Tai Chi and Life Insights

Tai Chi, a national intangible cultural heritage, is based on the core ideas of Tai Chi and the dialectical concept of yin and yang in traditional Chinese Confucian and Taoist philosophy, and integrates the cultivation of temperament. , physical fitness, martial arts confrontation and other functions into one. The following is my carefully prepared Tai Chi and life insights. You can refer to the following content!

Chapter 1: The philosophy of life contained in Tai Chi

I have been fond of Tai Chi for many years, but I have always regretted not having a teacher to teach me. I have benefited a lot from participating in the study class in the past six months. The deeper you go, the more you feel the profound spirit of Tai Chi. However, Tai Chi is just a drop in the ocean compared to our nation’s traditional culture. Traditional culture is like the ocean, and Tai Chi is just the dust and water in it. How can people not develop a sense of national pride and a sense of mission to inherit the unique learning of the past saints? During my studies, I discovered that Tai Chi is not only an excellent way to maintain health, but also nourishes the mind. Not to mention these, Tai Chi also contains a profound philosophy of life.

1. Quiet, natural and harmonious.

Taijiquan emphasizes that "no movement is immovable" and the upper and lower parts are in harmony with each other and the whole body is in harmony. This means that when one part of the body moves, the whole body moves with it. There cannot be any rigidity or immobility. How can this harmony be achieved? It depends on Songrou. Relaxation is the most important skill of Tai Chi. At the beginning, the teacher asked the whole body to relax and to be completely relaxed during the entire boxing process without exerting force. The teacher said that Tai Chi is different from foreign boxing. Foreign boxing trains strength, while Tai Chi requires relaxation first. If you don't get rid of the stiffness in your body, you will be using your weak strength. Only when clumsy power is purified can true power be born. It seems inconsistent with common sense. But I realized carefully that this is exactly the same as how we deal with others. Attachment and greed are just like the rigidity in us. The more persistent we are, the farther away we are from what we are pursuing. On the contrary, if you let go, your wishes will come true. For example, if you persistently pursue a lot of wealth and use any means, it will definitely be in vain in the end. On the contrary, do not be greedy and do not seek, but give alms. You will definitely be rewarded with wealth. For another example, some leaders always want to control others, manipulate others, and use others to achieve their own goals. In the end, they will definitely become alienated from others and alienate their relatives. On the contrary, if you can let go of yourself and achieve success for others, you will gain respect and support from everyone. Many times you will find that the Tao is on the opposite side. It is not difficult to understand the principle of relaxation followed by strength.

Furthermore, our body is a whole. As long as each part is not rigid, it will achieve an ideal state of motion without motion. So why isn’t this the case for us as a collective? If everyone is not obsessed with themselves. So as small as a unit or as large as a society, it is a harmonious whole. We are all part of this whole, no matter what happens, no one is unmoved, no one is damaged, no one is damaged.

2. The tail is in the middle and the opposite direction is long.

No matter what Tai Chi movements do, it requires the tail to be centered, and the tail is the tail vertebrae. Requiring the tail to be upright actually requires the entire body shape to be upright, neither deviated nor slanted, and the center of gravity is stable. If it is off or tilted, it will be taken advantage of by your opponent and you will lose your balance. This is related to the draw length. The so-called long pull means that the movement must have opposite pull force, which is the opposite force to restrain it. Maintain balance without losing center of gravity. For example, when punching or palming, the punch should be punched forward and the shoulders should be pulled back, as if to lengthen the arm. Sometimes the arms and legs are pulled against each other, and the front legs and hind legs are pulled against each other. This is actually the principle of yin and yang balance. Boxing is like life, and I think there is a lot of wisdom in life in it. For example, as a person, you must be impartial and have a peaceful mind. Partiality and dependence will lead to hidden dangers and will eventually lead to failure. We must treat our colleagues equally, and we must be fair and just to our students. If we have the idea of ????favoring one and favoring others, it is equivalent to losing the focus. There is no reason to be invincible. Always leave some room and don't use all your strength. Be kind to the people close to you, you must have principles, and you can’t go too far! When facing people with different views, or even opposites, we must have principles, and we must not resort to violence or use excessive force. Unscrupulous hand-cutting is equivalent to an abnormal body shape, and excessive force is equivalent to a lack of strength. They all fall down.

I feel ashamed that I am a beginner in boxing. I still don’t understand the principles and my language is not beautiful. Let's just make do with it. Chapter 2: Understanding Tai Chi

"Life lies in movement."

"Life lies in stillness."

