If Tai Chi is practiced correctly and truly entered, it can maintain health, keep fit, protect oneself, and prolong life. If it is practiced incorrectly, it will consume physical energy, internal energy, and innate energy. Therefore, people who practice Tai Chi should have the momentum and mind of the unity of heaven, earth, and man, and master the correct practice method. Internal martial arts without the guidance of a wise man, without understanding the boxing theory and practice method, hard practice, and hard practice are the most harmful to people, and then consume the energy of the innate source. It is better to run every day. Everything has good and bad, and everything is corresponding and unified. Tai Chi is the most healthy when practiced correctly, and it can keep fit and protect oneself. On the contrary, it is the most harmful to people and the body, and the better the kung fu, the greater the harm. The fatal word for practicing Tai Chi is “excessive”, one is excessive force, two is excessive qi, three is excessive intention, and four is excessive spirit.
What is “excessive force”?
The body will not relax, stiff, and practice boxing rigidly, and the strength is too strong, and the yin and yang will not be balanced. The ancients said: “If you are too hard, you will break. Strength has its limits. Once the force reaches its limit, it will decline. The same is true for skill. Some people are unwilling to accept each other, and they practice hard to compete with each other, eager to win. Some boxers practice with wooden balls or stone balls. It is a big mistake to practice Tai Chi in this way. “Tai Chi Boxing Theory” requires us to be light and lively and understand strength. A feather cannot be added, and flies and insects cannot fall. If we do not practice according to the requirements of “Tai Chi Boxing Theory” and practice with stone balls, how can we achieve the level of lightness and agility that a feather cannot be added as described in “Tai Chi Boxing Theory”? It will only increase the skill, which is contrary to “Tai Chi Boxing Theory”. Tai Chi is a boxing that does not require holding force to achieve fast hands. You must maintain a normal mind and work hard on calmness, relaxation and softness. Only benevolence can be invincible.
What is “qi” too much?
Some boxers teach students to pay attention to breathing in each movement and breathe in conjunction with each move. This is wrong. The word “breathing” in Tai Chi is a specific metaphor for the skill of “leading in the opponent to miss and using the opponent’s force to hit him”. It is completely different from the natural breathing of human beings in terms of nature, concept, function and content. Some people breathe to coordinate with the movements, which causes chest and back pain and physical discomfort. The breathing of Tai Chi is the natural breathing that changes with each move, just like our usual breathing. It must be natural. Never use breathing to guide boxing. Some boxers are very irritable and get angry easily. They get angry with family members and friends. If they practice with anger for a long time, it will hurt their body. Therefore, before practicing boxing, you should be fully alert and practice boxing in a happy and comfortable mood. What is “excessive intention”? Tai Chi is a boxing that focuses on spirit and intention, not on qi. Pay attention but don’t pay too much attention. Excessive intention will make you stiff. Excessive intention will hurt your body, mind and qi. The ancients said: You can’t guard with your heart, and you can’t seek without intention. The great way is not far from the square inch of land. It is not intentional, nor is it intentional, and it is not the movement of essence in the chest. “Practicing Kung Fu” says that boxing should be practiced in a state of being both real and not real, and should be practiced in a state of being both real and not real. You cannot force the Qi to be led, and forcing the Qi to be used with the intention of Qi will hurt others and the body. You should practice boxing in a state of being neither smiling nor relaxed.
What is “excessive spirit”?
Practicing boxing requires that the spirit should not be scattered, but should be restrained. Some people stare with eyes wide open, exert their Qi to force others, and show their spirit. Excessive spirit is excessive spirit, and excessive spirit is also stiffness. “Boxing Theory” says that if the spirit can be raised, there is no risk of slowness and heaviness. The so-called relaxation and calmness in the abdomen means that the Qi is surging. If the spirit can be raised, it is not excessive spirit. Separately, at a certain level, you have to forget the spirit, “forget the spirit to nourish the emptiness, to nourish the body of nothingness”. Frequent practice of Kung Fu without restraint will hurt the essence, and also hurt the spirit. To practice Tai Chi correctly, one must be selfless, desireless, natural, and in harmony with the universe, all born from nature. Practicing Tai Chi correctly is the best way to maintain health, prolong life, and achieve superior martial arts.
Is practicing Tai Chi contradictory to training muscles?
1 “If you practice boxing without practicing skills, it will be nothing in the end.” The skills here do not refer to the basic skills of training muscles. It is to practice internal energy and internal strength.
2 If you have such doubts, it is probably because you are self-taught and have not followed a wise master. Such questions can be easily answered by asking your master. Therefore, it is recommended that you consult a famous master before you get started with Tai Chi. Otherwise, it is a pity to start practicing wrongly. Or you can only learn “Tai Chi exercises” and just walk the frame.
3 There is no contradiction in essence, but there is a stage problem. It is not recommended to train muscles at the beginning because it is easy to make the muscles stiff. (Master’s original words) The key word in practicing Tai Chi is “relaxation”. Yang Chengpu, the third-generation inheritor of Yang’s Tai Chi, did not say much when teaching boxing, and only asked his disciples to imitate him in boxing and walking the frame. The word he mentioned most was “relaxation”, constantly reminding his disciples to relax, and to relax again and again. The “Thirteen Postures Exercise Heart Explanation” says: Extremely soft, then extremely hard; able to breathe, then flexible. Qi is cultivated in a straight way without harm, and strength is stored in a curved way and has more than enough. Tai Chi emphasizes spring strength, and punching in an extremely soft and relaxed state is extremely fast and fierce. Therefore, it is recommended that everyone first learn (or experience) relaxation; understand how to use strength (using Qi to move the body and spiral strength), and then train muscles. Otherwise, if you can’t feel the sense of relaxation, you will be far away from the Tai Chi Hall.