accidental hits

[origami_itto]

IMO, it should start with awareness of your surroundings and the space between you and everything else. But if you bump into others constantly, I think it has more about to do with a bad attitude, a lazy attitude. Maybe you ("general you") just don't care?

Yes! Awareness. Mindfullness. Being present. Moving through the world consciously with intention, not just mindlessly rushing from one distraction to the next.

Just last night I was out on a date and watching people. They just aren't present. They are, to paraphrase Deepok Chopra, a confused collection of energies at war with itself with a mind that wants to run away from the present.

I'm a beginner. I have to strive to consciously be aware of my posture at all times. I feel from my foot to my nei wan point every time I take a step. I put my foot down lightly and shift my weight onto it. If I find myself rushing without thought, I stop, take a breath. Continue with intention. I constantly check in with my relaxation levels.

At all times I'm trying to get as close to NOW as possible.

And all this with an outwardly directed awareness as well. However the hell that works lol.

The effect is something like quicksilver in the recent X-men movies.

I don't mean that I'm moving faster than bullets, but that I'm a step ahead of everybody else around me. Just a tiny fraction, but enough to be significant.

I'm not perfect, of course. I drop things, knock them over, but because of this same practice I USUALLY can catch whatever I drop.

And sometimes, of course, my two pit bull puppies will come barging through the room and crash into my legs when I'm distracted. It happens. Just strive to be more present every moment.

[marvin8]

IMO, it should start with awareness of your surroundings and the space between you and everything else. But if you bump into others constantly, I think it has more about to do with a bad attitude, a lazy attitude. Maybe you ("general you") just don't care?

I'm a beginner. I have to strive to consciously be aware of my posture at all times. I feel from my foot to my nei wan point every time I take a step. I put my foot down lightly and shift my weight onto it. If I find myself rushing without thought, I stop, take a breath. Continue with intention. I constantly check in with my relaxation levels....

And sometimes, of course, my two pit bull puppies will come barging through the room and crash into my legs when I'm distracted. It happens. Just strive to be more present every moment.

This may add to the discussion.

Excerpt from "How to Practice a Taijiquan Sequence:"

Even when you can do the form very well, it may be dead. To make it come alive you must develop a sense of enemy. When practicing the solo sequence, you must imagine there is an enemy in front of you and you must clearly feel his movements and his interaction with you. Your ability to visualize realistically will be greatly aided if you practice the techniques with a partner. There are times when you will not use visualizations, but every time you do the sequence your movement must be flavored with this knowledge of how you interact with an opponent.

The more you practice with this imaginary enemy before you, the more realistic and useful your practice will be. If you practice with a very vivid sense of enemy, you will learn to apply your qi and jin naturally, and your whole spirit will melt into the sequence. This is not unlike performing music. If one musician just plays the music and the other plays it with his whole heart and mind, the two performances are as different as night and day. In one case the music is dead, while in the other it is alive and touches us.

If you don’t know how to incorporate jin into the forms, then even if you do the sequence for many years it will still be dead. In order for the sequence to be meaningful, jin and technique must be combined. An important way to do this is to practice fast taijiquan. Practicing fast taijiquan is part of the Yang aspect of taijiquan and it allows you to manifest your internal qi into external forms and power. Once you can do the sequence of movements automatically and can coordinate your breathing and qi circulation with the movements, you should practice doing the form faster and faster. Remember, if you ever get into a fight, things are likely to move pretty fast, so you have to be able to respond fast in order to defend yourself effectively. If you only practice slowly, then when you need to move fast your qi will be broken, your postures unstable, and your yi scattered. If any of this happens, you will not be able to use your jin to fight....

[origami_itto]

I think that's great for form practice. Somebody told me that you should practice the form as if you're facing a partner and practice push hands as if you were alone.

I'm talking about just walking around, day to day. Imbuing every step taken with the same sense of awareness and presence that you would have while practicing, but not necessarily imagining an attacker at every step.

[marvin8]

IMO, it should start with awareness of your surroundings and the space between you and everything else. But if you bump into others constantly, I think it has more about to do with a bad attitude, a lazy attitude. Maybe you ("general you") just don't care?

Just last night I was out on a date and watching people. They just aren't present. They are, to paraphrase Deepok Chopra, a confused collection of energies at war with itself with a mind that wants to run away from the present.

