Mistakes of Taiji Quan Practitioners
Most of taiji practitioners think that they have got a result by remembering sequences and movement in the form or by feeling confidence in their movements looking like movements of great masters. In reality this doesn’t mean at all that a practitioner does not make mistakes. Mistakes can be separated in to mental, physical and energetic. Here are some of them.
<h4>Mental mistakes</h4>
<b>Absence of relaxation in the abdomen.</b> Relaxation in the abdomen is the ability to hold tension for deepening the breathing.
<b>Tightness</b>. The mistake is formed because the movement of the body depend from own possibilities gained by previous experience rather then from a conscious setting. Characteristic feature is the absence of understood measure of movements. Under tightness it is meant not only the body but also the mind.
<b>Absence of a link.</b> Movements should be linked and for that one needs to bring consciousness to the abdomen.
<b>Leaning to one side.</b> Is a result of consciousness losing control over side axis and this is first of all a mental mistake that leads to a break in connections between the hip and shoulder. As a result extra energy appears in the body that leads to the loss of control of building strength.
<b>Loosing axis in the head.</b> It leads to a loss of connection between the spine and accordingly to a loss of control over power.
<b>Absence of tucked in coccyx.</b> It is important to understand the mental task in relation to that concerning coccyx. Before a skill of returning energy appears, it is impossible to obtain a natural state of tucking in. Therefore, the task of working with the coccyx is firstly control, and not the state of coccyx being tucked in.
<b>Insufficient control of the crutch area.</b> It is a significant mental task for elaborating ability to lower the centre of gravity.
<b>Feet control.</b> The feet should be taught to think, they should not hang during movement. Feet should be able to listen, empty and root themselves. In the end, that should lead to understanding of feet direction.
<b>Chin not being tucked in<b>. This aspect in necessary for maintaining control of consciousness. Loss of chin violates equilibrium between left and right parts of the brain.
<b>Loss of gaze</b>. Loss of gaze is a distraction of ones attention firstly from oneself. One ought to look inside. In reality one should be able to see the whole body. Any tear away in the gaze at an object leads to a loss in control and concentration. The gaze should be spherical. Inability to control ones gaze leads to distraction and loss of spirit.
<b>Open mouth</b>. Is a loss of control of ones saliva and tongue that leads to infringement of circulation in the middle-front meridian.
<b>Double weight.</b> It is inability of consciousness to regulate the internal process till the end.
<h4>Physical mistakes</h4>
<b>Becoming wooden.</b> This is a condition of the body that as a rule appears from wrong physical load. When adding or in production of this state during taiji a blockage of channels happens and the opportunity of feeding the brain is lost.
<b>Feeling of being disassembled.</b> Absence of wholeness in movement created multiple directed strains on different parts of the body. As a result it becomes unknown what develops and for what. It is important to understand the work of three levels of the body: legs, abdomen-back-head and hands.
<b>Collapse.</b> The mistake comes from throwing the body into inertia movements without acknowledging internal connections. As a result the up-down, left-right, front-back connection is lost. From this mistake the geometry of the movement is not being built and the existing crumbles.
<b>Absence of caving the chest in.</b> This mistake leads to violation of axis lowering the head and as a consequence to violation of proportion. Here a mistake of camber and concavity is related when by means of extra folding the proportional effort is really changed. A wish to add rather then to express starts to appear.
<b>Bending the spine.</b> Leads to a loss of movement bring back to infringement of proportions and to loss of connection in the legs and incorrect building of muscular, tendon and bone groups.
<b>Loss of support of the feet.</b> Deprives the direction of motion bringing actions to inertia state where there is no real internal support.
<b>Stiffness of diaphragm.</b> This mistake flows out of stiffness in the abdomen that doesn’t let the diaphragm lower itself.
<b>Loss of the wrist.</b> It appears from the loss of connection between the wrist and the forearm.
<b>Lack of entirety.</b> If the wholeness of the body is absent, then the movements become uncoordinated.
<h4>Energetical mistakes</h4>
<b>Absence of work on the lower back meridian.</b> It is considered to be an energy mistake because the given aspect totally depends from the work of the lower back meridian. Absence of work on the development of this meridian leads to transformation of movement being impossible. During movements it is important to monitor the load on your lower back. Accompanied mistake- is loss of the level of the lower back.
<b>Misunderstanding of the spiral of movements.</b> While the energy doesn’t really start to circulate in the body it’s impossible to achieve a spiral like motion. It is dangerous to imitate circular and spiralling movements while there is no internal clarity.
<b>Linearity.</b> While the body is not filled with energy all movements are linear. While linearity is stored, the movement should be done as slowly as possible.
<b>Lifting of the shoulders.</b> Is first of all an energetic mistake because it interrupts the energy returning to the abdomen. Also because of this mistake an unnecessary tension occurs in the lower back.
<b>Elbow aversion.</b> It leads to a block of middle back meridian. It also leads to energy come down being impossible and to blockage of energy circulation.
<b>Tightness in the back of the waist.</b> This mistake occurs when taking pelvis to the back. As a result centeredness in the abdomen is lost, the energy circulation in the lower back is violated and the connection with the coccyx is lost as a consequence; connection with the legs is also lost.
<b>Buttock control.</b> Loss of control over buttock leas to a distortion in the body as well as a loss of stomach-leg connection. This point is especially important for women because it’s important for them not to over-tighten the uterus. The work should be directed at controlling the link between the legs with the body and abdomen and on holiding the crotch.
<b>Tension in the face. </b>Leads to a loss of connection and to impairment of the energy circulation in the head. As a result the perception of sound and inner listening are violated.
<b>Continuity. </b> In taiji two laws should be implemented simultaneously: rest in motion and motion in rest. That’s the reason why every movement should be switching over and have completeness, to try to do everything continuously means to lose internal calmness. One needs to be able to return and to stop, not just direct and move.
<b>Absence of support of the centre of gravity.</b> Absence of support at the centre of gravity is a mistake that firstly has mental characteristics but has severe energy implications. The support should be made up from the stomach. It is the centre. Centre of the abdomen is an already exposed condition that governs everything. It allows the consciousness to sink inside. Existence with consciousness that is not able to sink inside is characterised as existence with lifted centre of gravity. Development of centre of gravity is a long and monotonous process where it is dangerous to just inform oneself and think that it is there. It is a change in physiology and transition to a new level of frequency characteristics.
26 february 2011
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