
But (in the martial applications) if we destroy the Kidney .....Et cetera...
All things are one and everything is always changing
The five elements in Tai Chi Chuan:
Metal represents hardness and penetration.
As you move forward you act with the character of metal.
Wood represents flexibility, strength, yielding and growing.
Move backward with the character of wood.
Water represents flexibility, pliability and yielding.
Move gently to the left with the character of water.
Fire represents aggressiveness, uncertainty, great power.
Move to the right with the character of fire.
Earth represents stability, immobility, great power, motherhood,
the center, calmness and the origin.
When you remain in the center ,you adopt the nature of earth.
We should follow the Tai Chi principles of opposites:
When you move upward the mind must be aware of downward.
When you move downward, the mind must be aware of upward.
When moving forward, the mind thinks of moving backward.
When shifting to the left side,
the mind should simultaneously notice the right side.
When shifting to the right side,
the mind should simultaneously notice the left side.
The center is the
empty space. It’s a meeting and a
changing point.
Taoistic classics: About changes.