The following is an unedited and unfiltered “stream of consciousness” narrative of my impressions and thoughts about the recent workshop of Master Joseph Chen in Phoenix, Arizona on February 14 – 17, 2009:
Communication and Internal Energy
The combination of Master Joseph Chen’s verbal skills in English, and his extensive knowledge of Taiji Chuan are a rare thing, indeed. A primary challenge to learning Taiji Chuan is gaining an understanding of “internal energy”. Internal energy is not based on idealistic concepts or metaphysical powers – it is based in well-established principles of physics and physiology, and it is in that context that Master Chen teaches about internal energy. Because internal energy cannot always be seen, it is difficult to learn about it through verbal communication. When internal energy is applied to a person, they may be hurt or pushed away, but the force that caused their reaction is often difficult to see. That seems to be the reason some people advance the concept of Taiji Chuan being magical or mystic. In the movies, people fly around and do supernatural things, due to the power of the wires connected to them. Some of the stories I’ve heard are based on very old tales of seemingly superhuman feats that were performed by martial artists, and those stories are also not very credible by modern standards. I recognize that old stories sometimes contain metaphors or allegorical lessons, so whether the stories are literally true doesn’t concern me, and I just focus on the lessons that each story provides. In contrast to movies or story tales, Master Chen introduces internal energy to his students by providing an elegant combination of verbal explanation and physical demonstration. The physical demonstration isn’t a macho exhibit of one man throwing another to the ground to reaffirm his self-confidence and fighting superiority – rather, this is literally the only possible method to expose a student to this phenomenon that is not directly observable. Whether you are attempting to exert internal energy on someone else, or whether you are the recipient of the internal energy exerted by someone else, it is crystal-clear and unmistakable but must be felt, and not seen or heard. It is easy to see the result of internal energy, when someone suddenly falls down or is pushed away, but the actual force cannot be seen (not by me, anyway) by just viewing muscles and body actions.
A Few General Concepts
All that said, I do not believe I can provide justice to a description of the detailed lessons we received from Master Chen, but here are a few general concepts that I noted: The principal of balance and yin/yang is applicable at pretty-much every scale. If a person takes a defensive posture, they may be well-rooted and have a balanced stance, with an equilibrium of upward and downward energy coming from their head and tailbone, as well as forward and backward energy moving through their two legs. On a smaller scale, the forearm of the person in that same position may be in a state of balance, with the lower forearm extending outward toward the fingertips, and the upper forearm being pulled inward toward the elbow. These opposing forces are not physically possible, but when we use our mind to exert the intent to apply those balancing forces, a little bit of internal energy can be discovered. Another general concept I noted is that the geometry and positioning of an individual makes a great difference. Very slight changes is posture (less than 1º in some cases) can make huge differences that appear to result in plus or minus a hundred pounds of force. This concept seems to support and be supported by, the common practice of Taiji Chuan being done slowly. There is nothing special about moving through the form slowly (although it does seem to require a bit more work), but if a person moves through the Taiji form with lots of attention to the details of posture and position (which is quite hard to do), simultaneous with an unwavering focus on their internal energy and body mechanics (which is really, really hard to do), then they will certainly improve their Taiji form.
That’s all I can think of for now.
Marvin