I'm a beginner. I have to strive to consciously be aware of my posture at all times. I feel from my foot to my nei wan point every time I take a step. I put my foot down lightly and shift my weight onto it. If I find myself rushing without thought, I stop, take a breath....

And sometimes, of course, my two pit bull puppies will come barging through the room and crash into my legs when I'm distracted. It happens. Just strive to be more present every moment.

I think that's great for form practice. Somebody told me that you should practice the form as if you're facing a partner and practice push hands as if you were alone.

I'm talking about just walking around, day to day. Imbuing every step taken with the same sense of awareness and presence that you would have while practicing, but not necessarily imagining an attacker at every step.

I was referring to (the entire topic/discussion and) people watching too. A form (or a sequence) should teach/train one not only about themselves, but also about other's ("know your opponent") biomechanics, energy, power generation, stepping, weight shifts, weapons, reactions, distance, rhythm, etc. Edit: As the Taijiquan Classic states, “To know yourself is to know your opponent.”

As in my avatar, in public, the panda's sequence: listens to the girl's stepping, distance, speed, rhythm, then rubs his stomach, extends his right arm and rotates to the right (intercepting her movement). The girl reacts by tripping over herself, falling to the ground.

[origami_itto]

IMO, it should start with awareness of your surroundings and the space between you and everything else. But if you bump into others constantly, I think it has more about to do with a bad attitude, a lazy attitude. Maybe you ("general you") just don't care?

Just last night I was out on a date and watching people. They just aren't present. They are, to paraphrase Deepok Chopra, a confused collection of energies at war with itself with a mind that wants to run away from the present.

I'm a beginner. I have to strive to consciously be aware of my posture at all times. I feel from my foot to my nei wan point every time I take a step. I put my foot down lightly and shift my weight onto it. If I find myself rushing without thought, I stop, take a breath....

And sometimes, of course, my two pit bull puppies will come barging through the room and crash into my legs when I'm distracted. It happens. Just strive to be more present every moment.

I think that's great for form practice. Somebody told me that you should practice the form as if you're facing a partner and practice push hands as if you were alone.

I'm talking about just walking around, day to day. Imbuing every step taken with the same sense of awareness and presence that you would have while practicing, but not necessarily imagining an attacker at every step.

I was referring to (the entire topic/discussion and) people watching too. A form (or a sequence) should teach/train one not only about themselves, but also about other's ("know your opponent") biomechanics, energy, power generation, stepping, weight shifts, weapons, reactions, distance, rhythm, etc.

As in my avatar, in public, the panda's sequence: listens to the girl's stepping, distance, speed, rhythm, then rubs his stomach, extends his right arm and rotates to the right (intercepting her movement). The girl reacts by tripping over herself, falling to the ground.

Okay, sure I get what you're saying. I guess the difference I am seeing is that in people watching and moving through the world I'm looking at what is right in front of me not imagining. Although I will imagine how to take people down when I'm bored. Usually while they're talking to me about some inane bullshit I don't care about.

[everything]

Step ahead. Now try this in free flow team sports like basketball or soccer. Another level. Multiple “attackers”. Better players can read or “set” your rhythm/steps/etc. with a small feint like the panda making the girl fall. Awareness has to extend to the entire set of people. Crazy good fun

[origami_itto]

That's when you get into that flow state. All the good addictive brain chemicals running, parts of the prefrontal cortex winking out of service, time getting weird, correct action unfolds without thought. I mean that's what we're chasing, isn't it?

[everything]

oh yeah for sure. for the better players (can be me if everyone else is mediocre, lol), it's easier/faster to be in that flow state. but i'm really meaning the body language awareness in a multiple bodies situation with some kind of objective and competitive pressure. a game basically. the way mayweather, jr can read/set someone, but his own control makes him super evasive. but obviously at 100x below that level. with multiple bodies (5v5, 11v11, 7v7, etc.). not really "martial" but in many ways superior for these sorts of "present" exercises/development. more simultaneous variables to read/control to extent possible. bodies, bodies, spaces, ball/object, game state, verbal and nonverbal communication, conflict resolution, trying to have group flow, etc., etc. overall, team sports just have so many more dimensions.