There seems to be no incomprehensible philosophical meaning behind the two completely opposite conclusions. But it really confused many people, including myself, about their thoughts and perceptions about the quality of life. To this day, some people still insist on the former based on their own personal experience, while some people use such an interesting statement to prove that the latter is an irrefutable fact, that is, this "classic saying" - "Thousands of years" "Ten thousand-year-old turtle".

In fact, anyone with a little common sense and judgment ability knows that absolute movement and absolute stillness are harmful to life. Only when a certain amount of "movement" and a certain degree of "stillness" are harmoniously unified in different time and space, appropriately and harmoniously in individuals with different adaptability, can the material life body be full of vitality and vitality. There is no need to cite the brilliant research results of modern medicine to annotate and demonstrate such a simple truth. "The great road leads to simplicity".

The ancestors of the Chinese nation who lived in ancient times have long expressed their understanding of the laws of existence of all things in the world on the exquisite "Tai Chi Diagram"! Here we can find the answers we want.

Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese philosophical term, which means to derive the origin of all things. Tai Chi graphically expresses its philosophy that the rotation of yin and yang, opposites and complements are the root of the generation and change of all things.

The outside of the Tai Chi diagram is a perfect circle, and the inside is divided into two large comma-shaped parts, black and white, called "yin and yang fish". The two colors black and white represent Yin and Yang, the two parts of heaven and earth, called Yin and Yang. Black dots in white represent yin within yang, and white dots in black represent yang within yin. Since left, up, rising, floating and white are positive, the white piece on the left and floating upward represents "Yang"; the black piece on the right and sinking downward represents "Yin"; an inverted "S" shape is formed in the middle. , the boundary between black and white is the human part that divides the yin and yang realms of heaven and earth. This is a Tai Chi Yin and Yang diagram (Yin Yang fish mutually correcting Tai Chi diagram). Corporate Vision

The Tai Chi diagram is an important image for studying the principles of Zhouyi. Taiyouzhi means extremely extreme, which means reaching the limit and having nothing to compare with. It includes not only the ultimate principles, but also the extremes of time and space, from the largest to the smallest. If you let it go, it will bridge the world, and if it is rolled up, it will be hidden in your heart. It can be greater than any amount but cannot transcend the circumference and space, and it can also be less than any amount but not equal to zero or nothing. The above is the meaning of the word Tai Chi.

The Taoist Tai Chi diagram is the same structure as the universe: the so-called Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things; that is, Wuji gives birth to Tai Chi, Tai Chi gives birth to two rituals, and Yin and Yang combine to give birth to all things. The universe is infinite, so it is called Tai Chi, but the universe is tangible, that is, it has substantial content. According to the view of Yi Xue, tangible things come from the intangible, so Wuji is Taiji. The entity of Tai Chi is in constant motion, that is, the universe is in motion, and movement produces yang energy. When it moves to a certain extent, it becomes relatively still, and stillness produces yin energy. In this way, with each movement and stillness, the yin and yang qi are the roots of each other. Moving in infinity.

All things follow this law and come into being! Touching signature

It’s funny to say. When I was young, I was ignorant of the world. Once in a remote village, I saw a yin and yang fish pattern with strong black and white contrast. I didn't know what it was, but I just felt eerie. As the years went by, I gradually realized the truth of the world, and slowly understood that the yin-yang fish pattern was not an ordinary thing, and its origin was truly miraculous. It was not until recent years that I came into contact with Tai Chi by chance, and Ai Wu and Wu Di paid attention to Tai Chi and Tai Chi diagrams. From then on, my understanding of the world opened up from a broader perspective, just like the Big Bang started at the singularity of the universe. , the horizon of the mind is "red-shifted", expanded, and extended infinitely...

My mother-in-law, who has an extraordinary mind and tireless practice, gave me the "Yibo" boxing uniform and led me to join Tai Chi practice. team of benefactors. Although my mother-in-law, who is over 70 years old, learned boxing late, she has already learned Sun, Yang, Chen, and Wu's boxing, knives, and swords from Tai Chi enthusiasts in Yangquan. Her spirit of being old-hearted, practicing boxing and chanting sutras under the stars and wearing the moon, and her perseverance to endure hardships and focus on study are beyond the reach of our descendants and make us ashamed.

Tai Chi is rich in connotation, broad and profound. It is the extremely wise invention and creation of our ancestors and is a treasure of traditional Chinese culture!

