Category: Philosophy

The Chinese name of their own country is Zhōngguó (中國), meaning “The Middle Kingdom.” Many scholars mistakenly believe that the ancient Chinese arrogantly considered themselves to be the only civilized nation surrounded by savages. But that is not the origins of this name. China considers itself to be the “Middle Kingdom,” because the kingdom of man is trapped between the heavens and the earth.

Most times when we discuss Qì (氣), we are talking about Human Qì, or Rén Qì (人氣). But it is important to realize that this is not the only type of Qì out there. In fact, under the broadest definition of Qì, everything in the universe is made of this energy, and the Qì of the universe can be divided into three types. The first, known as Heavenly Qì, or Tiān Qì (天氣), makes up the stars, weather, air, sun, moon, and even the gods (as, at that time, the Chinese believed the gods lived among or actually were the stars). The second type of Qì is called Earthly Qì, or Dì Qì (地氣), which makes up the Qì of the land, oceans, buildings, rocks, trees, plants, rivers, lakes, streams, and even the plants and animals. Of these two types of Qì, Heavenly Qì is the most powerful and influential. For example, rain (influenced by Heavenly Qì) affects the flow of rivers or lack of it can cause a drought (affecting Earthly Qì).

The study of how both Heavenly (sometimes called “Celestial”) and Earthly Qì affects a person is called geomancy, or Fēng Shuǐ (風水). Fēng (風) means wind (Celestial Qì) while Shuǐ (水) means water (Earthly Qì). Fēng Shuǐ uses aspects of Chinese astrology in the study of Heavenly Qì, and aspects of the study of how the shape of the Earth affects Qì flow to allow humans to live harmoniously within their own universe. Today Fēng Shuǐ is used mostly for interior decorating, but in ancient times great stock was placed into consulting a Fēng Shuǐ master to determine where to build a house, how to decorate it, where to put the doors, where to do business, and more. Even burial sites were carefully chosen based on a Fēng Shuǐ reading. It was the general belief that by taking care in choosing burial sites, it prevented ghosts from becoming restless and coming back to haunt a person, or even coming back to re-animate their corpse!

It’s important to know that if an author is speaking of Heavenly or Earthly Qì, he or she will say so. If they simply use the word “Qì” by itself, then they are most likely using a more narrow definition of Qì. They are referring to Human Qì. This is the energy that keeps people alive. It flows through meridians and channels like blood flows through vessels, and it provides every part of the body and organs with nourishing energy as well as functional power. Most of the time when someone uses the word “Qì” they are discussing Rén Qì. The concept of Human Qì is central to Tàijíquán, Qìgōng, and Chinese medicine. Qì is often translated as “vital breath,” or as, “vital energy,” but it is important before we explore Qìgōng and Tàijí any further that we understand the “glue” that binds these ancient Chinese exercises with a relatively modern Chinese martial art as well as Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

To fully understand what Qì is, we need to examine the character itself and how it is written. Qì (氣) is actually made up of two different Chinese characters. Within the character for Qì there is the character Qì (气)—which is a different word, but pronounced the same—meaning “air” or “gas.” And there is also the word mǐ (米) meaning “rice.”

This combination of characters is a clear indication that Qì is a direct reference to the energy created in our body from the food we eat and the air we breathe. This means that man derives his Qì from Heavenly Qì (air) and Earthly Qì (food). Once again, Heavenly Qì is seen as more important of the two, with influence over Earthly Qì. In the case of Human Qì, we breathe far more often than we eat, and we die of lack of oxygen far earlier than we would through lack of food or water.

Within Chinese medicine, there is an ancient saying, “The true Qì is that which is received from heaven. This plus grain Qì are what fill the body.” It has been also said that, “Man gets his Qì from heaven and earth.” Both of these sayings, as well as the two characters hidden within the character for Qì, indicate that Qì is the energy made from the food we eat (Earthly, or Grain Qì), and the air we breathe (Heaven).

It is a wonder how preoccupied the American people are with eating. We worry about the kinds of foods we eat, the temperature of the food we eat, how much water we drink, whether we should or should not drink water with our meal. We even worry about how quickly we eat or how much we chew our food.

