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The following interview is compiled from question
time at a Tai Chi Push Hands Workshop presented by Howard Choy in
Melbourne, 1994.
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By Kate Wells
Edited by Howard Choy |
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Student: I read a book which said the essence of Tai Chi is to
fully focus and concentrate on everything you are doing. Is that a
result of doing Tai Chi Chuan?
Howard Choy: That is a stage in the development of Tai Chi Chuan
practice. Do you know what is the next stage? Forget the mind and reach
a state of mind/no-mind ness.
Student: But how can you do this?
HC: You practice a movement until it becomes a natural reaction
and before you know it, you've got it. If you don't practice enough the
mindfulness of a particular movement slows you down because the mind
must process the information of moving from point A to point B. When
your mind intent is too strong you will kill the qi flow. The state
you've got to enter when you practice Tai Chi Chuan is a state of
"is/is-not ness." Not only your mind, but also your
muscles/posture and breathing, all three components of yi (mind), ti
(body) and qi (breathing) are in harmony. Then you will be completely
aware of all things happening around you at all times.
For example, when you drive you don't need to think about the physical
act of driving all the time. When you need to, you can completely
concentrate or "zero-in" when a dangerous situation arises.
The same applies for Tai Chi Chuan - you practice until movement,
breathing and mind relaxation all becomes one. You don't need to
"think" about it any more. So if you are being attacked, you
"feel" your opponent and react naturally. When your qi is
connected you can sense the danger immediately. The only way to
internalise a movement is to practice it over and over again.
Student: So if I practice 4-6 hours a day, I
can progress quickly?
HC: In theory, but not necessarily in practice. How much effort
you put in and how much you will benefit also depends upon practising
the movements correctly. Remember to keep things in perspective though,
there's more to life than doing Tai Chi Chuan.
Student: You hear students and teachers saying
sometimes: "I practised for a long time and then I realised I did
not know what I was doing."
HC: Maybe they started learning long ago, but it depends on how
much you practice in between. You need a teacher to help and guide you
and you also need to practice in such a way so as to fine-tune your
inner sensitivity (bio feed back) so you can continue to correct your
mistakes as they arise.
In my own experience I have worked a lot (especially in latter years) on
correcting mistakes that I have picked up from less capable teachers and
from my own lack of understanding. You probably all find that they are
not just mistakes of form but also postural and movements from your
life. But it is a Catch-22 situation. When you first start you do not
have the experience and cannot tell good teaching from bad. This takes
time; meanwhile, you have learned bad habits, which must eventually be
corrected.
Imagine if you stand incorrectly, e.g: leaning backwards slightly, you
unwittingly put pressure on the vertebrae in the middle of the back.
Imagine doing that hour after hour, day after day, year after year.
That's a lot of pressure. By middle age, you wonder why your back gives
you trouble. That's why it is very important to do the standing forms
(jam jong), because in Tai Chi and Qi-Gong practice you put the qi under
pressure, maybe two or three times greater than normal. If you do not
have the proper posture and body alignment, it can cause more harm than
good. It saps the vitality rather than nourishing it.
That's why relaxing the waist is very important, everything comes past
the waist and massages the kidney points. When energy flows from bottom
to top it passes the gate of life (ming men) in the middle back. Vital
fluid is pumped up
and down the body in all Tai Chi movements, breathing
goes with it and the mind flows with it. When I do this movement
"Single Whip" the energy sinks down past the waist into both
feet. Then it comes back past the waist, lower back, shoulders, elbows,
wrists and fingertips.
When I finish, there is a connection of energy all through the body.
Some postures are very deep, e.g.: "Snake Creeps Down", you
need to open up the hip and keep the joints open because you must sink
the qi to the dantian. If you can't sink the qi, then you are not
connected. You can stop at any time to see if you have a connection and
to see if your qi is in balance. If you don't feel strong or solid then
the qi is not connected. This is not just muscle-wise, but qi-wise.
For example, in a kick, or in "Golden Cock Stands", if you
don't feel yourself being centred and connected, the energy will float
and you will feel off balance. You can analyse any movement this way,
sink the qi, open up then qi can flow and spread out.
Student: When practising, do you tuck in the
tailbone?
