Dance or Defense?: Tai Chi

This is an assignment from area studies, which is an interactive lecture series on different aspects of Japanese culture. This is my response to my experience of the art of Tai Chi.

I had always heard that the martial art of Tai Chi is focused on relaxing movements that teach a person to use their opponents’ weight and force against them. Yet, our lesson in Tai Chi was not very focused on actual combat, but instead on awareness, breathing, proper body position, and gathering energy. When I walked up the hill to where my teacher was practicing alone on grassy rooftop, I almost believed that he was performing some strange type of dance. Sometimes his body would move very slowly and gracefully, as if he were doing ballet, only to be interrupted by a sharp noise and movement as he kicked his leg to the side, part of what appeared to be a jazz routine. I had heard a while back that there were several types of martial arts that so closely resembled dance that practice in one could lead to strengthening of the other. From watching my teacher as he practiced, I believed that Tai Chi could certainly be one of those martial arts. Taka-sensei, as I would call my teacher, is a Tai Chi champion who was going to teach us some basic movements and techniques.

We bent our knees, tightened our hara (the area between the top of your pants and your belly button), and began breathing deeply, in tune with our movements. We began with very simple arm movements, often described in terms of holding a large ball and moving it in different directions. As we breathed and moved our arms, our knees softened and straightened slightly along with our movements, much in the same way that one would perform barre work in ballet. Taka-sensei was using all of the vocabulary I was familiar with: a string coming out of the top of my head to keep me tall, an axis upon which my body was to turn, and focus. I found myself finding peace in our simple movements combined with deep breathing. Although the movements were simple enough, I found my body struggling with some of the movements, like keeping my knees slightly bent the entire time. Perhaps this new form of exercise would build a different type of strength than any I had ever heard of before.

After a warm up and introduction to the movement, we learned a very short routine that was maybe seven movements per side, but was very beautiful. We performed the set of movements time and time again, and each time, as Taka was telling me to relax my elbows, relax my shoulders, and keep proper hip position, I found myself more and more able to do it. Taka said something to me that no other teacher had ever been able to get across: “If all of the energy is bunched up in your shoulders, how will it get down the rest of your arms?” He explained that by relaxing, we keep the channels in our body open for the energy, and through it get more power. I was feeling very powerful, very balanced, and very centered. It seemed that performing the Tai Chi movements was helping me to collect strength, making me feel all the while more able to participate in the other activities that I enjoy, like dancing.

Taka said that someone who is good at Tai Chi can find spring at all times by creating it in their mind, by seeing beautiful flowers grow everywhere, even in the winter. He explained that learning to control ones imagination through practice of Tai Chi can give a person more control over other parts of their life. He also said that because there is constantly energy in the sky for the taking and the energy from the earth, one only has to keep oneself open to it in order to remain healthy. As long as the energy is flowing through the body, a person will remain healthy. Anyone who needs more energy only needs to focus himself to be able to bring it in to his body and store it in his hara. This could be done with breathing and awareness. As the lesson neared its end, I saw the rain start to fall. Before I heard it, before I felt it, I saw it. I am not sure how long it has been since that happened.

After my first lesson in Tai Chi, I felt parts of my body strengthened that I did not even realize had been engaged through the lesson. I wondered if it really could help me with my other athletic activities. Thinking of what Taka had said about the imagination, I realized that Tai Chi can be to each person a different type of activity. For someone engaged in combat, it can be a way to retain control over ones enemy. For someone looking to gain peace through meditation, it can serve as an exercise in peace and awareness, an opportunity to collect and channel energy from the surrounding world. For me, with a desire to keep my body healthy so that I can continue to dance when I get back to school, Tai Chi could be a way to allow myself to find strength through relaxation and to work on strengthening my center. Just as I could imagine myself growing stronger in dance through my practice of Tai Chi, I realized that I had taken the first step towards accomplishing it.