The connotation of Tai Chi is precisely the many principles revealed by the Tai Chi diagram, such as the insight into the universe, the "Three Talents" of establishing heaven, earth, and people, and the so-called "movement of the six Yao, the way of the three poles" "Ye" can be said to have the same purpose but different approaches. Tai Chi dynamically demonstrates the seven meanings of Tai Chi Diagram: "structure, rules, rotation, balance, harmony, change and direction."

Tai Chi boxing involves two arms connected, fist movements made in a circle, yin and yang combined, empty and real clear, up and down following each other, fast and slow, hard and soft, and advance and retreat in a controlled manner. Tai Chi emphasizes the movement of the body with the mind, looseness of the limbs, coordination of the whole body, light movements, unified internal and external energy, and smooth strength. The beauty of it is that "getting rid of physical strength and generating spiritual power does not mean weakness; removing turbid qi and replacing it with clean qi does not mean there is no qi." Tai Chi "can embody the unbiased middle way of Confucianism, the original Buddhist method, and the wonderful Taoist way of natural inaction". "It is a boxing technique that unites opposites, a boxing technique that changes quality, and is also a negation of negation." Boxing is in line with the three pillars of philosophy."

The purpose of the ancients in creating Tai Chi was nothing more than physical fitness and effectiveness. As the saying goes, "It's not boxing without martial arts." The essence of Tai Chi is offense and defense, and the role of martial arts in self-defense is the first priority. The reason why Tai Chi is beneficial to the body is that Tai Chi itself conforms to the laws of human physiological movement and the folding laws of human bones. Tai Chi is based on the principle of looseness and softness, using circular movements as the basis of movements. It is also a good way to practice body and regulate Qi. In short, Tai Chi is different from other sports. It stretches slowly and relaxes the muscles of the whole body. Through slow, slender and even abdominal breathing, and through the coordination of thoughts, breathing and movements, it can improve the nervous system and circulatory system, and prevent heart disease. Improve people's balance ability, prevent osteoporosis, and benefit the waist and spine. In addition, Tai Chi's physical requirements such as hanging from the top, lowering shoulders and elbows, holding the chest and pulling the back, loosening the abdomen, opening the hips, and tightening the buttocks can fully exercise the muscles of the practitioner's body, maintain a good body shape, and have a bodybuilding effect.

The most common significance of practicing Tai Chi is that it allows people to experience the process of accumulating internal energy in a soothing and appropriate state of exercise, so that the whole body's physical fitness can be strengthened; it can also enable people to understand things during exercise The law of movement changes and the simple philosophical truth are understood to be a process of gathering positive energy in both material and spiritual aspects. Of course, higher-level practitioners can gain deeper martial arts skills and complete aesthetic expression and philosophical insights at the spiritual and spiritual levels through the refreshing and endless fun of Tai Chi.

Teacher Mei is an authentic successor of Yang Style Tai Chi founded by Yang Chengfu, grandson of Yang Luchan, a generation of martial arts master. He studied under Mr. Zhao Jifu. Teacher Mei's hands, eyes, body, method, and steps in doing the exercises are precise and well-organized. They perfectly interpret the quiet, stable, and upright characteristics of Yang-style Tai Chi. His movements contain stillness and tranquility. There is movement in silence, seeking power in stability, and being calm and unhurried; his boxing skills are continuous, connected step by step, without stagnation or pause, and are completed in one go. Seeing Teacher Mei's stretched posture and deep inner strength when boxing, you will naturally sigh in your heart that practicing boxing to such an extent requires a lot of effort! Her boxing looks like she is writing regular script or painting fine brushwork, which is so thorough and exquisite that it is a complete model for practitioners to learn from. Every time Teacher Mei teaches a move, he must carefully study the boxing theory, study the theory of cross frame, walking force, and intention, demonstrate in detail the meaning of its offensive and defensive skills, and take the trouble to explain the practice precautions to ensure that every beginner masters the skills. No effort goes astray. Listening to her explanation of Tai Chi, everyone can gain the fastest and most accurate progress and understanding, and I have benefited a lot every time!

Teacher Sun is my enlightenment coach. Although he is over sixty years old and has gray hair, due to his unremitting practice of boxing every day, he has become more and more youthful, energetic, and strong as an old man. His lectures are lively and interesting, and he is particularly good at integrating the profound and interesting ideas of Tai Chi with the practice insights, practice process and even life health care. "Xu Ling Jing Jing", "Qi sinking in the Dantian", "Sinking shoulders and falling elbows", "Loose waist and falling hips", "Finishing Lu", "Supporting the gate of life", "Feeding roots"... This is the first time I heard these uncommon words. Vocabulary, my head is swollen, let alone the position and upper body! However, under Teacher Sun's lively teachings, the dozens of octogenarian practitioners were not afraid of the difficulty and boring, and could easily understand it with their hearts. The old men and women made rapid progress one by one, never tired of it, became more energetic, and became younger and younger! My wonderful feelings about Tai Chi Kung Fu originated from his classes.

