Stephen Douglas Five Winds Tai Chi Chuan
Stephen Douglas Five Winds Tai Chi Chuan
Thoughts on repeated movements
The purpose of repeated practice is to train the body’s response. There is repeated movement in the hand form, in push hands, in application, in nei kung and so on. With practice over many years, the body is trained to respond with less effort, and less thought.
The first task is to learn forms where they can be done without worrying about the actual pattern - getting to know the forms through repeated practice. The goal of repeated practice is to close the gap between thought and movement eventually to nothing. It is important therefore to ensure all practice is correct, and to focus on what is being done at that moment. Distracted practice will lead to poor progress.
It is not beneficial to seek any goal or thought of perfection however, but best simply to practice correctly. That is not to say you should not seek to improve, but look for learning through the questions raised in your own practice. Be careful whom you accept the answer from if seeking guidance.
My teacher repeatedly tells us to separate out the part of TC you want to practice, and work on that outside the forms. He says when doing the form, relax and ‘feel’ the form. By feel, he means do not analyse the form as you are doing it. Good Advice. This frees the form, in the sense the mind and body can relax, which can provide access to beginning to see TC in a different way, adding quality and allowing development. So if a ‘mistake’ is made while doing the form, let it go and move on (mentally and physically), as it has passed already. The same advice applies to any aspect of TC, whether forms, push hands, application and so on.
Wu San Shou is a good example where individual repeated practice has a direct affect on the application with an opponent. With repeated sole practice in the correct manner, the ‘feeling’ developed in the movement allows a more effective use in application. In other words, being able to apply this technique with an opponent almost as if he was not there gives substance to the application with correct practice.
Similarly repeated push hands exercise leads to better application in receiving a strike. The idea of meeting and directing the movement is the same in both, and the repeated movements in push hands become in built, giving quality to application. This connection is essential in applying the movements of application in a TC way, and not simply hard stopping or even hard redirection. It is the blending of movement that is key.
The purpose of training under martial pressure is to train the mind’s response. It is not enough to only do forms or pushing hands if TC is to be used as a martial art. Deeper understanding of TC (and the benefits) is gained when practiced as a martial art, and not only as an exercise or meditation. Stillness in the mind is needed to face an opponent, and the barriers to finding this stillness can be recognised, and are tested, under martial pressure. The same stillness is built through repeated practice of the hand form, and other aspects, but the accumulated value tested in a martial situation. The same barriers encountered under martial pressure can arise in daily life where you may be challenged (in any sense of the word), and being able to recognise and deal with them can allow clarity when it is most needed. The martial approach challenges you as an individual and the lessons learned can be taken to every day life. This for me is a key purpose of training, and not fighting. Although it should be said that some self defence ability is an added bonus.
It is sometimes difficult to train over a long period and maintain motivation. The sometimes long periods of feeling no progress is being made sees many people abandoning practice altogether. Considering the benefits that repeated practice brings over the long haul can help overcome that. Later on looking back, with continued and correct practice these periods simply become the plateau of another step to better understanding of the art. The fascination for me is there are always more steps ahead, and having a teacher of quality always so far ahead regardless of my progress, makes me realise there is always more to learn.
Stephen Douglas
Wednesday, 8 December 2010