Learning less everyday

My Tai Ji teacher recently highlighted that (in general), people who needs to think a lot at work are normally those who progressed slowly in Tai Chi. I casually mentioned that I also fall into that category.... and then there was silence.... and then we laughed! :D

I think (yikes!) the "thinking" which is restricting growth is normally the conscious thinking that we do. Conscious learning cannot be applied at will. You can only hold so much thought at any one time. To react to an ever changing situation, conscious thinking is a poor processor. You need a processor which is much more intuitive and with potentially limitless capacity to adapt to our ever changing environment. I think we need to "push" conscious learning to the other-than-conscious mind. To learn less consciously and learn more intuitively.

I hope to use this philosophy - learning less everyday - when learning Tai Chi. Let's see where this will take us.

p/s: this reminds me very much of Yoda - unlearn what you have learnt. :)

太极与我 Tai Ji and me

我： 太极呀太极，为什么你还不属于我呢?

太极： 徒儿呀徒儿，其实我并不属于任何人，却又是大家所能拥有的。

我： 那我为什么不能拥有你呢?

太极： 那是在你拥有我之前要自己寻找的答案。

me: Dear Tai Ji, why are you still not mine?

Tai Ji: Dear student, I actually do not belong to anyone, and yet I am everyone's.

me: And so why can't you be mine?

Tai Ji: That is the answer you need to seek, before I am yours. :)