The lure of anticipation

It's quite common for me to anticipate the next move when doing Tai Chi, be it the form itself, or when doing push hands. Sometimes, you don't even anticipate the next move, you anticipate what's on TV tonight, and what's for dinner tonight, especially when doing Tai Ji!

Although it's not quite obvious why anticipating is bad for us, it's directly detrimental when doing push hands. You see, one of the big “no no” in push hands is to anticipate the next move, because once you anticipate, you’ll lose the moment and if the next action is not as anticipated, then you’ll be in a disadvantageous position. That’s why we are trained to “listen” to the opponent’s movement rather than anticipate.

With all the thinking going on in my head, no wonder my teacher says that those who think too much, can’t progress much in Tai Ji. We cannot be in that moment. We cannot be present to the moment. Always thinking about the next move, possibly thinking about what’s for dinner as well.

So, note to self (and to you fellow students as well), do not anticipate. Be as present as you can. No past, no future, just the present moment. You'll be surprised by the qualitative difference of this to your Tai Ji. There was once when I saw this Tai Ji practitioner doing the form, it was as though he was playing with the space around him. How's that for "in the moment"!

p/s: For a more general view of The Lure of Anticipation, you might want to read this article.