Martial Tai Chi™

De-mystifying the Mysterious

Waxing Philosophical

Tonight's lesson was a good opportunity to get philosophical.

As I'm trying to get over a chest infection, I was mostly consigned to watching the lesson from a chair. I think that because of this, my approach to the lesson took on a more cerebral and thoughtful air.

We talked a little about how Li Cunyi advised against being cunning and using tricks to defeat opponents (this in relation to a comment about assassinating an enemy while he was off guard). As Li Cunyi put it, "if you use clever tricks and cunning, how will your opponent know that he has been soundly defeated?"

This is an important point - if you sneak into the enemy's tent and assassinate their chief, the army may just regroup with a new leader. Furthermore they will be angry and looking for revenge. Critically they will think they might be able to defeat you because you had to resort to underhand tricks rather than beating them fair and square on the battlefield. They might then starting sending assassins into your camp, throwing horse carcasses over your castle walls, poisoning your water supply and picking off your children when they are unguarded. One student pointed out that it used to be unheard of to conduct warfare at night. Quite right too - wars (if necessary at all) should be conducted in a just and honourable manner.

Similarly an enemy of yours today might think twice about getting revenge on you if you beat him fair and square, but if you used cunning when he was vulnerable, he might hold a grudge for a long time and resort to cunning tricks himself thinking you were really just weak and sneaky. He'll be more likely to let it go if he knows you beat him soundly, especially if you were magnanimous rather than malicious in victory. You might even offer him a helping hand afterwards when he is battered and vulnerable.

We also talked about something I call "3 sphere theory" - measuring the oncoming attack and feeling whether it was more appropriate to pull your opponent into your sphere (with your spine at the centre), whether you should meet them half way by half diverting them and half moving around them (the centre of the sphere being the point of contact between you), or if you should take the battle into their sphere. I mentioned the analogy of being like water, particularly in relation to the 3rd sphere - going around them into their sphere, rather like water going around a rock. The water's path is shaped by the rock, but over time, the water also shapes the rock, so it wins in the end. Zheng Manqing talked about this as "investing in loss". One student quipped (quite rightly from a practical perspective) that it wasn't so much philosophy as geology, but I explained that in Chinese thought it was used as a philosophical idea somewhat akin to our story of the tortoise and the hare. In the end, the tortoise wins. Another idea in Tai Chi is that of "moving second and arriving first", which is pretty much how the tortoise won the race. In martial practice we wait until the enemy has committed himself / herself to a punch and then strike when we know where they're going. Well that's one strategy - you can also go in like thunder if you think that has more chance of winning the day. Which leads me to a final thing we talked a lot about.

You need to look the part - to exude confidence - to look the opponent squarely in the eye - to keep your head up, your spine tall and straight (while sinking low into into your stance - we also talked about a tree only extending its branches in proportion to the spread of its roots). I often liken this to having noble bearing a bit like that of a male flamenco dancer. You need to be almost haughty and proud looking, not only because it improves your posture and striking power, but also pre-emptively - so that violence avoids you in the first place. Ultimately you embody these principles and people start getting out of your way a bit more. You learn martial arts so that you can go out into the world to be in charge rather than being seen as vulnerable - be dominant rather than being dominated. You don't have to get aggressive about it, but be assertive.

Which reminds me - on the way in to the leisure centre I talked to an able bodied young woman about the fact that she'd parked in a disabled space, illegally, as I pointed out. She muttered that she had intended to move it... and then shot straight outside to do just that. When you deal with your obstacles and enemies (even very, very minor ones) face to face, looking them straight in the eye and without flinching, you can actually be quite friendly in a firm way and you start getting your own way. Obviously you need to temper that by not becoming a bully, but that's why we all cover our right fist at the end of class - to remind ourselves not to misuse our powers.