HC: The tailbone is not fixed in position or time. You relax the
hip when you express energy at the end of a Yang cycle. When you move
forward during the Yin cycle, the tailbone is tucked in, when you land
it relaxes. Step forward, in, then relax it when pushing out. Nothing is
static.
For the same reason, don't relax the tailbone all the time;
I tuck in sometimes too, and it moves in and out all the time during the
form. Make Yin and Yang and keep your postures upright and correct, so
the qi can flow through.
Student: When should the eyes focus?
HC: There is a fine line between focus and awareness.
I prefer to use the term 'isness.' You let everything be the way it is,
not a pre-conceived idea, the whole body moves, you work with the energy
internally so you are aware of the surroundings (but not focused on
them).
You should have a feeling of what you are doing. For example when
executing "Embrace Tiger Back To Its Mountain," you should
imagine as though you are picking up the ferocious tiger and throwing it
back to the mountain where it came from. You should feel the spirit (shen)
of the movement and the animal the form refers to. This is not a Western
idea of the spirit being external but inside there is an awareness of
the 'connectedness' of all things, the microcosm inside the macrocosm,
the little things within the big, not focusing on the hands but seeing
all round, feeling all round.
Student: I notice that when you breathe you make a sound. Do you
tense up the throat when you do this?
HC: No, not at all. I relax and I breathe out and the sound is
made naturally. The sound helps me to track my qi down to my dantian.
There is a whole field of sound Qi Gong - the sound helps to vibrate the
organs in the body (for healing) as well.
Student: Would you clarify reverse breathing?
HC: What you call 'reverse' breathing and 'normal' breathing, the
Chinese call pre-natal and post-natal respectively. In pre-natal
breathing you breathe like a baby in the mother's womb. It is natural
and part of our original nature.
I will use this terminology to avoid confusion.
When you breathe in (pre-natal/reverse) the chest cavity opens and the
diaphragm drops and relaxes - like an air sac sucking in qi. When you
breathe out the chest cavity closes and the inside of the body drives
your qi outward.
Student: I find I cannot breathe that way all of the time and
when I try in the form it becomes difficult.
HC: This breathing is like learning the movements - when you
practice and do it long enough it becomes natural and the other way
feels uncomfortable. If you run out of breath, take a break and
continue. Gradually you will learn to breathe deeply. Because we
gradually lose our connection to pre-natal qi as we grow older and our
stressful lifestyle tends to cause tension build up in our body, we need
to make pre-natal breathing part of our behaviour to re-establish the
balance.
Kate Wells: Try this: when you raise your arms above your head
while breathing in you will automatically be breathing pre-natal, i.e.:
the lower abdomen draws in, diaphragm
relaxes, chest opens. You cannot expand the lower abdomen breathing in
while the arms are raised.
The Tai Chi form helps you to breathe correctly by the very nature of
the movements, e.g.: the opening movement starts
the pattern. As long as you remain relaxed and aware of the internal
aspect, the (pre-natal) breathing will be natural and
comfortable. Breathing and movement flow together as one.
HC: As you breathe in the chest cavity opens and the qi is sucked
in. Breathe out, close your chest, and the air is squeezed out. But when
you breathe don't float the qi away from the dantian. The waist is like
the hub of a wheel; if the hub is not centred then the framework twists.
Keep your qi always in the centre, then it flows out where you direct
it, you do not lose the centre, you always stay balanced. If you tense
up, the dantian floats, so stay relaxed and sink the qi to the lower
dantian. Having a firm abdomen and a relaxed chest will help you to feel
grounded.
Student: Won't the qi rise as you breathe in and expand the
chest?
HC: It is like a balloon - as you blow it up all parts of the
surface become taut, but one part more than the rest - the
centre, the centre does not move or diminish. When qi is
concentrated in the dantian then it can be directed to one point or
wherever you want it. First you cultivate the centre, and then you can
transfer the energy to any points of contact. To move energy from bottom
to top you must be grounded.
So you practice Tai Chi form slowly and you can feel the
energy flow, track it and correct the posture if the flow is blocked.
When you can feel the energy flowing freely, you can express it at any
time.
