Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre

movement that starts from the inside, moves from the internalbody to the external body.Taijiquan is considered to be natural. Every movementshould move naturally and the Qi is connected to the Dantian.Whether you performing a closing or opening movement, theyare allconnected.W he nyou are at thislevel, thefeeling of theform is verygood, becauseit is allc o nn e c t e d .But when youcome to releasepower,Fajing, thenyou will stillfeel that it isnot naturaland youcannot do itcorrectly. Occasionallyyou will feel that it is all right, butsometimes your Fajing will feel too external. Thenit can make you lose your balance and make youstiff. When you understand the balance betweeninternal and external you know that when you doa movement quickly or with strength, if you feelstiff, then you are not doing it correctly.That is why the first Taijiquan form isperformed slowly. One reason is because we wantit to improve our health, and the second reason iswe want to be able to do it quickly and powerfully.Without doing it slowly first, you will not be able to balancethe internal and external movement together. If you try anduse a lot of power and speed without this balance, you caninjure yourself.Level Three is thought of as “Three Yin and seven Yang”.It is still hard and this is the reason why you feel OK when youdo the form slowly, but when you try it with speed and powerthere are these problems. So, thebest way to practise is still do theform slowly, and when you cometo a fast part with Fajing, holdback and only do it 50 to 70%.So you buildup slowlyand neverdo it 100%.This is like acar with asmall engine.Youcannot tryand make itrun at 150miles per hour or else you will damage it.Performing it this way, you should still beable to do the movement properly with acertain amount of speed and power, onlynot using full power yet.In Level Three you shouldconcentrate on the mind, not on the Qi“If you try and use a lotof power without thisbalance, you can injureyourself.”and not on the power. The mind leads the energy. For example,when you are happy, everything seems easier. When you areupset, everything seems difficult, so you see, your mind leadsyour energy whether it is good or bad.When you practise and emphasise the mind, you buildup a good attitude, a calm mind and concentrate on themovement. When you come to Fajing; the energy should comeFive Levels of Taijiquan10% Yin, 90% Yang is like a stick20% Yin, 80% Yang is low level skill30% Yin, 70% Yang is still too hard40% Yin, 60% Yang is high level50% Yin, 50% Yang is a spiritual LevelEvery single movement is based on Taiji principle,Anything that comes to this Taiji will become nothing.Qi Magazine 14Five Levels of Taijiquan