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.
Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label practice. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Why train tai ji in the morning
Practising tai ji is hard. But that's not an excuse to not practise. However, the "hard" part seems to nag louder than the "I want to practise" part. So I've rephrased the question to "how can I create the time to practise". I have tried night time, I have tried day time. I have tried weekends. I have tried anytime. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. I have finally settled on mornings. Here's why.
1. Less distractions
There aren't much thoughts in the mornings, for me anyway. I just wake up and go to work. Everything in between is normally a blur. I would have brushed my teeth, had my breakfast, and changed into my work clothes. However, they are all part of a routine so much so that I wouldn't even think of them. The ultimate aim would be to incorporate training as part of this normal routine. The immediate aim of course, is just to do it in the morning, before the work piles up, before questions start flowing in, before problems start erupting at work or at home, before the day even starts!
2. Less guilt
If i've promised myself to practise everyday, I'll feel very guilty to break that promise. If I am suppose to practise at night, come night time, I will have plenty of excuses not to e.g. too hungry, too tired, something's on TV, worked late etc (see this post). However, if I have practised in the morning, not practising at night is "ok" because I have already done so in the morning. If I do practise again at night, it'll be a bonus!
3. Less stressful
I don't have to rush home after work. Work nowadays are normally unpredictable. It can drag on. Working late will provide a very strong disincentive to train (my top 10 excuses). Working late actually attracts all other excuses like too hungry, too tired, a lot in the mind etc.
4. Habit is stronger than motivation
A regular time slot for tai ji actually works better than coming up with motivation every time I want to practise. As mentioned in (1), the ideal will be to incorporate it as part of a routine. While aiming for that ideal, we can always "just do it" for now.
5. Good atmosphere
The morning air has a certain quality and calmness. It's like the world has fallen asleep and had a good rest. And my tai ji is trying to stir it into motion again.
Next action
I have been trying to maintain this "morning routine" for the past 1 month. I have failed on average about 2 days a week, which is still a good achievement for now. Some failed days are normally my "class" days. So it's not all bad. :) My next goal will be to maintain the same quality of mind from start of a form to the end of a form. Most of the time, I might start out good, but later in the form I'll be more tensed because of lack of concentration, legs giving way, distracted, too hot etc. Care to join me? It's always good to know someone else is training as well.
1. Less distractions
There aren't much thoughts in the mornings, for me anyway. I just wake up and go to work. Everything in between is normally a blur. I would have brushed my teeth, had my breakfast, and changed into my work clothes. However, they are all part of a routine so much so that I wouldn't even think of them. The ultimate aim would be to incorporate training as part of this normal routine. The immediate aim of course, is just to do it in the morning, before the work piles up, before questions start flowing in, before problems start erupting at work or at home, before the day even starts!
2. Less guilt
If i've promised myself to practise everyday, I'll feel very guilty to break that promise. If I am suppose to practise at night, come night time, I will have plenty of excuses not to e.g. too hungry, too tired, something's on TV, worked late etc (see this post). However, if I have practised in the morning, not practising at night is "ok" because I have already done so in the morning. If I do practise again at night, it'll be a bonus!
3. Less stressful
I don't have to rush home after work. Work nowadays are normally unpredictable. It can drag on. Working late will provide a very strong disincentive to train (my top 10 excuses). Working late actually attracts all other excuses like too hungry, too tired, a lot in the mind etc.
4. Habit is stronger than motivation
A regular time slot for tai ji actually works better than coming up with motivation every time I want to practise. As mentioned in (1), the ideal will be to incorporate it as part of a routine. While aiming for that ideal, we can always "just do it" for now.
5. Good atmosphere
The morning air has a certain quality and calmness. It's like the world has fallen asleep and had a good rest. And my tai ji is trying to stir it into motion again.
