Meditation in Motion

[Captain Harlock]

My address, was to the original comments.

it is advertised virtually everywhere that Tai Chi Chuan is meditation in motion. personally, i don't buy it... but, i do believe that Tai Chi can facilitate one's meditation practice, and conversely meditation enhances one's Tai Chi.

when a beginner is thinking ahead to try and remember the next move or sequence in the form, he is not in the moment... or when one with more experience is visualizing martial applications on imaginary opponents, she is not in reality. i am not discounting either of these as methods of practice, however, they are both in direct opposition to any sort of meditation in motion.

so, how do you integrate meditation within your tai chi chuan practice?

My meditation is my Tàijíquán. My meditation is my sword. They are one, they are not. It depends.

Regarding your second question in the message prior to this:

Tàijíquán is not a weekend art. Nor is it a 5 year art. It is a life long art. You know this. Some do not. Some equate Tàijíquán with the elderly. What they learn is but a shadow of true Tàijíquán.

I will say i simply: Through the repeated and low speed and low impact movements, when the movements are done with no mind, and the mind is without distraction, the body can move without effort, and at a speed normally denied. By acting without concious thought.

You asked:
"how is Tai Chi used 'practically' "
By most, poorly. By some, quite successfully.

You asked "what are training methods to integrate meditation into practical training"

I simply do. I move, I feel, I sense, and I do. This sounds like a nonanswer. But what is the taste of blue to a deaf man?

You asked "how do these methods distinguish Tai Chi as an internal art?"
They do not. Many activities that are not arts, are able to be done by the same methods.

For a better understanding however, you may consider reviewing this.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Cap'n Harlock, had you said that at the highest levels of practise one's mind and body become inseperable and that where the mind goes the body follows I would have had no reason to argue with you.

But you didn't.

You said that after learning the form with concentration one could abandon oneself (and by implication one's concentration & attention) to pleasure and let the mind free to follow the body.

The two statements are diametrically opposed, though they may appear similar.

It's nice that you are inclined to share your knowledge, but please be more careful with how it's worded, that is if you wish to make yourself understood.

 

[pete]

hi all, i hope all you dads out their are enjoying fathers day as much as i am.

i'd like to bump this up and maybe get a little more specific for those who can agree that meditation for internal and external awareness is a component of tai chi chuan training... and a method of all internal martial arts.

internal awareness will keep one centered, with regulated breath, correct posture, and energy flow. through meditation, defect in one of these will become instantly apparent. through training, one will learn to self correct during qigong or form practice (solo)... and move that up a notch with cooperative physical resistance (push hands)... up another notch through spontaneous exercises (free form and light contact sparring)... and further through harder contact, wresting, take downs, etc.

external awareness will also keep one centered, but in terms of themselves relative to their environment. through meditation, one becomes more sensitive to changes around them, sometimes called martial awareness, this is what keeps us from walking into walls or each other when practicing forms as a group in a small room. we learn to be aware and make adjustments to our outer movements in order to continue gracefully. all while continuing our internal awareness. inside and outside at the same time. training measures may include obstacles and environmental changes such as push hands while standing on bricks, lights out, sudden noises or other sensory distractions. again up the ante, by multiple person sparring, and concealed weapons.

well, there is some stuff that i like to do to integrate the lessons learned in solo practice up through martial. form what i've seen, a lot of people keep their meditation (if they in fact meditate) in one box, and their martial art in other (if they in fact fight)... i am interested in hearing what others are doing to integrate their complete tai chi chuan as an internal martial art.

thanks,
pete

 

[Nathaniel Zhu]

it is advertised virtually everywhere that Tai Chi Chuan is meditation in motion. personally, i don't buy it... but, i do believe that Tai Chi can facilitate one's meditation practice, and conversely meditation enhances one's Tai Chi.

when a beginner is thinking ahead to try and remember the next move or sequence in the form, he is not in the moment... or when one with more experience is visualizing martial applications on imaginary opponents, she is not in reality. i am not discounting either of these as methods of practice, however, they are both in direct opposition to any sort of meditation in motion.

so, how do you integrate meditation within your tai chi chuan practice?

pete

it depends on how you look at it, but i saw lots of tai chi books at my sisters kung fu school and most of them said it is meditation in motion.

 

[Phoenix44]

I don't have the expertise of Pete and some of the others on this thread, but I've practiced meditation and tai chi, and here's my two cents, because that's all it's worth.

When I practice tai chi, no matter how..."involved" I am, I always have a sense that I am right there, and that if suddenly I had to respond quickly to something--an attack, a falling object, a spray of water--I could instantly respond. And then I could immediately go back to practicing tai chi. And sometimes we see that in class. We might be chatting for awhile, but then quickly settle into tai chi practice, and then chat some more when we're done. But there's always that awareness of the external as well as the internal. (or at least ideally)

That is not the case when I meditate. Shut the door, burn some incense, light a candle, chant a mantra, form a mudra, clear my mind. I have much less awareness of the external environment when I am meditating. And when I finish meditating, I bring myself back slowly to the external. Sometimes I use music to "cue" me to the end of meditation. In group meditation, sometimes the leader uses a chime. But it is by no means instantaneous.

Moving meditation? I've done walking meditation with a group. I've walked a labyrinth (there's one at a local university). But it is NOT tai chi.