You see, when you work and assemble the qi, it is like
having one central bank account instead of having deposits here and
there in many banks. Then, when you need it, it's there - ever ready.
My teacher Yang Sau Chung (his name 'Sau Chung' means to cultivate the
centre or 'guard the centre'), his father, Yang Zheng Fu, gave him the
name because it is very important not to lose the centre and not to lose
the qi connection.
Student: Could you explain about qi flow and how to move it.
HC: In a Yin/Yang diagram you can cut throught the
centre and in only one point will it be 50/50: always one is more than
the other is. This creates the dynamics. In the form the only time you
should be double-weighted in the 'wu qi' state is in the commencement
and closing moves. For the rest, nothing is equal. Even the breathing is
not mechanically
regulated like a metronome, but is relaxed and goes with the movements.
When you move the qi there is always Yin and Yang. This polarity creates
a different 'charge' and the energy flows between them. People think Tai
Chi is always relaxed, soft, but there is a constant interplay in the
form between up and down, in and out, soft and firm, open and closed
etc.
To move the qi from bottom to top you need to be grounded, centred and
connected. So you practice slowly to track the movement of qi, then,
when it is circling and connected you can express it any time. So, be
relaxed, be centred and be
connected and the qi will circulate. All physical sports,
martial arts, Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong, they all circulate energy. The
difference with Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong to sport is that the mind is
connected with the qi flow and you are conscious of internal process. It
looks inward to achieve its goal rather than outward to
"score" its goal.
Student: I have been practising kata (karate). Is this
similar to Tai Chi?
HC: They have different postures to Tai Chi but in the highest
level they are the same. It does not matter what form of martial arts
you practice, you end up with the same kind of results because they work
with the same internal energy whether you call it "qi" or
"ki" or even "prana." In the long run they all have
the same aim and physical make-up.
Student: How can I feel this connection of energy flow?
HC: When you practice Tai Chi Chuan, do not just go through the
whole form all the time. Stop at some postures some of the time. For
example, in "Raise Hands to Strum Lute," stop a while, hold
for a few minutes and feel the qi
connection of your body, especially the standing leg, with the ground.
Say to yourself, where do I feel pain? In the knee, hip, shoulder?
Tension causes blockages, blockages lead to pain.
If there is tension after a few minutes you will feel it. You must learn
to let go of tension by adjusting your posture and your mind set, then
gradually the body comes back to balance - it achieves homeostasis and
the pain will disappear. So, number 1: learn the correct posture, and
relax and let go and
number 2: join up the qi flow and you will definitely feel the
connection.
Student: How does push hands help Tai Chi practice?
HC: After you connect the energy, you can put pressure on your
posture. When you practice push hands, try to find
someone a little better than you and work with each other.
If there is no-one else, you can do the same by pushing against a wall.
Take up a Tai Chi posture and ask your partner to push lightly. Then
feel the reaction in your body - what is the qi doing? Does it go to the
ground? Adjust so your partner will not push you over. If the connection
is there, ask your partner to push slightly harder. Gradually you will
learn to sink your qi to the ground and feel the internal strength of
your qi connection.
If your shoulder gets tired or your knee gets sore, you need to adjust
your posture and relax more. In that way you can guide yourself to
correct posture. You don't need a teacher looking at you all the time,
you can learn to help yourself to develop a bio feedback mechanism. You
still need an experienced teacher to guide you to fine-tune your
progress on a regular basis, though.
You connect your energy and put it under pressure when doing push hands
- if it can move properly under pressure, you can move it to wherever
you want and with whatever force of strength is needed.
So for healing, you can move the qi to the affected area. When you put
it under high pressure to express a single point of contact you have
martial arts or kung fu.
To express energy under pressure is known as 'fa jing.' But when we talk
about moving energy to one point, it is not
necessarily explosive: you can do it slowly too, like a trickle.
Practice slowly, centre yourself, track the flow of qi and
connect it, then when you move everything is connected
as a whole.
In push hands, he pushes me, I open, absorbing and connecting energy.
When I push back, I close the chest, squeeze out air and energy. In this
way you use the whole body to move and breathe. Tai Chi is wholistic in
the sense that when one part moves, the whole body moves with it. The
Yin and Yang became one in Tai Chi.
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