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Using Tai Chi Principles Against Physical Or Emotional Attacks
The term "wuji" (pronounced "woo-zhee") is an important concept in Taoism and Chinese culture. It means a state of harmony and balance -- perfect peace, emptiness, stillness.
When everything begins moving and you lose balance, you also lose wuji.
In the Taoist view of the universe, if we were to look at it from a modern scientific view, the universe was in a state of wuji just before the Big Bang. There was a state of perfect peace and then all hell broke loose. Things separated into yin and yang. Dogs and cats living together -- MASS HYSTERIA! (Sorry, I watched Ghostbusters a lot when my daughters were little)
When you see someone performing Tai Chi, they begin in a relaxed stance, standing with their feet together. This represents wuji. They step out with their left foot and stand with their feet shoulder-width apart, then they relax again. I've done this with Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang, whose ancestor created Tai Chi. When he's leading a group of students in a form, and he has moved to this first position with feet shoulder-width apart, he says very slowly, "Calm down." This is also wuji. Once the form begins, things are moving up and down, opening and closing, becoming empty and full -- the body is following the yin and yang and seeking to return, at the end of the movements, to wuji.
Many people don't realize that Tai Chi is a powerful martial art. When using Tai Chi for self-defense, the goal is to maintain wuji -- balance and harmony; to remain centered. When someone attacks, and you must adapt and change to deal with the force, your goal is to return to wuji -- the state of balance you were in before the attack.
The goal is to greet force by relaxing, adapting, neutralizing the force and putting your opponent off-balance, making him vulnerable for a counter-attack.
I enjoy working with people who have never studied Tai Chi. Almost every time when a newbie is working on a self-defense technique, their bodies contort and twist and bend and go so off-balance that there's no way they could defend themselves in a real-life violent encounter.
One of the reasons Chen Tai Chi (the original form of Tai Chi -- the style that I practice) is so strict about body mechanics and structure is this quest for wuji. If you train yourself to recognize when you're in a state of balance, then practice the techniques that allow you to maintain balance while throwing your opponent off-balance, you will eventually achieve skill. In a state of balance, you can defend from all directions.
I've worked a lot lately with my Tai Chi students on the ability to relax when they're attacked. Our first reaction when force comes toward us is to tense up. That comes naturally -- we've done it all our lives. It's a very difficult habit to break. We become stiff and unyielding (too "yang"), when the best course of action is almost always to relax, yield, and then overcome -- a combination of yin and yang.
One day in Chicago, I did push hands with Master Chen Bing, one of the best young Tai Chi masters in the world (he's in his 30s). Every time I pushed at him, he relaxed and I couldn't find a target. My hand would slip off. Before I knew it, he would make a small movement that would cause me to lose my balance.
This also applies to verbal and emotional attacks. At work, at home, even on the street or in traffic, some people will attempt to attack you with words or actions. Often, they are intentionally trying to push your buttons, or throw you off-balance either because of their own imbalance or for their own benefit. Your goal, then, is to regain wuji as quickly as possible and be at peace. Don't give your attacker a target. Their allow their verbal and emotional attacks to find a place to land.
How do you do this? One way is to detach from the normal emotion that happens in these situations. Instead of letting yourself get angry, relax, calm down and feel sorry for the person. Consider how unhappy their life must be to cause them to lash out this way. This is the best way to deal with people who act crazy on the highways. Instead of reacting with anger, try relaxing and calming your mind and body instead.
It isn't always easy to react with calmness when someone at work is behaving in a way that can threaten your income and security. When someone does this, you must sometimes take action, as you would against a physical attack. When you do, remain calm and focus only on the behavior of the person. Back up your reaction with a clear explanation of the damage their behavior does to the company and to your ability to do your job. Explain it to them, letting them know you won't accept it, and if necessary, take it to their supervisor.
I was the news director at a TV station when an egotistical reporter behaved very badly and treated the assignment editor with disrespect in front of the staff. I sat her down, with the assignment editor as a witness (he was her supervisor), and explained to her why such rude behavior wasn't acceptable. Her reaction wasn't pretty -- she exploded with anger. I gave her 30 days to either behave more professionally or leave.
After the meeting, the assignment editor said, "That was classic! Every time she exploded, you calmly steered the conversation back to her behavior. You didn't allow her to control you." She failed in her efforts to put me off-balance. She was off-balance, because in the past, before I was her manager, she had gotten away with bad behavior.
This isn't always possible when the person behaving badly is your boss. I once had a Senior Vice President call me and shout, "Your job is to SERVE!"
No one in upper management wanted to deal with this person, so I decided to begin looking for another job and within a few months, I found one. I returned to a balanced state of wuji.
This is also an important concept at home. Spouses can sometimes become angry -- it can't be avoided anytime people live together. Your reaction to that anger is crucial. I have learned by following the principles of Tai Chi to react with calmness instead of tension, and remain centered while my wife lets off steam.
