Making full use of a situation in Yin or Yang

Hello all Taijiquan students of Europe UK and Singapore wishing you all well. There is a spike of the COVID-19 virus in Europe and UK and it seems that the second wave is hitting your countries. However, do not get disheartened. It is a natural cycle of changes, just like Taijiquan, Yin and Yang is about continuous changes. In Yin there’s Yang and in Yang there’s Yin. When the Yin reaches the extreme the next change will be the beginning of Yang and vice versa. It’s the ability to make use of the Yin and Yang situation that will show the true skill of a Taijiquan practitioner and just like we have rainy and sunny weather, we need both Yin and Yang. Do what you are able to do in a rainy or sunny day.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given me the time to reflect on the art of Taijiquan that I practise. In Taijiquan practise you cultivate and nurture the internal and train and strengthen the external. The internal is to nurture your emotional relaxation and calming your temperament so that you become a more grounded person. The external is to strengthen your physical fitness and stamina. From my observation, most Taijiquan practitioners including myself only focused on the internal training and neglected the external. Because of this I ended up very much overweight and lacked stamina. During these extraordinary times I have decided to focus on the external as well. I decided to walk for an hour every day and doing skipping in four sets: skipping 50 times each set. In skipping I am fortunate to have the guidance of my student Pete Dobson who is an ex boxing coach. He taught me the correct way of skipping. I also went back to my old routine of training Taiji and White Crane, giving me a total training time of four hours daily, seven days a week. It has produced amazing results, I have lost 20kg of weight and am now down to my ideal weight. Without that extra weight I am more agile and my stamina is great.

Taijiquan is a martial art. Unfortunately, and sadly, the martial aspect of Taijiquan is lost in the promotion of wushu Taijiquan, its focus only on beautiful movements executed elegantly. Even in traditional Taijiquan it ends in pushing hands and not proceeding into fixed and free san da (free fighting). Lately I have seen a lot of Taijiquan “masters” defeated by MMA fighters. From the video clips we can see those “master “are using push hands and the MMA fighters are using free fighting techniques. This is just like putting soccer players into a field and asking them to play with the rugby players using rugby rules. Most of these Taijiquan “master” only do push hands and know nothing about san da (free fighting) even an amateur boxer could easily knock them out.

The principles of push hands is sticking, joining, adhering, following, no disconnection and no resisting. Once into free pushing most practitioners in Taijiquan start to grab and wrestle, throwing the principles of push hands out of the window. My advice to genuine Taijiquan practitioners": In your free pushing, if you encounter someone doing this, knock them out with a punch or a kick and make sure they never forget the pain. If they don’t follow the rules of push hands, consider it a free fight. No point wasting your time with them.

I personally would like to bring Taijiquan back into its a fighting art. It is not an easy task. Hopefully I am able to do it in my life time. Again, being a boxing coach, my student and friend Pete Dobson has provided me clues of how to box (punch) and footwork. I am working on how to implement it and still keeping the Taijiquan principles in it. Pete Dobson is one person that never followed fixed rules or ways of doing things, he always thinks outside the box. One thing I learned from him is that you require a lot of courage to think outside the box. When you do then you will discover new knowledge.

Pete in the gym - For an ex boxing coach he was good at thinking outside the box

As Bernard Shaw said:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

This pandemic has also allowed me to reflect my practice of the White Crane system taught to me by my teacher. More specifically my promise to him that I would continue the teaching of his White Crane system. Because of his commitment to Taijiquan he didn’t  emphasize imparting his White Crane knowledge, something that he regretted in his later life and he felt that he had let down his White Crane teacher.

I have spent this time refining my White Crane training and setting up a teaching system. When this extraordinary situation is over, I plan to teach my Teacher’s Whopping Crane system in Europe. Hopefully I will be able to impart my teachers white crane teaching over the next five years.

So, in any situation, life still goes on. learn to use the situation to your favour. Life is what we make it to be. Good health and stay safe.

Best regards,

Jin.