We know we like it when we get out of the city and breathe “good clean country air,” but we rarely worry about the how we breathe. Air is as much a source of Qì as food is—even more so since we eat three to five meals a day but the average person takes more than more than 20,000 breaths in a day. Once again, Heavenly Qì is more powerful than Earthly Qì.

This is why breath becomes so very important in our Tàijíquán practice. We should worry about how we breathe, how fast, whether the inhale is longer than the exhale, and whether we hold our breaths our not. We should use either Buddhist (diaphragm or belly) breathing, or Daoist (reverse or reverse paroxysmal) breathing, and we should realize that the Chinese concept of cosmology makes breathing as important to health in China as diet is here in the United States.

Tai Chi Chuan is often described as meditation in motion. With this feature, the simultaneity of physical action and the achievement of a meditative state of awareness, Tai Chi Chuan has become famous. This fusion of inner stillness and outer movement leads to a special feeling. One is in the here and now, highly concentrated. All the worries of everyday life are forgotten and it simply feels good. The own body, breathing and the change of movements are perceived without being focused on it. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi saw this kind of inner experience also in artists at their work. He named this state flow experience and investigated it in further studies.

First results of his study showed that many artists even without the prospect of wealth or fame invested a considerable amount of time and effort into their artistic activity. None of the rewards, which are used in the normal working life to motivate employees (money, recognition) played a role. There was also no external motivation. The artistic act was done for its own sake. The motivation must be found in the characteristics of the activity itself. Thus one speaks of intrinsic motivation.

In his further work Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi investigated, which inner experience takes place when it is activated by intrinsic motivation and what factors affect the intrinsic motivation. He made a study with 200 people, who spend a lot of time with intrinisic motivated activities, such as playing chess, rock climbing, dancing, basketball and composing. It showed that many participants described their experience as a optimal state, where the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, as being in a flow. Thus Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called it flow-experience. The flow experience can be described in more detail with the following components:

– The self and the activity become a unit
– One is fully concentrated upon the activity
– The thoughts move completely into the background
– Enhanced perception of your own body and the environment
– There is a sense of control of the current situation

In his further exploration of the flow experience Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found the following conditions for the flow experience necessary:

– Fitting of the skill of the performer and the challenge of the task (not  too difficult – not too easy)
– Clear task
– Fast feedback on the activity

I think a flow experience can also often be observed in Tai Chi Chuan. The theory by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi now gives us hints how to reach the flow experience easier in the practice of Tai Chi Chuan. Here are a few suggestions:

– Define a clear task before the training, e.g. I try to relax the shoulders.
– Choose forms or movements which fit to my current physical and  mental situation.
– When practicing individual movements, I try to get a feeling for the movements and correct them if necessary.

In addition to improving one‘s own practice you can also modify the learning of Tai Chi Chuan in such a way that a flow experience can be experienced. Conditions are here:

– The movements to be learned fit in their level of difficulty to the skills of the student.
– The depth of the correction fits to the skills of the student.
– The correction of a movement must be clearly defined.
– There must be a fast feedback on the exercise by the teacher or by one‘s own feeling

The flow experience in the Tai Chi group is certainly something very special. Is it not often like this: The slower the movements, the greater is the inner experience and the faster the time runs.

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Text 14 of the 40 Secret Classics of the Yang family states:

The Explanation of the Cultural (wen) and Martial (wu) Aspects in Taijiquan

Wen, the cultural, is the foundation (ti) and wu the martial, is the application (yong). The achievement of the cultural lies in the martial. It is applied through the essence, qi and spirit (shen) and the practice of physical training.
The achievement of the martial is attained by the cultural. It is established on the foundation of body, heart/mind (xin) and found in fighting. Further on in case of the cultural and the martial we speak of the right time and duration.
In the proper sequence it is the foundation of physical training. When the cultural and the martial are applied in sparring, the root of fighting is in the capability of storing and exerting.

