charles wrote:
From a pedagogic point of view, the collective writings, the "Classics", are of little use to a beginner. They are actually a detriment rather than a benefit. The writings are so easily misunderstood and misinterpreted that many practitioners think they are doing what is prescribed when they are not.
Take your example of "The first secret...without allowing yourself to put forth effort." One interpretation of this statement gave rise to the "wet-noodle" school of Taijiquan wherein the object is to be as limp as possible while just supporting one's own weight. This is one interpretation of "without allowing yourself to put forth effort." This provides no martial tools and those adhering to this principle, when required to exhibit something "martial" simply resort to brute force, not what traditional Taijiquan was about, or what the "Classics" prescribe.
I would not agree nor do I see the consent need to concern ones self with beginners. One can only find what one seeks if one does not question and keep the beginners mind, one that constantly seeks it. What does it matter to anyone else.
charles wrote: They are actually a detriment rather than a benefit. The writings are so easily misunderstood and misinterpreted that many practitioners think they are doing what is prescribed when they are not.
IME not with real teachers, its pretty clear. Who cares what someone else does, or whether they get it or not. Among those who are true seekers they can and will always be open and seek the correct way that accords with what was written about past masters or demoed by present masters of the art.
translation by Paul Brennan, May, 2016:
I have learned the art from my teacher Yao Fuchun and have practiced it for several years. In the beginning of the training, my shoulders would not loosen, my chest would not stay in, I could not sense my elixir field, which would not awaken, nor could I understand emptiness and fullness, and so I began to lose interest. But because my teacher talks about these things with such enthusiasm, teaching tirelessly, and has himself mastered it, I finally achieved realization.
Now my teacher and his fellow student Jiang Rongqiao have collaborated to produce this book, making use of decades of experience to show people what has not yet been shown. It will soon be on its way to the printers so that students will have a reference work to abide by to keep them from going astray. I am confident that practitioners of this art will find it informative.
Books are only written for those to question, If one does not question they will never understand it.
translation by Paul Brennan, May, 2016:
Recently my colleague Jiang Rongqiao invited me to collaborate on a Taiji Boxing book. We went through the secrets within manuals, discussed them over and over, and considered the best means of presenting them to the world. Wherever this book proves inadequate, we hope our comrades throughout the nation will do us the good favor of coming forward and giving us corrections.
– written by Yao Fuchun of Zunhua [in Hebei], Nov 4, 1929, in Chunshen [a neighborhood in Shanghai]
one should see the spirit of these teachers, asking for others to share and correct it.
translation by Paul Brennan, May, 2016:
I had studied on my own for several years, but fortunately this year I have been accepted as his formal student. I have since been practicing diligently and hope to gain by it, but at present I have only a slight understanding of his principles and methods of his art.
As for its subtler and more magical quality, I can only contemplate it, and I fear that after another twenty years of practice I may still not yet feel I am in any position to discuss it. However, my colleague Yao is very capable in explaining the tricks of the art, and so I have invited him to collaborate with me in producing a reference work to be widely circulated.
Even after many yrs of practice what one does may not accord to what has been written by past masters of the art. I had practiced taiji for some 20yrs before meeting my present teacher of the art. What he was able to do accorded with all my thoughts and understanding of it.
It would be another 10yrs before I would write anything on the net directly about it as now.
translation by Paul Brennan, May, 2016:
I have heard that this art is an authentic example of the internal school. Daoists consider it an energy-accordance art, distinct from the external school. Whereas the external school emphasizes muscle in building martial skill, this art uses spirit to dominate muscle. When practicing, use no exertion at all, act purely by way of spirit, loosen your back and drop your shoulders, contain your chest and sink your breath. Combine mental and physical by focusing on gathering spirit. Let movement be based in stillness, doing through not doing. A moment will come when it suddenly all makes sense, and everything will happen as you wish. This is called “training the spirit and returning to a state of emptiness”.
my point in posting this was to hopefully allow others to read the translations and allow them to make up their own minds about their practices. Or best case for others to comment on what was written according to their current level of practice.
charles wrote:
As an experiential art, there are no words to adequately describe, without room for misinterpretation, what the experience of performing the art "correctly" is like. After one has experienced/learned a specific skill or aspect of the art, reading what others have said about that skill can be helpful to clarify one's language to describe that skill. Reading about it cannot replace the understanding that comes only through the first-hand experience derived from doing the hard work. I'd go further and say that most of what has been written about the art is of little value to actually obtaining skills, should that be the goals of one's reading.
fan song is fan song, once one meets someone who has it there is no doubt. No one that I know of has said that by reading one can gain a skill, the most I would think is that it would cause them to question and see if what they do is similar.
transmutation of combining the 2 into a paradigm of and for health, well being and longevity.
