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.