Therefore, when fighting is done in a cultural way, it is a soft physical exercise. The sinew power of the essence, qi, and the spirit. When in fighting the martial is applied, it will be hard fighting. The power of the heart/mind and the body. The cultural without the preparation of the martial is like foundation without application. The martial without the accompaniment of the cultural is application without foundation. A single beam of wood cannot provide support or a single palm, clap. This is not only true for the achievements in physical training or fighting – all things are subject to this principle.

The cultural is an internal principle. The martial is an external skill. External skill without internal principle is surely only brute strength. It has lost its true face and consequently one will be defeated when attacked by an opponent. Inner principle without external skill is only the scholarship of stillness without knowing the application. But in a confrontation, the smallest error can lead to death. In the application against others, how can one not understand the explanation of the two words ‘the cultural’ and ‘the martial’?

Further on, in the foreword to Taijiquan Master Ma Hailong’s book, The Basics of Taijiquan, he writes e.g. about himself, “I was born into a martial arts family. The education I received from my family in my youth was the way (dao) of the cultural (wen) and the martial (wu) as a means of furthering self-cultivation. The purpose of this education is to help others and to develop righteousness. At the age of five I began to study the books of Confucius under my paternal grandfather, Ma Chanquan, a lecturer at Zhejiang University. At seven I began training in Taijiquan under the guidance of my maternal grandfather, Wu Jianquan (the founder of the Wu Style).” (Wu and Ma p. 125)

Thus the education Ma Hailong received was a unification of both, the cultural (wen) and the martial (wu). Reading as a Westerner, the chances are that such a passage will be glossed over, with no inkling of the importance this statement acquires in its Chinese context. The cultural and the martial, wen and wu, are twin concepts of huge significance in Chinese culture.

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– An Excerpt from an upcoming book by Andrew Townsend –

Although we are students of t’ai chi ch’uan, it is important for us to recognize that we are also students of T’ai Chi. To a Taoist, T’ai Chi is bigger than the Chinese martial art that bears its name. The principles of T’ai Chi are applicable to a wide range of circumstances and include both natural phenomena and human affairs. These principles are all-encompassing and eternal and were originally formulated by the ancient Chinese sages. References to T’ai Chi, Heaven and Earth, yin-yang, and ch’i appear in the earliest of recorded Chinese writing.

The principles of T’ai Chi have provided a common foundation for much of Chinese philosophy, including the two most prominent schools, those of Taoism and Confucianism. The same principles underlie traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the healing art of ch’i gung. T’ai Chi principles also form the basis of Yang style t’ai chi ch’uan. Other, lesser known Chinese martial arts also have their roots in the principles of T’ai Chi. It is not an exaggeration to say that T’ai Chi was central to traditional Chinese culture, philosophy, science and art.

Once one begins to be aware of T’ai Chi and its importance to both natural phenomena and human affairs, it is becomes possible to perceive the presence of these principles everywhere around you. However, it is often necessary to have one’s eyes opened, both literally and figuratively, in order to “see” the workings of T’ai Chi.

I was fortunate to have had my eyes opened some twenty years ago by Master James Huang of Honolulu, Hawaii. Master Huang and I would normally meet in the mornings to practice t’ai chi ch’uan and pushing hands in a small park before he met with his patients. Often, after practicing the form and playing pushing hands, we would sit on a bench and meditate for a while. One morning after meditating, Master Huang noticed a neighborhood cat slowly and silently approaching a bird perched in a branch of a low tree. The cat moved with such precision and grace that it reminded me of a leopard stalking an antelope.

Master Huang turned to me and said, “Look at that cat. It is doing t’ai chi.” We both watched the cat and marveled at how it moved, advancing with “cat steps” just like Master Huang had taught me to advance in the form. Eventually the bird became aware of the cat’s intentions, ruffled its feathers, and flew off squawking indignantly. The formerly-stalking leopard transformed itself back into a simple house cat and sauntered off nonchalantly.

