...the mind needs at least 15 minutes to become truly tranquil.

-

 "...the mind needs at least 15 minutes to become truly tranquil. When the mind becomes tranquil it can experience 'shen ming' (illumination of the spirit). Short forms cannot provide this, thus the higher benefits of T'ai Chi are never reached." T. T. Liang, 'Steal My Art: The Life and Times of a T'ai Chi Master'. p.94


[Image: TT Liang, from Sanctuary of Tao. https://www.sanctuaryoftao.org/master-t-t-liang-interview-biography/]


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What do you do outside of your Taiji practice

-
Image
 What do you do outside of your Taiji practice? Does your practice extend into these activities and/or vice versa? A couple of chance encounters over the last few months have highlighted the non-Taiji aspects of well known Taiji practitioners. It was well known that Cheng Man-ching was regarded as 'Master of Five Excellences' - and some extend this to seven - including calligraphy, painting, medicine, poetry, and philosophy. But did you know that Ken Van Sickle, one of Cheng's early students, is an accomplished photographer, the Wall Street Times running a piece on him earlier this month: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/03/lens/ken-van-sickle-photos-bohemian.html Ed Young, also an early student of Cheng's, is an award-winning children's author and illustrator. Just two examples but I'd be surprised if there weren't more out there. Is there scope for such creativity within Taiji practice or does the repetition, focus, and precision of practice stimulate other...
Read more

Continuing the theme of teaching...

-
Image
Continuing the theme of teaching - and non-Taiji posts - I came across this in something that I'm currently reading. "Being a coach is not about swagger or bravado. It's not just about how well you can play or the knowledge and information you have accrued, it's about how you communicate it to your player and tailor it to their needs. And it's about your passion, commitment and emotional resilience."  While the (martial) skill of many past Taiji greats is often discussed it's less apparent how well they conveyed their skills to the next generation and in some cases (notably Yang Shaohou) they were clearly not sympathetic teachers. [Image: Cheng Man-ching and ???]
Read more