Esoteric Training as Immersive Experience
Having observed successful people for some time, one thing that many of them have in common is that they have refined their skills and goals down to one specific thing. That is not to say it is the case for all successful people, there is without a doubt room for polymaths. But this is definitely a strong trend, and those that follow it are passionate cheerleaders for “their thing”.
For us the one thing that we are advocates of above everything else, is esoteric training as immersive experience. But what does that mean?
Many people come to internal martial arts or similar pursuits because of the appealing aesthetic, there is something magical about it at first glance, particularly the mysteriously slow and creeping movements of Tai Chi. When they enter training, far from a heavily themed experience with the smell of incense and sound of temple bells, what they receive is something much drier. We have never given up on the dream.
Training does not necessarily require physical props (it can be an exercise in visualisation) though they can help. Whether it is inspiring background music, posters of pop culture martial arts in your training space, weapons modelled on that of your favourite fictional warrior, or artefacts from a real or fictional place that really resonate with you. It all gets the energy rising. We love using colour magick; meditation whilst bathed in coloured light or lying looking up at a star projector image is a total trip, the opposite of sitting silently cross legged with an aching back trying not to think about what you would rather be doing. Visiting locations with powerful energies is an excellent way to work on your clairsentience and have an immersive experience. Think a visit to a stone circle such as Stonehenge, or a historic castle with its layers of history to intuit, likely with a martial component for those working with martial energies.
Because Tai Chi is a product of Chinese culture a lot of people get drawn in to that realm because it is part of the package. Without the cultural, religious, medical and martial backdrop it is a different thing. So if you are doing something different it is important to be transparent about it if you are displaying it publicly. But it is also important to point out that if after sampling something for a reasonable amount of time it is not resonating with you, then it is fine to adapt and evolve.
These principles also work from the perspective of communion with nature. If you are embarking on an elemental energies project for example, why not go all in on a camping trip where you can touch the earth, stand in flowing water, challenge the wind, and find insight whilst scrying the flames of your camp fire.
With visualisation there is a risk of it becoming an unhealthy operation of the imagination so it is important to keep your eyes on the prize. There are many schools that are very anti-visualisation and insist on their students being bored at all times. If you are paying your hard earned to be bored then be sure the results are worth the price of entry!
There are a number of practitioners and a handful of authors who skirt this approach. There is one particularly excellent text which perfectly leads you through the kind of experience we are describing, though it seemed to lead the author (and most of the online reviewers) back to the standard form/push hands paradigm where as for us it moved us away. The classic example of what we are talking about (albeit it is doubling down on a single pop culture path) is the various schools of lightsaber combat. You can even embrace the Jediism movement for a holistic product that serves the Star Wars fandom. What you get as a bonus with a well established pop culture theme or historical or cultural theme, is the egregoric effect of the energy put in to that lineage by those that have come before. To paraphase whoever’s quote this is (Google couldn’t assist in finding out), ‘If Jesus [or insert other prophet of your choice] didn’t exist before, he certainly does now.’
So does that mean our art is devolved in to some kind of cosplay? No, we’ve never done the silk pyjamas thing. Not that we think it is some kind of cultural appropriation, people can generally decide what is inappropriate and what is a homage to a certain culture. Some of the best art, cuisine, music, dance, healing modalities, all kinds of endeavours have come from cultural fusion. We don’t do the silk pyjamas thing because it wouldn’t suit us and we would be incredibly self conscious about it. In fact our art has not devolved in any sense, we have all paid our dues on the mat and in the ring. This does however make it a bit of a paradox that we’re generally suggesting it is not the best use of life for our students to get hit in the face on a regular basis.
The experience we are trying to describe is very much analogous to a day out in a theme park. Spending the day on your feet and feeling the g forces of the thrill rides makes your body feel like it has done some work without noticing the effort in the moment. Whilst of course the experience is a commercial one, when the sights, sounds and smells combine either with original back stories or pop culture themes, the experience is a genuinely magical one that nourishes the soul. The perfect combination of having fun, putting in effort, and finding meaning. Pro tip; a bit of subtle zhan zhuang certainly helps kill some time in those long queues :-)