Master Huang then looked at me and made a pronouncement that I will remember for the rest of my life. He said simply, “Everything is T’ai Chi.” We sat together for a few moments with this weighty statement settling into the silence. Then Master Huang spoke again, “Everything is T’ai Chi.” By this time, I had been studying with Master Huang for several months. I had come to realize that when he repeated himself, which was not often, it meant that I was to pay special attention to what he said or had shown me. In this particular instance he made no further comment.

It is important to explain at this point the difference between T’ai Chi and the martial art of t’ai chi ch’uan. According to ancient Chinese philosophy, T’ai Chi is born out of the formless Void when it begins to move and divides into Heaven and Earth. Heaven and Earth possess the characteristics of yang and yin respectively and are the progenitors of “the ten thousand things”, which is to say all of creation. T’ai Chi also includes the underlying principles from which the laws of nature are derived. As such, T’ai Chi governs the natural universe.

In the world view of the ancient Chinese philosophers, Man occupies a unique position between Heaven and Earth. According to T’ai Chi theory, Man is also governed by the principles of T’ai Chi. By formulating an overarching explanation of the existence and functioning of both the natural world and society, T’ai Chi theory provides us with a complete and comprehensive perspective on life and the cosmos. T’ai Chi theory represented to the ancients what the Big Bang theory, combined with Universal Field theory, is to modern-day physicists.

As its name implies, the martial art of t’ai chi ch’uan is based upon the principles of T’ai Chi. The Chinese character for ch’uan is usually translated as “fist” and may be more generally interpreted as “fighting style”. So, t’ai chi ch’uan is the fighting style based upon Tai Chi, the “supreme ultimate.”

Let me return to the words of Master Huang. Normally, when Master Huang used the words, “t’ai chi”, he was referring to our art, t’ai chi ch’uan. In all the time we spent together he never used the full name, “t’ai chi ch’uan”. This is common in the world of Chinese martial arts, where “t’ai chi” is recognized to mean “t’ai chi ch’uan”. At the time when Master Huang made his simple statement, “Everything is t’ai chi.” I assumed he was referring to the martial art that he was teaching me.

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Creative Artistry Through the Art of Moving

Entering an age where the ancient Art of Moving is being recognized as the New Way to find inner balance, health and flow, Tai Chi Chuan finds it place back amongst the most powerful ways to become a condensed person that has clarity of mind, health of body and emotional countenance. It is said that the real meaning of the martial art is the cradle of enlightenment, that it is about self-discovery through a state of being that allows the universe to flow through the empty space between the particles and that this state brings a higher consciousness to the practitioner.

Although these words seem only philosophical and conceptual, their effect on the trainee is real. Using balance in the body and breath does result in a healthy outcome for body and mind. It opens the valves of inner discovery and sensitivity. When a trainee gains sensitivity, he gains awareness of movements that normally he is not capable of sensing. There is a deepening of the human experience, there is a remembering how beautiful the human is.

Tai Chi Chuan in its early form is a silent way to have reconnect to all aspects of the world that surrounds the practitioner. He will start to connect to the place he practices, he will start to feel the bird in the sky and the wind in the tree. Something profound happens and he cannot truly explain it, yet he will ‘know’ it deeply.

In that sense, the deeper sense of Tai Chi Chuan is the attainment of a consciousness that lies beyond the senses, the zen state.

The empty mind will happily flow with the moves of the form, the emotions are contained, the heart is calm and posed, the legs are filled with supporting energy and the hara is at the center of all moves. In that state the whole person is carried in the endless state of oneness with both the inner world and the outer world.

The Tai Chi Chuan state is, like a true zen state, is a state where new insights are able to come through. That state is a gift during business discussions and the person that sits in such meetings becomes a beautiful power of clarity and an emotionally gentle person, very beneficial for all others attending. There is so much more to say about ‘just’ Tai Chi Chuan. There is much beauty stored in the oriental art of movement. There is much inner peace and strength within the whole concept, and above all else, there is much silent joy arising from this unique state of presence.

People practicing the art of Tai Chi Chuan, the art of gentle movement, are recognized by their powerful yet silent attitude. They have an attraction that only can be felt by those that have ears to listen to silence. Silence arises from a deep quantum state that connects the inner cosmos with the outer one. It is a state of totality.