Tai Chi and Qigong- the real treasures of China

The most of the people trying to talk about Tai Chi, start takling about it's history, the how, where and when everything started and who was the first one who has discovered it.

It is really difficult to talk about Tai Chi mentioning every area in life, that can be influenced by it, without living aside something really important. This is exactly what I used to do 8 years of my life, since I started learning and practicing Tai Chi, an art, that would influence my whole life and my general developement as human being.

So I decided to write down some of mey observations to contribute to the real understanding of the size and the complicated simplicity of this art, which is considered as the highest level Martial Art we know. A martial art that creates not just soldiers, who simply obey orders but real fighters, who would fight with honor in every field of the every-day life.

Tai Chi is the product of a philosophical system that drives back to China of the 2nd Millennium BC and is the foundation of the Chinese way of thinking. In the 6th century BC the same time in Athens they start to record for the first time in scriptures, the Poems of Homer (created by Homer in the 8th or 9th BC), in China a men called Lao Zi (Old Child) writes his famous poem the Dao De Jing, considered since that time the Bible of Daoism, the second most popular book in the world after the Holy Bible. Dao De Jing means the Bible of the Way and of the Virtue, or the Bible of the Natural Way, or of the Way of the Nature, or of the Virtueous Way of Life.

The word Virtue for the Daoists but also for the Ancient Greeks is not a way that denies or "demonizes" the body. On the contrary in Daoism as it used to be for the Ancient Greeks, the body is something sacred and valuable and we have to keep it allways in good condition through exercises and healthy way of life and is also very important for the general development of the human being as a whole.

In Daoism as well as in every philosophical system, the purpose is for the human to developing into a more conscious and because of that a better person. Daoism started as a philosophy and later for some people Daoism become a religion

From this philosophical system resulted the Chinese Alchemy very much identical with the Western Alchemy, the Qigong and from the Qigong we have developed the several Martial Art styles and the Tai Chi the ultimate Martial Art and one of the best Chi Gong, also the Theory of the Meridians and Accupuncture points together with the whole Theory of the Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Chinese Herbology, Tui Na, Feng Shui, Chinese Astrology ect.

Usually the people who used to practice Qigong and Tai Chi were also healers. Nowadays the Qigong and Tai Chi are important part in the educational programm of every TCM University in China and every Traditional Chinese Medicine University or School which is worth to be respected and tries to do serious job, has to include those healing methods in its programm.

One of the most well known Qigong, the famous "Qigong of the five Animals" referring to our Inner Organs, is being discovered and introduced by an ancient Chinese Doctor, the very famous Hua Tuo, who also has discovered some very important extra-Accupunctre points, the Jiaji points. In all Chinese Hospitals next to the Paidiatric-, or the Heart- Clinik there is also the Clinik of the Qigong Therapy.

According to the Theory and the Philosophy of Daoism very important is what we call "Three treasures", the Body the Soul and the Spirit which are considered as a Whole. The good condition of the one part can guarantee the good condition of the other and in cases more difficult connected with body (Yin), like genetic problems or people born with several deformities or people disabled after birth, can at least improve the person's condition if not cure it.

In Greece we say "healthy mind in a healthy body" and we mean exactly the same thing. Healthy body can improve the emotional and Spiritual health of a person, the same way a healthy Soul and Spirit can improve the physical health of a person's body. Our ancestors where not some racisists who thought the disabled persons quilty of something terrible they have done perhaps in a previous life and mentally retarted at the same time. Nor they admired someone only for his strength or his beautiful appearance. In Greek language we have two words to express Beauty. The one is "Eumorphia" and refers more to ones beautiful appearance and the word "Kallos" which is reffering to more than that.

The legend that the Spartans used to kill the disabled children as soon as they were born together with old men and women in the gorge of Kaiadas near Sparta was a historical lie spread out by their enemies to make them loose face among the other Greeks, which automatically can prove that something like that in Greece was unthinkable and could surely dishonor them. The archaeological excavations that took place in this gorge never found human remains there, that would support a theory like that.

In their Cities the ancient Greeks used to have at least one Gymnasium where the young people next to the physical exercises, could also hear the famous Teachers and Philosophers, who also used to spent time there to training themselves, . teaching Poetry, Music, Literature, Oratory, Science,

Epiktitos said "Is not that clever the person who takes care only of his body, our Spirit is what we have to develop and train most of all"

In the same way Tai Chi resulting from a great Philosophy leads to the same result, the harmonious development of all the aspects of a human, the Body , the Soul and the Spirit, which are related to eachother and can be transformed the one into the other. What ones was Spirit can become Soul and then flesh (Body) and the opposite. (Shen , Qi , Jing). and all that many centuries before Albert Einstein expressed his theory of the relaativity between the matter and the energy.

What can be a better example of a transformation like that, we have all experienced at least ones in our lifes, than the Conception and the creation of an embryo.

 

In learning Tai Chi we start with the basic movements. Later we learn to connect the movements into a flowing and harmonious choreography combining with breathing. The later instructions have to do with more internal Teachings like trying to feel while moving also the movement of our own enrgy inside our bodies.

The next level is to feel and move the energy that surrounds us and the third level is to feel the Energy of Heaven and Earth and tune with this Energy which is the only Source of real balanced energy for all creatures.

The movements of Tai Chi is for all the reasons we have already mentioned very slow and very soft and ex;press beauty and gentleness, are fine and elegant because this is the right way to approach the Energy without disturbing it.