Next action
I have been trying to maintain this "morning routine" for the past 1 month. I have failed on average about 2 days a week, which is still a good achievement for now. Some failed days are normally my "class" days. So it's not all bad. :) My next goal will be to maintain the same quality of mind from start of a form to the end of a form. Most of the time, I might start out good, but later in the form I'll be more tensed because of lack of concentration, legs giving way, distracted, too hot etc. Care to join me? It's always good to know someone else is training as well.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Top 10 excuses for not training
There's a challenge over at Cook Ding's to dedicate just over a month to train/learn something you've been wanting to. The challenge read as follows:
My top 10 excuses (in no particular order) for not training tai ji everyday are:
So what are your excuses? Please share and let us recognise them to remind ourselves that they are just excuses. :)
... from Ash Wednesday (tomorrow) until Easter (April 8), train every day, without fail, no excuses. It's not as easy as it sounds. Some days, you might only be able to get a few minutes of training in; but the point is to do it everyday, no matter what.I've been wanting to do this regardless of the challenge, but somehow there are always excuses. So i intend to list out my top excuses and hopefully, we can recognise these as excuses and don't use them!
My top 10 excuses (in no particular order) for not training tai ji everyday are:
- not enough sleep
- too tired
- too hungry
- need to go out later
- need to do a lot of washing
- no time/place to shower after training
- a lot in the mind
- need to spend time with family/friends
- work
- errands to run
So what are your excuses? Please share and let us recognise them to remind ourselves that they are just excuses. :)
Monday, February 19, 2007
In the mood for learning
Learning tai ji is hard work. I guess that's true with learning anything! The more common excuse for procastination (to learn) is that "I'm not in the mood". Taking tai ji as an example, it's highly dependent on the internal state of mind on what you actually learn in a training session.
When i'm not in a good mood, the training session feels wasted because I rushed the training, not appreciating the lessons i can gather from each move. This will actually make me feel less wanting to train and the initial thought of training for at least 1 hour will be shortened to 30 minutes, or less as i leave in a huff... ;) When I'm in a good mood, I feel that i've learnt so much that it's difficult to contain the joy of that learning experience!
There are several methods people use to move from bad mood to good mood. Some people prefer breathing exercises, slowing the rhythm of the breath seems to help them. Some likes listening to music. I find doing the form itself a good method to ease you into a good mood. Of course, you can always try alcohol, cigarettes, drugs... One of my teachers actually proposed a bit of alcohol before doing the form! (drunken tai chi anyone?) I personally don't do any of those but that's a choice on my part.
As I peel through these methods, somehow, "having fun" seems to underlie all of them! It's a useful gauge of your mood, and it's also a useful method to employ so that you are learning. With all the complexities of learning, having fun seems to be a simple rule to remember while you are learning!
So the next time you are trying to learn, try to remember to have fun. That way, your learning experience will be enhanced and you'll be having more fun. :D
When i'm not in a good mood, the training session feels wasted because I rushed the training, not appreciating the lessons i can gather from each move. This will actually make me feel less wanting to train and the initial thought of training for at least 1 hour will be shortened to 30 minutes, or less as i leave in a huff... ;) When I'm in a good mood, I feel that i've learnt so much that it's difficult to contain the joy of that learning experience!
Good mood breeds good learning. Bad mood breeds bad learning.So how do you make sure you do "good learning" all the time? I believe the key is to move from bad mood to good mood whenever you are learning. Even when you are NOT learning, moving from bad mood to good mood is always a good thing!
There are several methods people use to move from bad mood to good mood. Some people prefer breathing exercises, slowing the rhythm of the breath seems to help them. Some likes listening to music. I find doing the form itself a good method to ease you into a good mood. Of course, you can always try alcohol, cigarettes, drugs... One of my teachers actually proposed a bit of alcohol before doing the form! (drunken tai chi anyone?) I personally don't do any of those but that's a choice on my part.
As I peel through these methods, somehow, "having fun" seems to underlie all of them! It's a useful gauge of your mood, and it's also a useful method to employ so that you are learning. With all the complexities of learning, having fun seems to be a simple rule to remember while you are learning!
