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Commodity culture
We live in a world where people are used to buying things.
If you want a tattoo, you pay someone to ink it for you.
If you want a flashy car, you go out and buy one.
The drawback with this is that people
mistakenly believe that buying something
means more than it does...
Delusional
People love to show off their tattoos. Why? Did they design them? Did they ink them? Unlikely. They simply purchased them.
The artist may deserve credit, but not the consumer.
The same would be true if you bought a 'prestige car' - Did you design it?
Build it?
It is absurd to think you are going to get anywhere by
giving only an hour a week to your practice or that you can regularly skip
classes.
Martial arts is not like a bridge club, where you drop in when you
have nothing better to do. Martial arts will always make greater demands on
your time than would most hobbies or avocations.
(Dave Lowry)
Skill
Skills are not like commodities. They cannot be bought.
If you buy a piano it doesn't
just play itself. You have to do the work yourself.
The quality of the music is entirely contingent upon how skilfully
you personally can play that piano.
Proof
Tai chi is akin to playing a piano.
The art exists to the degree that you can produce
the skills using your own body.
If you cannot move in a graceful, nimble,
coordinated, agile,
functional and
pragmatic manner... there will be no music.
The quality of the tai chi is entirely
determined by you. It cannot be bought or bullied into existence.
Investment
The quality of your tai chi is directly
proportionate to the degree to which you
invest in the art.
If you are a 'toe dipper' - a
tourist - then you will not get very far.
Attending class is not the same as training
the art.
Only by plunging fully
into the training can you hope to gain real skill.
A physical grasp of tai chi requires
commitment,
sincerity, humility and a lifetime of
practice.
Alive
Tai chi does not exist apart from you.
It is not separate - like a car.
It cannot be inked onto you - like a tattoo.
Your own body brings the art to life and the
quality of what you produce is created
entirely and only by you.
You are the art
The nature of your tai chi is entirely
determined by you.
If you have put everything into your art, then it will be
rich, powerful,
exciting, vibrant,
fascinating and
strong.
If you are just a poseur;
then it will be reflected in your
tai chi.
It cannot be forced
It is common for people to begin
tai chi training with hyperbolic ambitions, only to falter and stop.
Others become adept beginners but fail to climb
any higher.
The failing is in the
mind.
Strong mind, strong
spirit
Tai chi does not require willpower.
Instead you need: humour,
patience, composure,
integrity, faith, a
critical mind and tenacity.
A willingness to do rather than simply
talk.
Quiet, humble, sustained
resolve and daily practice will
yield results.
Unconscious
As with all Tao and
Zen-related arts, tai chi requires the individual to
sublimate their ego, to allow their
chattering mind to quieten
and to immerse themselves in the moment.
When the mind is still, body and art become one.
Ego
The 'self'/ego get in the way.
To move without self-consciousness and
respond without contrivance: these are the
goals of tai chi.
It then becomes an artless art.
What is the point?
People buy a fancy car or purchase a tattoo in order to feel special
or different or unusual.
Yet, the very buying of these commodities simply affirms their
ordinariness.
Becoming a true artist involves walking a
path that few will ever take, to a
destination hardly anyone will ever reach.
It means a truly extraordinary life;
a journey into the the unknown.
Upon reaching what is perceived as an ideal goal, the artist
discovers something entirely different. The artist is suddenly confronted
with the fact that what was thought of as perfection of technique was merely
the introduction to it.
An entirely new vista has opened. The artist must be prepared to turn his
gaze from the heights that have so recently been gained, and prepare for the
ascent of the peak suddenly found beyond them.
(Dave Lowry)
And so he sets off on a path
to mysterious destinations. He does so in spite of observations by others
that such a way is naïve, outmoded or idealistic. He goes because he knows
others have gone before, because the unchanging direction of the Way
attracts and calls to him.
He goes because he is compelled. He sets out on a journey of a lifetime
because he senses that this way is the one to lead him to a place very much
worth the going.
(Dave Lowry)
Page created
1 July 2001
Last updated
16 June 2023
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