Hiding in Plain Sight and Building Energy

In hindsight my Tai Chi instructor played a very integral part in my understanding of the culture of Tai Chi.  After a couple more classes, he would allow me to ask him some questions and provided me with lessons.  The fog is finally starting to clear up with respect to my understanding of this culture.  It all makes sense now!  Time for a little bit of an anecdotal history lesson...

The story goes that the Emperor at the time had placed a ban on the common people and soldiers of China learning martial arts.  As a means of revolting and continuing to teach and learn the discipline, Tai Chi was born!  It was a clever mask as the imperialists regarded it as a new form of dance.  After all, it is practiced to music.  Little did they know that this practice was created in direct opposition of the governing bodies at the time; allowing the people and soldiers to train and develop their martial arts skills.  They grew incredibly strong and nimble through Tai Chi’s main mechanism of allowing for constant muscle activation, that the more advanced Tai Chi vets would implement.  From a cultural studies perspective, this is incredibly interesting.  Many subcultures develop in opposition and rebellion to their parent cultures.  However, this culture developed more synergistically to its parent’s culture, in opposition of the State.  They were hiding in plain sight; it was the perfect ruse!  What was essentially a big, “Screw you” scheme to the State had soon developed into its own subculture and garnished a reputation amongst the nation.  Although originating from one distinct family, it had soon began to spread and pass down through generations, leading to the creation of different schools of Tai Chi.  It had even branched out to form new martial arts disciplines such as Wushu.
   

The yin and yang twisting represent the flow of energy
as the core remains steady.

So, Tai Chi is a form of martial arts!  I had no idea at the time I started that it was even related to the discipline at all.  And while it is a slowed down version, if anything it is more intense.  It requires you to maintain a constant tension and hold balance-perturbing positions for longer periods of time.  However, if you were to speed up the movements, and as you progress throughout the sets to the more advanced movement patterns, reflecting back on my previous classes I can now see stronger ties to martial arts.  This is because every movement is based on a defend – attack sequence.  Moreover, Tai Chi is a martial arts form that relies on breathing and the circulation of blood, which in turn allows for the flowing of energy (qi).  This energy is what one uses in Tai Chi and martial arts.  The culminating of good energy towards you and the channeling of negative energies away from you towards your opponent; are essentially what one is practicing in Tai Chi.  The practice is also based on the Chinese Clock which measures the fluctuations of blood and qi throughout the day.  This is why Tai Chi is practiced between the hours of 7-11 am; it's seen advantageous and optimal to perform exercise with their respective levels in the body.  Tai Chi was also developed with an extensive amount of symbolism.  It incorporates the 5 elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water to the seasons which correlates to the blood flow of different organs.  The movement sequences themselves even involve symbolic animals and elements to be performed with them that are said to guard health.  

With more classes under my belt I was really starting to enjoy it; a stark contrast from my first couple of classes!  Finally understanding and being able to take my body through the full movements, remembering the sequences.  Everything is so fluid yet purposeful.  And at times aggressive, yet calculated and controlled.  I couldn’t really explain it before but now I see that there is something quite comforting in the fact that it is performed in a group.  It honestly felt as if all of our energy was being summed together, as if we were working together to defeat our enemies, to achieve a common goal.  I had never really experienced anything like it before, nor had I ever expected to in a group which I seemingly had no right to belong to or share any commonalities with.  The feeling was so freeing, despite its heavy repetitive, disciplinary nature.  Once you actually buy into it, performing the sequences with confidence, thrusting the negative energies away from you, and sharing this experience with others, was quite mystifying and incredible.  This must be the source of its allure.