So the next time you are trying to learn, try to remember to have fun. That way, your learning experience will be enhanced and you'll be having more fun. :D
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Taiji figure 8 training
The figure 8 training method is to draw a figure 8 on a horizontal plane while you're in a horse stance, using your body as the pencil, and the butt as the pencil tip (or more precisely, the bottom of the vertical axis running through your body as the pencil tip). Please let me know if you have a good picture to illustrate this. My drawing skills are somewhat limited bordering on non-existent!
Anyway, my previous encounter with this training method was just to draw this figure 8, to train the legs and to train turning the body. Recently, I was asked to revisit this method again, but this time the kua should not protrude. This criteria was not previously included. By including this criteria alone, the intensity of the training is so great that I can't last more than 1 minute of it!
The protrusion of the kua was something recent to me. It is whenever the kua is not relaxed that there will be some protrusion, i.e. some tension at the kua. To resolve this, my current teacher suggests (among other things!) to try out this figure 8 training method.
If you have tried this before, or even if you haven't, please let me know if you are having similar experience. Just be careful about the knees, as the training may seem like drawing circles with the knees.
Anyway, my previous encounter with this training method was just to draw this figure 8, to train the legs and to train turning the body. Recently, I was asked to revisit this method again, but this time the kua should not protrude. This criteria was not previously included. By including this criteria alone, the intensity of the training is so great that I can't last more than 1 minute of it!
The protrusion of the kua was something recent to me. It is whenever the kua is not relaxed that there will be some protrusion, i.e. some tension at the kua. To resolve this, my current teacher suggests (among other things!) to try out this figure 8 training method.
If you have tried this before, or even if you haven't, please let me know if you are having similar experience. Just be careful about the knees, as the training may seem like drawing circles with the knees.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Music, rhythm, and tai chi
Music and rhythm. Do you find it helps your tai chi? Do you just have to have music in order to do tai ji or can make do without it?
My regular tai ji class normally plays some soothing music in the background. During the class, I don't actually realise it's there, but i think it helps in calming and slowing down the movements. It's a push hand class, so it probably can keep everyone from getting too "enthusiastic" in pushing!
Being in the park this morning, there's a group of tai chi class which moves to the beat of the music. Everyone started the form when the music started, and finished the form when the music stopped. And then there's this other group who only made some "grunts". I think it's some sort of "qi gong" method. All they did were some "aw"ing and "ooo"ing.
So what role does music play in your tai chi? Do you do it to the rhythm? Does it relax you? Or do you literally use music as a training method?
In the midst of all the different music going on in the park, I find my senses tuned in most to the rustling of the leaves, the chirping of the birds, the whistling of the insects. The quieter the mind, the louder they are. Now, that's music. :)
My regular tai ji class normally plays some soothing music in the background. During the class, I don't actually realise it's there, but i think it helps in calming and slowing down the movements. It's a push hand class, so it probably can keep everyone from getting too "enthusiastic" in pushing!
Being in the park this morning, there's a group of tai chi class which moves to the beat of the music. Everyone started the form when the music started, and finished the form when the music stopped. And then there's this other group who only made some "grunts". I think it's some sort of "qi gong" method. All they did were some "aw"ing and "ooo"ing.
So what role does music play in your tai chi? Do you do it to the rhythm? Does it relax you? Or do you literally use music as a training method?
In the midst of all the different music going on in the park, I find my senses tuned in most to the rustling of the leaves, the chirping of the birds, the whistling of the insects. The quieter the mind, the louder they are. Now, that's music. :)
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Be like a balloon
I've been struggling with the "peng" jin and can't quite find the right balance between Peng and Muscle. Peng, it seems should have a balloon like quality to it - soft when in contact with something, but strong in terms of the quality of the expansion. It's the soft and strong that i'm trying to grasp. When I try to be soft, or more accurately be relaxed, the hand tends to be "limp". When I try to be strong, the hand just becomes stiff with little flexibility in the wrist, elbow, shoulder. Trying to find the balance is, erm, difficult (which i think is an understatement!).
