Taiji quan is a cultivation art. Amongst other things, this means that we do not just train physically to kick, punch and move. Rather, we practice in order to cultivate the body and mind and to develop our character to evolve beyond our basic human constructs towards the non-dual, ultimate reality. This of course is no easy task to say the least and is impossible if we approach our practice in the wrong spirit.
If we are trying to learn and understand anything we have to first be open to receiving. This is fundamental to even the most simplistic teaching and learning. If you do not hear the information, see the information or experience it, then it will be impossible for you to learn any body of knowledge let alone to experience directly any wisdom for yourself. We all know that when we didn’t listen in school then we didn’t have the answers to the test! So why would we think this is any different with taiji quan, martial arts or any learning of the body mind connection, which is vastly complex and requires concentration on multiple planes.
What if every time my teacher tries to show me something but I already know better? That is to say that every time my teacher tries to show me something I have already decided what it means. I have already decided what the answer is. Already decided that I understand what my teacher is pointing to. Then I simply limit the possibilities to that which I already know. This way is not making space for new learning or for the arising of wisdom.
So how does this translate in a physical art when we are trying to absorb something and learn something in the body? If my teacher tries to show me a technique but instead of being able to feel what is happening I am fighting on some level, I am trying to win on some level, trying to get away or succeed or to have them fail, then I will never be able to understand what is being shown.
It is one thing to talk about the teacher in this way as this is less common, though surprisingly frequent regardless of how stupid that may be. However, what about our brothers and sisters in learning, those that we consider peers? If every time that you go to apply your practice with your partner it is just a competition, if it is just pushing each other around, using what works and relying on old habits, then we can never expect to learn, cultivate and understand new ways of being.
That is to say that a good training partner is worth their weight in gold. What is a good training partner? A good training partner is a partner who is willing to create the most scientific conditions possible for you and for themselves. This means if my partner is pushing on me in a certain way and I am practising to answer in a certain way that my partner pushes in the same way each time. However, if my partner starts pushing across a different line of force when I am trying to understand and learn a particular answer to a specific question, then I’m going to start building in an unskilful habit - the wrong answer to a different question. Following stupidity no one wins. Perhaps my partner has the victory of pushing me over yet this is really no victory at all.
Instead take pleasure and cultivate appreciative joy when your partner succeeds. If you take this attitude and you have the intention of creating harmony and taking joy in the success of others, naturally you open up. In an open and relaxed state of being you are able to receive and you will succeed. Now, if both training partners take this approach then the results must be harmonious and fruitful, harmony will bear the right fruit and result in success. This is one meaning of the idea of investing in loss.
If however when we practice we just try to win and when we apply or deal with force we allow the fight/flight neurology to be switched on then it is inevitable that when we are faced with a situation that is more free-form and outside of set conditions we will undoubtedly respond with the fight/flight reaction. The pursuit of taiji quan is to work toward actualising the non-dual. It is the practice of moving beyond the duality of fight/flight. Remaining in zhong-ding (equanimity) is a great pillar of the practice.
When I watch those rare practitioners that I would consider to be very skilful and the best that I have personally come across in the art of taiji quan working with one another there is no level of competition, there is no level of trying to win. There is only enjoyment, fun and freedom in the exchange. There is the desire for the other to succeed. Practicing in this way, when the other succeeds, when my partner becomes more correct, skilled, soft, powerful, more capable and closer to the non-dual. Then I am inevitably lifted up to myself become more correct. This is the path from the dualistic toward the non-dual. The path from division toward the supreme ultimate.
Enjoy your training. Paul McIntyre
