To feel or not to feel
by Shang Lee
I asked my teacher if I should follow how I feel when doing Tai Chi, or try to correct each movement by the small adjustments. He said I should do both.
Now, I’ve been trying to do the small adjustments, and it came down to me feeling robotic, i.e. it became a precision game, see how good can I change myself to suit the rules. It’s not enjoyable, and I don’t feel like I’m learning, just getting better at copying.
I’m always on a look out for elegant solutions – the one answer that’ll solve a few problems at the same time, which is why I’m focusing now on feeling, because only through that that I believe the minor adjustments should come. Unfortunately, sometimes the feeling will not come unless the minor adjustments were made first. Sounds like a chicken and egg problem.
So I guess my teacher is right, you’ll just have to do both.
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The last instruction given for the 108 Standard form in the Wu style is: “… now feel what you feel.”
Yea, teachers have a way of being like that… right much of the time.
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John