Like a crashing wave
- By Janis McGrath
- Published 04/30/2008
Janis McGrath
I am co-owner of an internal martial arts/healing arts school. We teach the arts of Hsing yi, Ba Kua, Tai Chi, and QiGong. Our students are dedicated individuals willing to do the hard work it takes to achieve excellence and spiritual growth. I am the written voice of my partner who has taught martial arts for 15 years. He rejected a death sentence by western doctors and sought healing and life through the Eastern Healing and Internal Martial Arts.
Monday, I was teaching the Tai Chi short form to two brothers, seven and five years old. John keeps telling me that children that young can't understand the concept of chi, or jing, or internal energy; that they can't conceive of something that they haven't seen. After Monday's class, I would have to disagree. They both had watched John teach the end of the previous class, Ba Kua with pre-heaven energy. Delivery of the pre-heaven energy requires squeezing the ground with the balls of the feet, keeping the joints locked with all the muscles relaxed, and firing the tendons to release the jing. The brothers haven't been able to do all those things at the same time, but they understand what is happening. They stood by the slam pads and showed me a Ba Kua form they had watched John teach and demonstrate. They can't quite lock their joints repeatedly yet, but they keep trying.
They can press me or each other into the slam wall using the Tai Chi forms of "parting horses mane" or "brush knee", but they tend to be more physical. I showed them how to move the whole body together to use the leverage and force of the entire body rather than just using the arm by pivoting at the shoulder. They got this concept very quickly. I was afraid two boys might be afraid to slam me against the padded wall, but they felt no shyness or reticence; they each in turn slammed me into the wall. I'm about 5'3" so they fall far short of my height, but that doesn't not intimidate them. For "parting horses's mane", they place their knee behind mine and pivot their whole body to press the same side arm against my chest, throwing me off balance. For "brush knee", they clear any kicks or punches by sweeping their left hand low, brushing above their left knee while they push into the chest with their right
hand, held about shoulder height. They giggle with delight each time they successfully push me back. Then, they use each other as opponents and learn to slam each other more enthusiastically against the padded wall.
I caution them that they are never to use the skills they have learned to bully; that they are never to be the agressors, but that they have every right to defend themselves if they are attacked. They both solemnly nod in agreement. We go back to the entire short form, but Jora, the five year old, wants to show me his brush knee form without the martial application. He steps forward gracefully with his left leg, knee bent and scissors both hands out flowingly in a scooping motion. He repeats this a few times and then explains to me that this is just like the waves that lift and then crash on the shore. His brother talks about ocean waves that roll on top of you. They understand that the energy they are learning to generate and control is just like those crashing waves. Once the waves gains momentum and comes crashing down, how can you defend against it? The answer is to swim with the wave, become one with it and flow with it's momentum.
Jora wants to talk about the Buddha palm and asks me to use it against him at the slam wall. He falls back without me even making contact. He is pretending that I emanated a wave of energy from my hand strong enough to move him. I don't currently have the capability to control that kind of energy, but we both know that we have generated the necessary energy, the chi, when we are doing Tai Chi and QiGong. Both brothers know that we can't see the energy, but we can feel it and see the effects of it. Until this day, their Tai Chi form has been rather choppy, but now that we are becoming the wave or the kelp or the repulsing monkey, the form is starting to flow and we can all feel the synergistic effect of the energy we are generating as we synchronize our form.
They can press me or each other into the slam wall using the Tai Chi forms of "parting horses mane" or "brush knee", but they tend to be more physical. I showed them how to move the whole body together to use the leverage and force of the entire body rather than just using the arm by pivoting at the shoulder. They got this concept very quickly. I was afraid two boys might be afraid to slam me against the padded wall, but they felt no shyness or reticence; they each in turn slammed me into the wall. I'm about 5'3" so they fall far short of my height, but that doesn't not intimidate them. For "parting horses's mane", they place their knee behind mine and pivot their whole body to press the same side arm against my chest, throwing me off balance. For "brush knee", they clear any kicks or punches by sweeping their left hand low, brushing above their left knee while they push into the chest with their right
I caution them that they are never to use the skills they have learned to bully; that they are never to be the agressors, but that they have every right to defend themselves if they are attacked. They both solemnly nod in agreement. We go back to the entire short form, but Jora, the five year old, wants to show me his brush knee form without the martial application. He steps forward gracefully with his left leg, knee bent and scissors both hands out flowingly in a scooping motion. He repeats this a few times and then explains to me that this is just like the waves that lift and then crash on the shore. His brother talks about ocean waves that roll on top of you. They understand that the energy they are learning to generate and control is just like those crashing waves. Once the waves gains momentum and comes crashing down, how can you defend against it? The answer is to swim with the wave, become one with it and flow with it's momentum.
Jora wants to talk about the Buddha palm and asks me to use it against him at the slam wall. He falls back without me even making contact. He is pretending that I emanated a wave of energy from my hand strong enough to move him. I don't currently have the capability to control that kind of energy, but we both know that we have generated the necessary energy, the chi, when we are doing Tai Chi and QiGong. Both brothers know that we can't see the energy, but we can feel it and see the effects of it. Until this day, their Tai Chi form has been rather choppy, but now that we are becoming the wave or the kelp or the repulsing monkey, the form is starting to flow and we can all feel the synergistic effect of the energy we are generating as we synchronize our form.
