Often when we have difficulty acquiring a new part of the
form, or perfecting it, the cause of the difficulty may be found in moves just
prior to the part we wish to perfect. A therapist is trained to look at events
occurring just before a dysfunctional response when seeking the cause. In the
same way, we might seek to improve the quality of our responses to that which
life brings us by looking at the proximal causes of a less than perfect
response.
Meditative practices can sometimes give insight into the mechanisms
of these processes and engender growth. In this way our T’ai Chi practice may
also benefit the quality of our lives far beyond our T’ai Chi practice.
Just as in life, when we might sometimes attempt a task
without first doing our homework, or attempt a performance without practicing
it before performing it on stage, a little preparation can be of great value. It has been said that an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure.
Developing the habit of looking a little further back in
order to have more to work with as we create our future can be of great
benefit.
When the foot is not turned enough before a turn, the hip rotation
after the turn is then not enough to be in an optimal position to execute the
next leg movement. In this case the problem occurs not one but two steps before
the obvious problem movement. That is, the incorrect foot movement leads to an
incorrect hip position, which then makes the following leg swing either
difficult or impossible to make in balance correctly.
This then requires tense
muscles to compensate for the lack of balance, blocking the Chi flow and proper
working of all the parts together.
This is often seen both in the first turn after the third
round hand and again after the second ‘snake creeps down’, after the third
round hand.
Other examples may often be seen in situations where the weight is
not completely shifted into place before a movement requiring balance is
executed. This can sometimes be seen as ‘not sitting well’ and having a
vertical ‘bounce’ when performing ‘cloud hands’.
If these verbal technical descriptions of movements are not
clear, the concept of looking at the movements, body position/placements, or
balance just prior to the difficult part may still be greatly useful to you
if you apply it to any part of the form that you are having difficulty with.
Thanks Always,
Daniel
