Taijiquan, the most devastating, extreme boxing style ever invented is steeped in softness. That’s why: it’s the Supreme, Ultimate Martial Art; it’s a burly, devastating martial art, and it’s soft.
Taijiquan involves each practitioner in both limbs of living: we learn strength and sensitivity. Precise, vigorous solo forms and durable pushing hands form foundations of health, fitness, and energetic attitude, and energy-work (Qigong) weaves a web of compassion and integrity.
To touch the core issues that bind strength and sensitivity, notice how Chogyam Trungpa guides the vision of Taijiquan:
In order to experience fearlessness, it is necessary to experience fear. The essence of cowardice is not acknowledging the reality of fear. Fear can take many forms. Logically, we know we can’t live forever. We know we are going to die, so we are afraid. We are petrified of our death. On another level, we are afraid that we can’t handle the demands of the world. This fear expresses itself as a feeling of inadequacy. We feel that our own lives are overwhelming. Then there is abrupt fear, or panic, that arises when new situations occur suddenly in our lives. When we feel we can’t handle them, we jump or twitch. Sometimes fear manifests in the form of restlessness: doodles on a note pad, play with our fingers, or fidgeting in our charts. We feel that we have to keep ourselves moving all the time, like an engine running in a motor car. The pistons go up and down, up and down. As long as the pistons keep moving, we feel safe. Otherwise, we are afraid we might die on the spot.
There are innumerable strategies that we use to take our minds off fear. Some people take tranquilizers. Some people do yoga. Some people watch television or read a magazine or go to a bar to have a beer. From the coward’s point of view, boredom should be avoided, because when we are bored we begin to feel anxious. We are getting closer to our fear…cowardice is trying to live our lives as though death were unknown.
Fear has to be acknowledged
—Shambhala: the Sacred Path of the Warrior, pp. 47 – 48
Look deeply into these things, as you pursue Taijiquan.