Master Yang, although he is called a master, he is not an old man. He and I are my peers in the true sense. His performance of Chen-style Hunyuan Xinyi Tai Chi is like a dragon and a snake rushing across the rivers and lakes in Daze, and like a mountain and flowing water hanging down a thousand feet; when it is quiet, it is like a mountain, when it is urgent, it is like lightning. Can be found! He often requires practitioners to have a broad mind and a consciousness like the vast universe, so that "Tai Chi can be felt everywhere." Appreciating his boxing skills is like seeing a dynamic "Tai Chi diagram", which vividly expresses the fundamental laws of Tai Chi's movement, development, change and unity of opposites. If Teacher Mei's Tai Chi is about writing regular script and painting meticulously, then Teacher Yang is about using his brush wildly to express his will, dragon and snake strokes, and the unity of nature and man.

Senior brother "Yi Yi" also practices Tai Chi. At first I was a little surprised, wondering when he learned it and how good his kung fu was? Until one day when I saw him making random gestures, I couldn't help but give him a high five and praise him. The identity of the "Daoyao" senior brother is a bit special. Although he is not a master in the industry, he has been personally taught by Master Yang Zhenduo. His boxing style has the style of a master, with an upright stance, good stretches, softness, flexibility, and agility and calmness. If you practice for a long time, you will definitely be a direct descendant who deeply understands the spiritual and artistic conception of Tai Chi. Senior Brother "One Way" practices boxing from the same sect as me but from a different sect. However, due to his magnanimity as a great hermit and his focus on Tai Chi, I call him Senior Brother "One Way". One day, I saw that he could actually stretch his fists and legs in a narrow place. Although I was impressed by his concentration, I felt that it was different from myself, so I laughed and said that if I practiced boxing, I would be able to move around in a boxing uniform and occupy a hundred meters square. Only by swaying can you fulfill your intention. He smiled and asked, "Are there any similarities or differences between doing exercises and dancing?" His optimism and humor were quite contagious.

What Senior Brother "One Road" said is absolutely true. Practicing boxing is indeed different from other sports.

There are many people practicing Tai Chi in China, but there are very few people who have truly practiced Tai Chi martial arts to the state of "purely controlled by internal energy, the appearance is elusive, unknown to others, and self-explanatory". "Changes in the body, shape, and mind are all small fish to Tai Chi. Spiritual thoughts and artistic conception are the bear's paws of Tai Chi. Changes and improvements in body, shape, and mind can be obtained through the practice of Tai Chi. Mental thoughts and artistic conception must be improved through years of accumulation of philosophy and art."

However, in my opinion, practicing boxing does not matter whether you are a person or a person. "I practice therefore I am"!

In the process of reaching the highest level of Tai Chi, Kung Fu skills can be practiced throughout a lifetime. The vast majority of ordinary people have the simple sentiment of "although they cannot achieve it, they long for it". Even if Tai Chi is practiced as "Tai Chi gymnastics" in the lowest level of physical fitness practice, it is also important for inheriting the tradition of the Chinese nation. Traditional cultural treasures have played a positive role.

Especially when human beings are in an era of increasingly prosperous science and technology, extremely rich material life, and rapid changes in lifestyle and behavior, the spiritual world has been shaken and impacted like never before. It requires the excellent traditional Chinese culture to cleanse the soul, repair the cultural desert, and enhance spiritual morality. , Rebuild the oasis of life!

Practicing Tai Chi has the power to make you feel happy and understand your soul.

On a sunny day with clear scenery and clear scenery, choose a quiet and clear place with beautiful mountains and rivers, watch the clouds roll in and relax, smell the fragrance of flowers and birds, relax your limbs and veins, and distinguish the turbid air. , What kind of state of life is the feeling of joy and pleasure? Just like what Mr. Wuliu said in an ancient poem by Tao:

The house is built in a human environment, without the noise of cars and horses.

How can you do this? The mind is far away from itself.

Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, you can leisurely see Nanshan Mountain.

The mountain air is getting better day by day, and the birds are flying back and forth.

There is a true meaning in this, but I have forgotten to explain it.

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