Move with intention to improve your form

After we’ve spent weeks learning a skill or system, it’s in our nature to get a little lazy in the vigilance we held when we were first learning. Think about driving a car. When you first learned, you were overly attentive to everything on the road and everything you were doing. Yet when you finally got the hang of it, you likely fell into some more lazy habits. Yes, you discovered that you didn’t need to be as attentive, but according to national statistics, it’s likely you’ve done more than just decreased your level of attentiveness. Often we can drive for several minutes with our mind (and sometimes eyes) on anything but the road and other cars. Often when someone gets into an accident because of this, their level of attentiveness returns to the level they had as learners.

In Zen, this state of attentiveness is called Beginner’s Mind; the level of attentiveness you hold when you are just a beginner at something, you apply to every aspect of your life to aid you in your enlightenment. Right now take a look around you without attaching any significant meaning to what you see. As you come back to this screen, think about what you saw, what impressions you received of colors, shapes and images. Did you notice anything you’ve been missing or taking for granted?

With Taijiquan, once you’ve learned the form, you can find yourself falling into some bad habits, depending upon where your attention and intention lies. Problems with stance, hand positions, and discomforts during performance of the form can crop up because of inattention. So how do you fix this problem and make your way back to a beginner’s mind? Here are a few techniques that work for me:

Follow your hands

A student who had read Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain, remarked on how I “followed the clouds” as Chungliang Al Huang recommends you do. In reality, at that moment I was following my hands throughout the form, watching them as they moved. Doing this simple exercise keeps me moving my hands in the correct way, and gives me a beginners mind as I work to keep them moving correctly.

Move with martial intent

Taijiquan is a martial art, and the movements are put together as a Daolu (or Kata) to teach you correct striking and defensive movements. Visualize your opponent in front of you. Make them your height and build. Then apply your strikes to the points your teacher taught you about. Most importantly, after you’ve practiced some pushing hands, visualize your defense as well as your strikes. Again, as you apply martial intent, you’ll move back into beginner’s mind as you adjust your hands and body to make the strikes and defenses without strain or interruption of your Qi flow.

Drive your power through your hips

All strikes, throws and defenses in the form are powered by your hips. As you practice your form, focus on your hips and imagine the Qi flowing from their movement out into your hands. Use the beginner’s mind to learn how your hips connect to these movements.

Using beginners mind, you can renew your form in many ways, and although it may feel like a step back in your progress in the form, you will actually find yourself taking giant leaps forward.

Namasté