The speed at which you train your form seems to help with honing this quality. The slower it is, the better you can feel the quality of "soft and strong". However, the leg will take its toll and thus shortening the training time.
Seems like training leg strength, relaxed kua, relaxed limbs etc must all come at the same time! I think that's probably one reason why form training is preferred over standing pole exercises (zhan zhuang). My current teacher made this point when i first started training with him. I'm pleasantly surprised when chessman made the same point in his post.
So back to form training...
The speed at which you train your form seems to help with honing this quality. The slower it is, the better you can feel the quality of "soft and strong". However, the leg will take its toll and thus shortening the training time.
Seems like training leg strength, relaxed kua, relaxed limbs etc must all come at the same time! I think that's probably one reason why form training is preferred over standing pole exercises (zhan zhuang). My current teacher made this point when i first started training with him. I'm pleasantly surprised when chessman made the same point in his post.
So back to form training...
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Searching for the feeling
Wujimon wrote an interesting post on how tai chi is taught through the transmission of touch. The lessons learnt from these corrections normally far outweigh any other class room exposure I've had. I especially remember the "don't look down" criteria. I have a tendency to look down to check the posture alignment but was always told to "feel" the posture alignment rather than judging it with my own eyes.
So one night, during a standing posture training, the spine suddenly just lengthens and there was this rush of heat, what wujimon refers to as "the burn". And then I understood what correct alignment feels like. However, since that experience, I've been trying to reproduce that feeling. It's difficult. I haven't been able to reproduce it as intensely as the first time. And then I find myself frustrated over not being able to do it. The training boils down to "searching for the feeling".
I spend more time searching for the feeling and forgot that I must just allow the feeling to manifest itself. Self-correct based on feeling does have this disadvantage. So, what did I do? I stopped doing tai ji for a while, and went back to it when I "forgot" about the feeling. ;)
So one night, during a standing posture training, the spine suddenly just lengthens and there was this rush of heat, what wujimon refers to as "the burn". And then I understood what correct alignment feels like. However, since that experience, I've been trying to reproduce that feeling. It's difficult. I haven't been able to reproduce it as intensely as the first time. And then I find myself frustrated over not being able to do it. The training boils down to "searching for the feeling".
I spend more time searching for the feeling and forgot that I must just allow the feeling to manifest itself. Self-correct based on feeling does have this disadvantage. So, what did I do? I stopped doing tai ji for a while, and went back to it when I "forgot" about the feeling. ;)
Monday, May 29, 2006
Heightened senses
Another morning of tai ji. Not that I've been doing rather religiously... Motivation low these days. And I can't blame it on the weather in Singapore as I normally do in Scotland. I could always blame it on mosquitoes... ;)
I've been doing tai ji at the top level of a multi-storey carpark. It's quite quiet and with trees surrounding the carpark, it's quite a nice environment. After a few standing postures, I proceed to a small part of the form, focusing on the transitions. It's quite taxing and the mind just wanders and gets tired. Nothing to do with the body can't take it though, coz I could still walk home. ;)
On my way back, suddenly everything sounds very clear. I could hear the crisp sound of my footsteps. I could hear the woman talking to herself (or mobile phone!) far away. I could hear the sound made by the tires of the bicycle with the pavement. All the voices are clearer than normal. What's going on here? Has anyone got this sensation after practice?
I've been doing tai ji at the top level of a multi-storey carpark. It's quite quiet and with trees surrounding the carpark, it's quite a nice environment. After a few standing postures, I proceed to a small part of the form, focusing on the transitions. It's quite taxing and the mind just wanders and gets tired. Nothing to do with the body can't take it though, coz I could still walk home. ;)
On my way back, suddenly everything sounds very clear. I could hear the crisp sound of my footsteps. I could hear the woman talking to herself (or mobile phone!) far away. I could hear the sound made by the tires of the bicycle with the pavement. All the voices are clearer than normal. What's going on here? Has anyone got this sensation after practice?