The beauty in the Tai Chi movements has nothing to do with Coquetry and if there is Coquertry there is not Tai Chi. Not because Coquetry is a "Sinn", nothing like that. It is because with Coquetry we transfer our center to the others who watch us, while Tai Chi suppose to make us focus into ourselves. Also the Gentleness has nothing to do with the fear to be characterized impolite, fear that leads us to accept everything that would trouble or even annoying us or disturbing the Energy that surrounds us.

Tai Chi helps us to remain firm and flexible at the same time. Without being rude to defend ourselves remaining loyal to our consciousness and all that in a soft and harmonious way.

Our consciousness according to Taoist Practices is expressed by our Central Channel where Earth and Heaven can meet and communicate. In the mordern language we use the expression "keeping our Center" and we mean to be more conscious in everything we do and at the same time loyal to ourselves.

The Central Channel is a ral space, as real as any other meridian of the body. Is the area of our Consciousness which, when clear, allows the Earth and Heaven to communicate. Where we meet our Real, Original Self, our Divine part. The Central Channel is directly connected with a good posture.The posture of the Body reveals how we also "stand" in life, our ways. By improving the posture we succeed to improve the condition of our central channel, our way of thinking and feeling and this would improve our Health and our Life in general.

Our spiritual or emotional condition influences directly our postur and in time can lead even to skeletical deformities. The modern Psychology based on those observations is talking about body language.

Of course in cases of gentic or inherited deformities we can not suggest that the emotional or the spiritual condition of the person played any role, at least in the way we mentioned before. But een in those cases the person can be helped by this practice.

So the first and most imprtant in Tai Chi is to succeed and keep the whole time the good posture of the body. Even if we know all the movements of the form and we have succeeded a certain flow in the movements, we have to stop for a while in some of the postures taking the time we need to feel our body from the head t the little toe and if necessary, to correct it.

This is a kend of Qigong we call static. This kind of Qigong it appears externally in stillness but internally, when we have succeeded the right posture, it occures a strong Energy movement that unblocks and heals the body and also the Soul and the Spirit of the practitioner.

The movements in a TaiChi form vary between 13 to over 104. Every single movement consists of many stances. They have very poetic names like "the White Crane spreads out his wings" , "touching the Sparrow's tail", "embracing the Tiger, returning to the mountain", "Needle in the bottom of the Sea", "moving heads like clouds" etc.

Those small phrases can describe in a way the movement, help to memorize it and perhaps to ease the visualization during the movement.

Tai Chi and Chi Gong as a Way of Practice is appropriate and beneficial to anyone to matter what age, weight or physical condition he has.

Only for learning the movements many hours of practice is needed. For very long Tai Chi forms we would probably need to practice even more than one yar at least to learn all the movements of the form.

To master though a big part of the secrets hidden in the Form much more time is necessary. Tahta time would depend from the personal talent and the commitment of the practitioner.

Especially the time he would contribute to practice alone, outside the group, still under the protection of the Teacher, is most beneficial. The form never stops reveling its secrets to the student even when he practice to his old Age.

The Tai Chi we "talk about" is less Tai Chi than the Tai Chi we "do", while even the most simple conversations can be true Tai Chi although we will never mention the word at all.

The goal of Tai Chi is not to make us stronger with the meaning of prevailing over the others, because there will always be someone stronger than us, though not necessarily better than us. Taoism never was a State Philosophy.

Tai Chi would only give you the power to be your real, original self no matter what something like that would cost you on the process. your original Selfm, is the source of every happiness and satisfaction for you and the others around you.

Like in any other energy practice, in Tai Chi is necessary to find the right Teacher. the Teacher who will lead us and protect us from the difficulties we confront during the practice without patronizxing us at the same time.

Every person has his own personal Teacher and this Teacher appears in our life the right moment for each one of us, the moment we are ready to receive his Teachings,.

To choosing of the right Teacher is something personal and only we can make this choice. And even though we take lessons the one or the other way by all the people we meet in our life, not all of them can be our Teacher.

At the same time we have to remember that Teachers are humans too and at the end we are those who choose what ever we keep from a Taeaching. Our own Self, is the most important of all the Teachers we have, our Original Spirit (Shen) or what ew use to call Inner Teacher. The one who leads us since the moment of our birth, helping us to fulfill our destiny, to complete ourselves. In the Christian Religion is probably the one we call Guardian Angel in order to emphasize the feeling that characterizes the relation, the feeling of Love.

An Angel or an Original Spirit you can clearly see on the innocent faces of the newborn babies wher the personality- mask is not developed yet. And maybe also on some Saints faces of several religions, who succeeded through practicing to become again like newborn children.

In Dao De Jing we read: " The one who is all Virtue is like a newborn child. Wasps and snakes don't harm him. Wild beasts cannot touch him. Preys don't attack him..." and somewhere else "when you flow like being one with the current of the Universe, always true and constant, be again like a small innocent child".

Many practicing systems are based to same or similar principles with those of Tai Chi and Qigong. It is up to tyou to decide the one more appropriate to your needs, the practice that would make you more conscious, neaning more united with you original Self, the best part of yours.

"On a mountain a hungry Tiger is hunting a Buddhist Monk who tries to escape running in panic. Suddenly he arrives at the edge of a cliff. The Tiger comes closer an closer towards him so he thinks of jumping down of the cliffs. The last moment before jumping he realizes that six Tigers with sharp teeth are waiting for him to jump. He stands at the edge of the cliff despaired with the first Tiger approaching him and the other six waiting for him inside the gorge. Suddenly turning the head he discovers a big juicy red strawberry growing in the bush next to him.

"Oh! What a beatiful strawberry" he says. Stretches the hand, picks it up, puts it in his mouth slowly, closing at the same time his eyes and swallows it with big satisfaction."

Bibliography: Dao De Jing by Lao Zi from the Gia Fu Feng and Jane English