The Depth Of Emptiness In Tai Chi Chuan

[I:http://www.the-latest-word.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase1.jpg]Tai Chi Chuan is the art that espouses emptiness. One must move without force to realize true Tai Chi. And, in Tai Chi, you never run out of emptiness.

One must understand, of course, that there are stages to the concept of emptiness. The beginning student will have one viewpoint concerning this principle, and the advanced master will have another, and there is plenty of degrees in between. Indeed, one could almost say there are as many viewpoints of this great nothingness as there are students to perceive them.

In the beginning concepts of Tai Chi give much confusion. The beginning student tries to get in his own way, tries to figure out the mechanistic nature of the universe, and works his way through confusion. Eventually, the beginner starts to realize that there is more to this idea of emptiness than he ever had inkling.

One can perceive a great nothingness inside the body. The apparent concreteness of blood and brain gives way to perception. Awareness seeps unhindered through the machinations of the apparently real body.

This reflects in practice. The beginning student becomes advanced as he loses reaction time and begins to move in concert with the incoming attack. It is a short journey, once started, until the student joins his body to that of the attackers, and is able to draw upon the energies of two bodies in harmony, as opposed to just one in conflict.

Eventually the space of the body gives way to the knowledge that there is a great space open to the the seeker. Indeed, the skin stops being a line of demarcation between the student and the rest of the universe. The student becomes master, and his perceptions are not halted at the threshold of his mortal envelope, but rather are unlimited and as far as he can perceive.

The new master touches arms with beginner, and he speaks of great space, and he gives way that the beginner may fall into a new arena of perception, an entire and new and glorious perception of the universe. Slowly, the new student accepts the journey of the master, accepts gravity only to refuse it in his thoughts, and the circle continues. The fresh sprout grows, becomes tree, seeks the heavens, undergoing cycles of existence that enliven the mind throughout time.

This is the saga of Tai Chi, never ending, immutable, hastened only by the striving towards knowledge by those who seek. This is the tai chi of a race, of mankind, and it is a goal and a method and a notion that should be sought by all. What would happen if all nations of earth gave way to the humanity of the people?

Al Case has learned Tai Chi for 35 plus years. A writer for IKF for years, his methods are unique, and you can read about them at Five Army Tai Chi Chuan.