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Tai ji is a pain in the knee!
Knee pains are really common in Tai Chi. I remembered my first time (!) when I had a knee pain from doing tai ji training. It was quite frustrating especially when I asked the teacher and all the teacher said was... "yes, there must be something wrong with your stance". The teacher might have good intentions by wanting me to find out on my own, but I wasn't buying it. After that remark, I stopped going to his class completely...
It was not until 2 years later did I find the real reason for the pain in the knee. I must be really unlucky or did not have much fate in meeting teachers. I wonder if this is one of those things you hear about that "when the student is ready the teacher will appear"! I guess I wasn't ready for a long time.
Anyway, just to hope that you don't fall into this trap as well, I hope I can share a bit of my thoughts here on knee pain.
A popular correction for knee pain is that "your knee should point in the direction of your toes". I've tried this for ages, and everytime I find my knee not pointing in that direction, I literally move the knee into that direction. This works for a while, but it's difficult to see where the knee is in some postures (unless you have a mirror or an experienced person who can spot these things!). By the time your head moved round to see where your knee is, you would have moved your knee, thus invalidating your observation. Remember Schrodinger's cat from your physics days? (I can't claim I could, but visually, this theory is easy to remember just because there's a cat involved.) So, what do you do in such a situation?
The answer to this is a seemingly unrelated aspect, SONG KUA! A lot of body pains can be related to this "song kua" but we'll focus on the knee in this article. It's not the knee which is pointing the wrong direction, it's the kua that's not relaxed enough resulting in a wrongly pointed knee! (This was such an epiphany for me at that time!) By relaxing your kua, your knee is automatically allowed to move wherever feels natural, and the natural position is the same direction as the toes! Correcting the knee itself is actually the wrong approach to solving the knee problem. Relaxing the kua is. But correcting the knee is easier to understand and teach. Because, how would you explain what the kua is? Maybe this post might help.
Another common thing I do during training is to "bounce" up and down to test whether I'm in the correct position, and whether the kua is relaxed enough. This, as I've just found today, is very bad for the knee! The knee is already under a lot of pressure, and you're still adding more stress to it! When in the form, just move on, and don't try dance half-way doing the form.
Let me know if these techniques help.
It was not until 2 years later did I find the real reason for the pain in the knee. I must be really unlucky or did not have much fate in meeting teachers. I wonder if this is one of those things you hear about that "when the student is ready the teacher will appear"! I guess I wasn't ready for a long time.
Anyway, just to hope that you don't fall into this trap as well, I hope I can share a bit of my thoughts here on knee pain.
A popular correction for knee pain is that "your knee should point in the direction of your toes". I've tried this for ages, and everytime I find my knee not pointing in that direction, I literally move the knee into that direction. This works for a while, but it's difficult to see where the knee is in some postures (unless you have a mirror or an experienced person who can spot these things!). By the time your head moved round to see where your knee is, you would have moved your knee, thus invalidating your observation. Remember Schrodinger's cat from your physics days? (I can't claim I could, but visually, this theory is easy to remember just because there's a cat involved.) So, what do you do in such a situation?
The answer to this is a seemingly unrelated aspect, SONG KUA! A lot of body pains can be related to this "song kua" but we'll focus on the knee in this article. It's not the knee which is pointing the wrong direction, it's the kua that's not relaxed enough resulting in a wrongly pointed knee! (This was such an epiphany for me at that time!) By relaxing your kua, your knee is automatically allowed to move wherever feels natural, and the natural position is the same direction as the toes! Correcting the knee itself is actually the wrong approach to solving the knee problem. Relaxing the kua is. But correcting the knee is easier to understand and teach. Because, how would you explain what the kua is? Maybe this post might help.
Another common thing I do during training is to "bounce" up and down to test whether I'm in the correct position, and whether the kua is relaxed enough. This, as I've just found today, is very bad for the knee! The knee is already under a lot of pressure, and you're still adding more stress to it! When in the form, just move on, and don't try dance half-way doing the form.
