Single-weighting In Tai Chi (English Edition)

Preface:

Tai Chi studies present a few problems to the learner/practitioner. Because these problems are typically based in the concept and development of the internal, they are real problems, as opposed to problems caused by weakness, illness, disability, or age. This is to say they are problems that are susceptible to solution, but which have the aspect of conundrums. One of these problems is widely known in Tai Chi circles: the problem is endemic to the art. It is rife both in China and outside China, but in China persistent students overcome it if they take the time and expend the effort to study. The extended Chinese civilization in Asia – Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam, probably produces students who pass this threshold. But outside Asia, few students seem to overcome the bane of double-weighting. It is not an exaggeration to say that double-weighting stands as a challenging fault at the door of middle practice.
This is not without a reason or cause. This book is about the reasons, the causes, and the antidote.

Introduction:

Tai Chi students usually start Tai Chi by studying forms. Sometimes, often, forms study is the only thing studied at all. This presents a difficulty right away. The difficulty derives from the fact that internal martial art is real, as opposed to mythical. In some schools and learning situations the martial aspect of Tai Chi is presented as myth, somehow very separate from the practice of the forms. This is because the elements of the training system that join forms to martial practice are missing. Those elements can be subsumed as: standing, walking, exercise, breathing, circulation, and cultivation. Forms are only the most viable aspect of Tai Chi. While it is true that intense forms training can produce competence, usually competence is produced by a combination of elements.
The elements of the training system can be combined in various ways. Traditionally, standing is done first. Now, instead of going deeper into internal competence, many students opt for learning more forms or weapons. This is convenient for demonstration and performance purposes. For kung fu purposes – the ability to win – many forms is the wrong way to go. This discussion can be understood as an introduction to Tai Chi as kung fu.
Tai Chi can be practiced for an entire lifetime passively. Passive practice is characterized by a passive mental posture – observing, rather than acting, and an absence of tasks within the forms. Passive practice is almost empty, even though, because of the strengths of forms design, it can be enriching, life-promoting, and satisfying. Most Tai Chi practice all over the world is passive practice.
The threshold to active practice is crossed when double-weighting is transcended and single-weight is achieved. Managing the relationship between the body’s mass and the body’s internal energy is central to the practice of Tai Chi. Without a means to manage this relationship, it goes unmanaged. This book is also about managing this relationship.