everything wrote:maybe still abstract for me (which is fine, i'm not the let's only discuss punch-face guy), but damn, i like that writing. on a roll, man.
Okay so how about this then.
I was watching "Three Body" the Chinese sci-fi series based on the novel and one of the scientists was explaining something. Don't remember what he was explaining exactly but I remember he used a radio.
So he has the radio and asks this other guy where is the radio. Other guy points. Okay, fine, we have a radio.
He takes the plastic cover off and then detaches the three components that make up the radio, antenna, oscillator, speaker, and sets them down.
Then he asks, where is the radio? Other guy can't point to it because "Radio" is a name given to the specific functioning of those components in a specific configuration and relationship to each other.
So where I'll start to be less correct is in saying that the Qi of the radio is what carries the signal from the air through the circuitry into sound. It's what draws out and exposes that information. Each component has their Qi and by connecting the inputs and outputs properly we draw sound from air.
If the components are misaligned, interfered with, or functioning less than optimally it affects the quality of the sound that is produced. The entire system must be in tune and well maintained for best results and your maximum listening enjoyment.
So human body we have that whatever TCM Qi related to breath and nutrition,etc, and that is definitely worth nourishing and learning to manipulate and Taijiquan definitely has some of that. The other kind of Qi is essentially developing the ability to be aware of and manipulate these differences of potential first within the body and then through joining with other objects and people, within them as well.
And it feels like I'm going on forever here... and for what point.
Energy, that travels on a force, is circulated through the body the way water runs down the side of a sandy hill. Left alone it tends to scatter quickly, but you can draw a little channel with your finger to guide the water where you want it to go. You can't make it turn too sharply, but you can influence it a great deal. You can't push it, but you can let it flow as fast as physics allows by changing your angles.
So let's say in a classic "locked up" sort of situation, instead of trying to push through the other person, overpowering them by exerting more force against their force, we draw a channel with our finger, the qi finds it, and the jin follows the path of least resistance.
I'm pretty sure this was a response to a shoulder stroke. Incoming force guided to the ground and neutralized, then a slight movement to tease up the root and let my force follow the path of least resistance.
So in Tjq, ideally, we're installing a pump at the bottom of the hill that continuously replenishes the source at the top.
And that really is the original question, circularity.
instead of broken straight line force that starts and stops, taijiquan moves on and on like the great river. There is no stop and start, so each part of each movement is motivated by guiding that river of water down the hill by manipulating the differentials in your body, not by the sudden contraction of muscles.
