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Not
sport
As a form of exercise, tai chi is quite
difficult to classify.
Tai chi is most definitely not a sport. Nor
is it remotely like working out with weights
or at the gym.
In many regards, tai chi is unlike other
martial arts.
But it does has some elements in common with dance...
Movie dance
A truly skilled dancer uses their body in a manner that looks
effortless.
If you watch Zhang Ziyi in House of Flying Daggers, her dancing abilities are
fabulous.
'The Echo Game' scene looks almost like tai chi, but it is dance.
Many people learn
tai chi
just so they can show off to somebody else.
They learn certain movements from the outside,
but they the miss the inside, the essence.
And some tai chi teachers also have made this mistake.
(Chungliang Al Huang)
Skills
Dance can be a demanding form of exercise.
It requires:
Stamina
Strength
Suppleness
Rhythm
Poise
A long-term investment of time and effort
Timing
Coordination
Proprioception (relative position of body parts/awareness of how much strength is being applied)
Footwork
Kinaesthetic awareness (knowing where your limbs are positioned without needing to look)
Ambidextrous use of the limbs
Good skeletal alignment
Body control
Presence of mind
The ability to memorise a complex sequence of movements
Accurate performance
Precision
The willingness to persevere
Hard training
The capacity to deal with setbacks and obstacles
All of these qualities
are necessary for tai chi.
To be skilled at tai chi, the student must
possess the body and
aptitude of a dancer.
Harder than it looks
There are many different types of dance that require a level of
skill that is
not apparent in the performance.
You may watch it and think that it is
easy - until you try it yourself.
Tai chi is just the same.
Asian
dance
Tai chi uses the body in a manner that looks similar to traditional
forms of Asian dance.
Is tai chi dance?
No.
Tai chi may look like dance and move like dance but it is
something else -
something far more complex than dance.
The art has many facets.
It is a healthy form of exercise, a system of combat,
meditation training,
the physical embodiment of Taoist insights and a spiritual
journey.
Combat
Tai chi involves combat.
The choreographed routines may look like dance, but they are actually martial
arts applications joined together.
Those graceful, flowing movements are
expressions of kinetic energy, or
force.
Inner quality
Tai chi is internal; a student
moves from the inside out.
The outward
appearance is secondary to the internal work involved.
Outward forms do not reflect skill in tai chi; it is the unseen
substance that
counts.
The skill lies within.
Hiding your skill
Tai chi has an entirely different focus to dance.
A dancer performs their art.
They express openly.
A tai chi student must learn to use their body to
cultivate and express
energy. But they must also conceal their actions.
The energy expressions must be folded within the art. This is not so easy.
Relationship
Expressing energy is only one facet of tai chi.
The application of the system is an exciting endeavour in which your body must
work in conjunction with an aggressor.
Physical coordination, power, timing,
sensitivity and
strength must combine in one
seamless moment.
Appropriateness
What you do and how you do it must be perfectly
harmonised with the requirement
of the situation.
There must be total presence and
composure.
The challenge of combat teaches a person how to cope, how to manage
conflict and overcome stress.
Balance
Tai chi is concerned with balancing relationships.
It explores how an unbalanced person feels to be at odds with the
world and with
themselves.
By healing your body and realising that
all things work together, you can
let-go
and find freedom.
Liquid
The beauty of tai chi lies in the fluid grace of the movements.
Your body must move without pause or
hesitation, unfurling and then
withdrawing
without effort.
Every single expression must spiral throughout the body as you
naturally open and
close the joints.
Your body ripples and flows like water.
Tai chi works in a way that is completely opposite from many forms of dance,
specifically ballet. It seems that more and more people interested in dance and
movement are turning to Eastern forms of movement as they search for a richer
and more supple expression.
In tai chi the body is placed in a position where the six outward rotators are
eccentricity contracting with the abdominals and gluteals relaxed. This
eccentric contraction of the the six outward rotators counteracts the short
resting length of the iliopsoas as well as gravity. Being in the tai chi
posture utilizes gravity to one's advantage. The main difference then is in the
use of the abdominals and the gluteals, and that in tai chi the force of
gravity is utilized to stretch the iliopsoas and flexors, while in ballet
gravity is not used.
It is possible to use gravity to stretch the flexors and iliopsoas in ballet but
this is not understood in the teaching of this art.
(Liz Koch)
Page created
18 April 2005
Last updated
16 June 2023
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