Let me know if these techniques help.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
How to train longer?
I've been trying to train a bit longer now that I have more time in my hands. It's not going as planned. With all the good intentions of training longer every time i stepped out the door, always end up coming back earlier than intended. Today, i tried training the very basics of standing with "song kua". I didn't even try a very low stance. It's as high as you can get but to make sure the kua is really open. Apparently, as I found out today, it's when you place your finger at your kua, you can't actually feel any tension!...
I just stood there in a meditational posture, remembering also to keep the back straight. It was really tiring and when i opened my eyes (i.e. i couldn't take it any longer), it was just over 5 minutes! My goodness... And then, the rest of the form training was more difficult because of that. Legs were just like jelly.
Sometimes, just before coming back, i'll ask myself "can i stand the pain a bit longer"? And then the counter in the head would be "i won't be doing any quality training because i couldn't concentrate on being relaxed when the legs are shaking". And then if i do come back from training.. "i could have trained a bit longer"...
All the battle of thoughts, and I've come to one conclusion inspired by the form itself. What do you do when you train with the form? Do you try to correct every bit with the principles as you go through it? Or do you try to go with the flow?
I find that correcting bits when going through the form very tiring. It's like checking the dictionary for every word you don't understand! I've actually tried doing this once, but you just lose interest in the whole story. After that, I end up just checking one or two words that interest me, and try to fully understand those words.
Similarly, when going through the form, you can just pick and choose a section that you want to work on and practise that section separately, trying to fully understand it. Keep the section you're trying to practice as short as possible so that you get maximum focus.
When doing the form itself, try to remember the corrections when going through the form. But when you passed that bit that you've just remembered you've done wrongly, don't go back. You end up losing the flow and ultimately lose interest. Force yourself to carry on. And accept that you've made a mistake. At least you've spotted it and is conscious of it. Find some way to remember it so that you can do it the next time. I find blogging helps!
So when you come back from training and feel that you should have done longer, force yourself to carry on and accept that you've given up that chance to do longer. At least you've spotted it and is conscious of it. Find a way to remind yourself that you'll do longer the next time. Any suggestions warmly welcomed!
I just stood there in a meditational posture, remembering also to keep the back straight. It was really tiring and when i opened my eyes (i.e. i couldn't take it any longer), it was just over 5 minutes! My goodness... And then, the rest of the form training was more difficult because of that. Legs were just like jelly.
Sometimes, just before coming back, i'll ask myself "can i stand the pain a bit longer"? And then the counter in the head would be "i won't be doing any quality training because i couldn't concentrate on being relaxed when the legs are shaking". And then if i do come back from training.. "i could have trained a bit longer"...
All the battle of thoughts, and I've come to one conclusion inspired by the form itself. What do you do when you train with the form? Do you try to correct every bit with the principles as you go through it? Or do you try to go with the flow?
I find that correcting bits when going through the form very tiring. It's like checking the dictionary for every word you don't understand! I've actually tried doing this once, but you just lose interest in the whole story. After that, I end up just checking one or two words that interest me, and try to fully understand those words.
Similarly, when going through the form, you can just pick and choose a section that you want to work on and practise that section separately, trying to fully understand it. Keep the section you're trying to practice as short as possible so that you get maximum focus.
When doing the form itself, try to remember the corrections when going through the form. But when you passed that bit that you've just remembered you've done wrongly, don't go back. You end up losing the flow and ultimately lose interest. Force yourself to carry on. And accept that you've made a mistake. At least you've spotted it and is conscious of it. Find some way to remember it so that you can do it the next time. I find blogging helps!
So when you come back from training and feel that you should have done longer, force yourself to carry on and accept that you've given up that chance to do longer. At least you've spotted it and is conscious of it. Find a way to remind yourself that you'll do longer the next time. Any suggestions warmly welcomed!
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