Thank you COVID19

“As in the Taiji principles when Yang reaches its extreme Yin will come. Meaning that when bad times turn worse it will reach a point where the next turn will be good. “

It might be strange to most people that I thank a virus that has killed so many people and brought chaos to every part of the world. The virus doesn’t discriminate against anyone, regardless of race, religion or country. This is something that we as a civilisation have failed to do. The virus is too small for the naked eye to see yet it is able to bring us “intelligent” humans to our knees, making us realise how powerless we are. It has given nature back to other species, wild animals creep back into cities and pollution clearing over the skies in China. Most important of all it has caused lockdowns in every country. Giving us time and space which we otherwise wouldn’t have in this busy society to reflect on ourselves.

In times of pandemics like these the last thing we need is fear. It is the time to apply the Taiji principles into practice. Interestingly, people who are tested with the virus are known as having “positive” results (Yang) and those without; negative (Yin). To us it means that Yang is destructive and Yin is survival. As in the Taiji principles when Yang reaches its extreme Yin will come. Meaning that when bad times turn worse it will reach a point where the next turn will be good. As in push hands respond to the situation as it changes. As the situation is continuously changing so must our response. Not reacting. Responding.

If you look at the Taiji figure of Yin and Yang you will notice in the Yin figure that there is a Yang spot. Subsequently in the Yang figure there is Yin. It means in the good times we must be aware of the bad situations that will come along and in the bad times it reminds us that there is always a light on the horizon. In the good and bad we must always maintain our central equilibrium so that we don’t get carried away in the good times and we don’t get distressed and lost in the bad.

The lockdown time created by the virus will be good for your self-reflection. In your Taiji practice this is the time to reflect on your own Taiji through the years of practice. Do you really read the Taiji Classics and take them seriously? Have you analysed what you have read or what has been imparted by your teacher? During this time, you may not have any push hand partners. Focus on your Taiji form. Bring your mind deep into your heart (conscience) and seek the movements from it. Manifest the movements into your external body. Your refinement in the form will filter into your push hands.

Teachers be grateful to your students and students be grateful to your teachers and fellow students. Without each other the art of Taiji would be lost and without each other we would not be able to progress and refine. Forget the titles of master or grandmaster. They are just like the wind. You cannot grasp it or hold on to it. Just enjoy being a student.

Take time to reflect on your life in the lockdown. For husband and wife, how many times have you said to each other “I Love You” or taken a holiday together? Don’t wait for retirement where you are either too old or too ill to travel. Children, when is the last time you visited your parents or taken them out for a meal? Friends or working colleagues, when did you last socialise with them or visit them when they were sick? Have you been unkind to your peers?

The virus pandemic has shown us how life could be over in a moment. Do what you want, visit whoever you want to and go whatever place you want to. Don’t say “wait” only to live and regret. Death is a necessary end for everyone but everyone has a different lifespan and we don’t know when it will come. Every morning when we wake up and we see the ceiling of our house… It is a bonus from God. Enjoy the bonus and make full use of it.

Looking back on my life, I feel lucky to have learnt Taiji from a good teacher. To be able to make it my profession and to have a group of good and dedicated students, a very good wife and children. Would I do something different if I was able to relive my life? Yes. I would like to have spent more time with my parents in their later years (I migrated to New Zealand) and also with my siblings. For over 23 years I have been conducting seminars in Europe. This is the first time that I have spent autumn in New Zealand since then. I spend about 5 months each time teaching in Europe which means although my wife and I have been married for 32 years we actually spent slightly over 19 years together. I miss seeing my children growing up and being able to fully fulfil the duties of a father. I am lucky to have a spouse that is not only a good wife but also a good mother. Hopefully in the remainder of my life I am able to make up for what I have missed.

One of the philosophies stressed by Zhuang Tzu is to always look deep into your heart (conscience) to find yourself. Your guru of life is in your heart. Not in the hands of self-professed holy men or gurus. Don’t look for what is far and neglect what is near.

- Wee Kee Jin