Americanisms

Various words can be and have been applied to people who do Tai Chi, such as practitioner for example. Sometimes they are referred to as the Tai Chi ‘Player’. This is something of an Americanism, and in writing from other English language speaking parts of the world this word has been strongly disparaged, suggesting that such a flippant term should never be applied to such a serious endeavour.

We rather like it. And for anybody who lacks such playfulness in their lives and their practice that seems quite sad. That’s not to say we don’t take our practice seriously, quite the opposite. It is our obsession, our raison d’etre, our ikagai. But we strongly believe it should have a significant playful aspect.

We really like it when a specific move is labelled as ‘played high’, ‘played low’, ‘played fast’, ‘played slow’ etc etc. The variations are endless and using this language gives an important cue towards individual creativity. Whilst language in some ways comes second to physicality and we don’t indulge the pseudo use of Mandarin or any other Chinese dialect in our teaching, language is also important. This is especially true given that a significant portion of our teaching comes via the written word. It is a signpost to what you will feel, as crude a signpost as it may be when dealing in esoterica.

We have done the surfing analogy to death but it stands up so well it is worth reiterating. Nobody goes out to surf because it is practice time and they would feel guilty if they don’t do it. They can’t wait to get out there because it feels awesome. This is how we feel about our Tai Chi. We have also taken a lot of influence from the natural movement/movement culture movement. That’s a lot of movement! It’s nice to see people training with a smile and interacting with their environment.

‘I recall yawning through one of many overly reverent Tai Chi classes, that on this occasion was in the hall next to a Zumba session. I could see a glimpse of what was going on through the glass panel in the door. The music was pumping and the brightly dressed participants were doing the proverbial dancing like nobody is watching. I am not a dancer by any stretch of the imagination but at that time I would have gladly converted.’ - Tim (WXTBA Head Instructor)

That all being said let’s manage expectations. Despite promoting the fun side of practice we’re no ray of sunshine. Many of the TCE instructor community have a serious case of resting grumpy face but despite that you can be sure that we’re an informal and friendly bunch if a bit awkward.

The kind of Tai Chi/martial arts neo-puritanism we are rallying against often promotes the idea of “eating bitter”, a concept born out of the Chinese martial arts. And we’re sympathetic to a hard work ethic to the degree that it is useful. There is often a dim view taken against visualisation as a practice tool. Whilst visualisation can be a something of a rabbit hole and has its pitfalls, it is also the quickest trigger for much of the magic inherent in internal practice. And we don’t shy away from traditional or more contemporary/pop culture visualisations.

This was originally planned to be a kind of seasonal blog post given the time of year but it hasn’t worked out that way, as when writers inspiration strikes you just have to go in the direction it takes you. But may we say greetings of the season to all. Winter Solstice is nearly upon us, the time for gathering in is coming to an end and the time to expand and grow is temptingly in view.

Merry Christmas ya filthy animals!