This is Part 2 of the translation and my interpretation of the text written by Sun Zhonghua. He is the 19th generation master of Chen Style Taijiquan and a 2nd generation master of Hunyuan Tai Ji. You can find the full text here if you can read Chinese. Here are the links to the other parts: Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4
Foreword (continued)
Whenever I am giving a talk, I always urge my audiences, “To pass on and expand on the real Tai Ji, anyone who is interested and has the necessary conditions to learn the martial aspect of Tai Ji, please spare some time and effort into it.”
However, this leads to another problem. Regardless of how many passionate people learning the martial aspects of Tai Ji, only very few actually “get it”. Millions of Tai Ji student had to stop their pursuit of Tai Ji, causing them to regret the journey they have taken to get them this far. Another group of Tai Ji practitioners may have been “winning” when they use Tai Ji as martial art. This group of people is then acknowledged to have some degree of skill, but they are actually only showing the pros and cons of their mistakes. To put it in a different way, the latter group has not awakened from their dream state yet. It is hard to say which group among these 2 are the worse off…
Millions of people have spent and invested a great amount of time, money, effort and emotions, only to have the real Tai Ji elude them for life. Some will never have the chance to see and experience what real Tai Ji is. The real Tai Ji, as passed down by our ancestors, are facing a slow and painful death. The cost of this death is too high, the reality too cruel. This is just too depressing…
So, what’s going on here? Does real Tai Ji actually exist? If so, where is it?
I am also one of those people who possess that rare gene in my DNA. I am fairly accomplished in a lot of other kind of sports, but having spent 40 years searching for the real Tai Ji, I do not dare to stop my pursuit of the real deal. Just like many fans of Tai Ji, I have been through the long and arduous route of training and learning, sometimes feeling lost, depressed and sheer and utter disappointment. I remember telling my friends, “I haven’t really failed at anything I chose to do, but I failed in Tai Ji.”
Eventually, I chanced upon the real Tai Ji, and that is through logic and practical experimentation, based on my years of experience that built up my sensitivity towards differentiating the right from the wrong. It was a moment of tremendous joy and simultaneously a moment of tremendous sorrow. I was happy that I have finally found the real Tai Ji, but was sad that I am now an old man. I am too old now to learn the real Tai Ji. My thoughts drifted to some of the sayings from the sages,
“Since you have found the true path, just follow the path as it is laid before you”.
“Just take one step at a time, understand one bit at a time. There is no fame. There is no obvious sign. Just follow the purity of the true path, while enjoying the journey and the process.”
With these wise sayings, I started to feel relieved and a deep sense of gratitude.
(to be continued…)
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