Seek Movement in Stillness

 [Path to Mastery 3/24/10 – Wk28 D3 (Str 9.12.09)(Ph2 11.15.09)]

Continuing our Tai-Chi Journey:

So, we close one chapter and open a new chapter in the realm of principles.  We finished the alignment principles, and how we will go into the movement principles.

When you are true to one principle, all the other principles are working.  If you find only one principle working in your body at a time, that means that your understanding of that principle and all the other principles is lacking.  All principles are one and the same.  This is the beginning of understanding. 

There are 5 movement principles we will be covering:
1.Seek movement in stillness
2.Seek stillness in movement
3.Mutual connect without interruption
4.Top bottom ‘each other’ follow
5.Insubstantial Substantial Distinguish Clearly
 
Seek movement in stillness is a very simple principle, but it is one of those things that gives you more juice the more you chew on it. 

At a fundamental level, seeking movement within stillness is the same as seeking the movement you feel when you do the mental visualizations.  When you are standing in a standing meditation posture, you are standing still, yet, when you picture ‘Empty Spirit Summit Strong’, then you feel your body shift, move and change.  There is movement within stillness. 

If you do not feel that there is movement inside your structure then it is dead.  When it is dead, you do not have movement for movement is life.  Anything that is dead has no power.  To seek movement within stillness is to seek life. 

When you stand and you feel stiff and like a statue, then you are a sitting duck.  There is no energy within you, and you are still just waiting to be broken.  Yet, when there is movement and flow within, you are like a live branch, green and lush inside underneath the bark, flexible, springy and full of life.  It cannot be easily broken and it has power. 

Once you get the fundamentals of the visualization, you enter the stage of breath and if you breath properly, you will feel hot air or energy moving through your body as if you were a hot air balloon.  Sometimes, you will feel like molten lava flowing inside you, and you will feel like you are sweating from inside.  When this happens, you have true intrinsic energy.  This may take some time to cultivate. 

When the inside moves, you will be grounded, relaxed and ready to move anytime.  The inside will move first so that even when there is no movement you can generate a lot of power.  Since there is movement inside you, you can generate power as if you are moving without moving.  That is the true advantage of this skill.  You have the power of movement without movement. 

So, where to start on this journey of ‘Seeking movement within Stillness’?  Start with standing meditation.  Practice the Alignment principles while standing until you feel you are flowing all over even though you are not moving.  But simplest of all, imagine you are standing by the edge of a swimming pool and imagine you are about to jump in.  This state of getting ready to jump creates potential energy within you that is ready to be converted into kinetic energy anytime.  As you stand in a manner readying yourself to jump, you will feel the energy filling your body all the way to the crown, it will open your body.  Once your body is open, you will feel your energy flow through and around your body.  When you ready yourself to jump, your Bubble Well opens and your Dan-Tien opens.  This seemingly trivial detail is the secret to mastery.  Pay a attention to the details and your path won’t wander.

It is said, a few inches off ends up being a thousand miles off.  Tai-chi is a lifetime of play.  Do not hurry.  Enjoy the journey where you are.  Pay attention to the details and that is the short cut.   

History of Tai-Chi Journey up to this point:
Before the blog opened to the public, we covered the single person part of the system.
1. Chi-Gong (Taoist Longevity, White Crane Chi-Gong); 2. Standing Meditation
3. Stepping Mediation; 4. 7 Basics; 5. Basic Form; 6. 30 Form; 7. 108 Form
8. 4 Type Pushing Hands

Interactive training after we went public with the blog. 
1. 8 Type Pushing Hands (Covered from 2/2 ~ 2/11); 2. San-Shou (Covered from 2/12 ~ 2/15)
3. Ba-Gua.(Covering from 2/16 ~ 2/19); 4. Weapons (Covered on 2/23)
5. Healing System (Covered on 2/24)

Non-Structured System:
1.Introduction (Covered 2/25); 2. Free moving – conditioning (Covered 2/26); 3.Free hand pushing hand (Covered 3/1); 4.Free hand (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/2); 5.Free hand weapon (2 person drills and multiple person drills) (Covered 3/3)

Detailed Instructions:
1.Principles (Covered 3/4)
2.Principle of Principles (Covered 3/5)
3.Principles of Upper Body #1~5 (Covered 3/8 – 3/15)
4.Principles Governing Lower Body #1~5 (Covered 3/16 – 3/22)
5. Principle Governing the Whole Body:
    1)Body Body Center Upright (Covered 3/23)

6. Principles Governing Movement
    1.Seek movement in stillness (Covered 3/24)
    2.Seek stillness in movement
    3.Mutual connect without interruption
    4.Top bottom ‘each other’ follow
    5.Insubstantial Substantial Distinguish Clearly