Us and Them: Transcending Polarization
T’ai Chi is the perfect self defense because one never has to fight. (Almost never, as there are those who would attack trees, telephone poles, etc.). As we come into balance emotionally as a part of the generalization of the practice of cultivating physical balance, we may find ourselves not taking things personally.
Instead of feeling that “They are attacking me”, or that “They are the enemy”, we may begin to think “Oh, they have a problem today”, and we don’t allow this to cause us to lose our center, our own balance and stability.
Body Language
When we move in balance, our body language is very different. Our usually unconscious body language then sends a message that we are not a victim or a threat.
Just as a driver on the expressway going 70 or 80 miles per hour doesn’t usually notice someone that is going 55, someone looking for trouble is much more likely to interact with another who is more on their wavelength.
A car moving at 55 mph is seen as something to go around, like a tree or a telephone pole, and someone looking for a fight will usually pick someone whose body language radiates cues suggesting victim or threat signals.
These signals are absent in the slow, relaxed movements originating from the center that are characteristic of T’ai Chi practitioners, more and more, the longer one has been practicing.
Generalization of Learning Skills
As we approach new skills, we bring with us much that we have learned from other pursuits in which we have achieved some level of expertise. These already present skills that we have acquired in the past may present us with many useful shortcuts on our path.
This ability to transfer knowledge and skills attained through previous effort need not be wasted. It is extremely useful for the teacher to utilize these prior accomplishments of students when imparting new skills to them.
Stress and Learning
Students in stressful careers or lifestyles may sometimes learn more slowly than students that have moved into the retirement phase of their careers, or those that have entered a slower and more relaxed lifestyle.
Creative Solutions
Often we carry the solutions to many possible problems, and this list of solutions may become longer and longer as we grow older. By cultivating our attention and the ability to create solutions as they are needed, we may greatly lessen this baggage.
Sometimes the baggage that we carry may become so great that this baggage prevents us from fitting through new doorways.
“We see Wisdom as a flower to be plucked, but it may more often be like a mountain that must be climbed.” (Adapted from the teachings of Master Po, Kung Fu TV series from the 1970s).