It's when you react with anger that tension escalates. With practice, however, you can learn to remain calm and centered, react by returning to balance, and becoming the safety valve that lets the steam escape. Inevitably, the person who is angry calms down and even apologizes for their behavior.
If you have a spouse who enjoys pushing your buttons in a destructive way, that's a different story. You should still remain centered, but you may never find real balance unless the spouse changes or until the relationship changes.
Whether it is a physical attack or an emotional one, your life and health will improve when you use the principles of Tai Chi to maintain a state of balance and harmony, and when you don't give the attacks a place to land. In this way, you can maintain or return to a state of wuji.
About the Author
Ken Gullette has studied and practiced martial arts for 36 years. He is a tournament champion and has produced 16 instructional DVDs. He is the owner and instructor in the most extensive
online internal arts school
on the Internet. He also has a fun and
informative blog
.
New Chen Village Dvd Takes You Inside Birthplace Of Tai Chi
Tai Chi is surrounded by mystery and mysticism, but it is a martial art that was created in the Chen Village in China. A new documentary by producer Jon Braeley takes us on a fascinating journey to meet the key members of the Chen family who keep the family art alive.
Shot in high definition, the documentary includes interviews with westerners who have traveled to Chen Village to study, and it shows a disciple ceremony in which Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang accepts new disciples.
Chen Village (Chenjiagou) is located in Henan Province. It's a very poor village with 3,000 residents. It is said that 2,500 Chen Villagers practice tai chi, and all but 15% are named Chen. You see parts of the village here that you haven't seen before.
Most of us would think of beautiful Asian buildings if we thought of the birthplace of Tai Chi, but we would be wrong. Chenjiagou is a poor, third-world community. It just happens that they are the best in the world at their art.
The documentary features Chen Xiaowang, his brother and head of the Chenjiagou tai chi school Chen Xiaoxing, Chen Ziqiang (son of Xiaoxing) and Chen Bing (a nephew of Xiaowang and Xiaoxing). It's exciting to watch, considering I have met and trained with three of the four, and Chen Xiaoxing stayed in our home for a week back in 2006. It's also fascinating to see the Chen Xiaoxing's school since I received a certificate in 2005 as a recognized instructor connected to the Chen family school.
I didn't know until seeing this DVD that Chen Bing now runs his own school, and he has built it with foreign students in mind. Some students have been reluctant in the past to travel to Chen Village because living conditions are not very good compared with our standards. Chen Bing decided to build a school that is more welcoming to Westerners.
I was disappointed but not surprised to hear Chen Bing say that foreign students are usually trained differently than the Chinese -- not as tough because they can't take it, and most of them, he says, are interested in the health aspects more than the martial aspects. Are you listening, people? They don't consider us to be very serious because we focus on the wrong things. Despite what you've heard and read, real tai chi is a martial art -- it's about fighting and not about meditation. It also requires a lot of sweat to achieve skill. If you're not sweating, you're not practicing right.
Chen Xiaoxing's son, Chen Ziqiang was interviewed and said that even among students from the Chen Village, only one student in a hundred manages to hang with it long enough to become really good at tai chi. I've been teaching now for a dozen years and that is something that becomes clear very quickly when you teach -- the fact that for every 100 people that come through the door, only one has the determination and passion to achieve their goals.
The interviews with the western students are very interesting. They find themselves in a very simple environment when they stay at the Chen Village -- a much slower and far less technological lifestyle. A few of the comments go a little over-the-top, as you can imagine from people who are dedicated enough to spend a year or two living there. One devoted student breaks down and cries when discussing Chen Xiaowang. I understand the devotion, but I tend to look at these masters as people who are the best at what they do -- like Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, all worthy of tremendous respect. I don't look at them as gods. My wife watched the documentary with me and strongly objected to the disciple ceremony where the disciples were kneeling and bowing in worship before Grandmaster Chen. I didn't react as strongly because I understand why they're doing it, but it was fascinating to see a ceremony like this after hearing about it. When you become a disciple it's a very serious relationship, supposedly like being admitted to the family, and yet there is a master/student relationship that is very strict, and let's face it, the culture is not what we are accustomed to. Americans by nature don't like to kneel and prostrate themselves before anyone, but in the context of the situation and the culture, it's something that you do.
Chen Bing is shown at his school demonstrating a form, and as usual, he's breathtakingly impressive. There is a little video of Chen Xiaoxing practicing with some students, and Chen Xiaowang does a short demo, too.
One of my goals is to travel to Chen Village and give it my best effort to train like the Chinese. It's nice that Jon Braeley has produced such an inspirational documentary.I highly recommend this DVD to anyone with an interest in tai chi.
About the Author
Ken Gullette is a world-renown internal arts teacher and tournament champion. His
instructional DVDs
are popular with internal artists worldwide, and he has students across the globe who study his videos, e-books and other material through his
online internal arts school.
