The teacher is the standing, if you don't do it you don't get it... BUT ... I started to get it just by doing form and teaching push hands. Got weird, students started to bounce off me for no apparent reason during push hands. I was lucky enough to find a teacher that could explain that to me, his students threw me all over and I'm an experienced martial artist, it ain't standing per say but standing really helps that understanding (pun not intended) or really that letting go within structure and attention
Great great great!!! I have experienced what Mr. Sinclair described and emphasized. His teaching methodology is philosophical truth. As the most ancient book of philosophy "I Jing", where the Tia chi concept comes from, says do not go up to your students until they come down to you.
Your Franciscan friar story reminds me that I had one of them in my class when I used to teach Tai Chi years ago (only beginner level) and he was my best student. At first I thought it had to do with how good he was at paying attention but I came to believe it had more to do with his way of never being in conflict with anyone or anything, not even himself apparently.
I thought I was prepared then the video was taken down and I wasn’t prepared for that, now it’s back and I’m pleasantly surprised, which I hadn’t prepared for
You have great insights into the practice of Taiji/Tai Chi which often make me question and reexamine my own practice. Thank you Ian Sinclair. In recent months I've been doing some online lessons with teachers I met in the 90s, which is helping me in my own practice. I do benefit from "corrections" and being "pushed" to learn and practise new exercises to help with various aspects of Taiji. A teacher can only give us guidance and help us develop our practice, some "drills" might be useful, others might not - I think it depends a bit on what the student may need to gradually help them progress and to what extent the teacher can connect with the student and vice versa. Obviously, a "drill sergeant" approach could be counterproductive, but some gentle encouragement through repetition of movements doesn't have to be delivered in a military style. All students have different "starting points", the same applies to teachers. As we attempt to work together, hopefully some good connections and understandings can be developed and shared. As teachers, we can make a positive impact on someone's interest and motivation to discover more about Taiji for themselves. Ultimately, it's the individual, student and teacher alike, who must dedicate time to work on themselves through the practice of Taiji. This often presents challenges, both physical and emotional. It may or may not be easy to resolve or make breakthroughs, generally a certain amount of pain, sacrifice and suffering is necessary to get to the other side. It is often in these moments of discomfort that our spirit can be roused and our ego temporarily distracted. It might begin with short moments of "awareness of something different" inbetween much longer moments of "mind wanderings through the forest...." Could this be why Taiji is sometimes referred to as "moving meditation"? Being still and empty is challenging enough in a world that can easily distract us in so many ways, especially now with the pandemic chaos that has affected many people's lives in one way or another. Taiji is one of several practices that can help us navigate, or just accept being adrift, through the stormy waters. Often, the "fights" that we encounter in our lives are far more likely to be health related (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual), rather than a threatening physical engagement with another person. The training or preparation for such events is what motivates some students to learn, at least at the start of the journey. Later, other discoveries are made and people's lives are usually transformed in a positive way eventually, if they stick at it. Taiji requires us to work hard (gradually, in a sensitive way, not brutal or forceful), be patient (trying to be kind and helpful to ourselves and others) and persistent (trying to be consistent over time).
5:54 this is exactly why it is clear you have something to teach, if you did not, you could not approach it thus. love your videos. I dont practice Tai Chi as such (other than from your vids) but I do meditate a lot and you help me with that as much as Tai Chi so thank you
I wasn't prepared for this class popping up today...but there's also advantages in not being prepared for anything: you can get pleasantly surprised :D. Thank you!
14:20 This is something discussed in computer programming. If a variable has no value, setting it to 0 still means it's still a number. Setting that variable to be " " doesn't work either, because that's a word with zero letters. And if you want "", is still a word with zero letters and zero spaces. In this situation, a variable that is neither zero nor a word with zero letters is called "null". It is not even "nothing," more like non-existing
Mad surprised you mentioned Imaginary numbers/negative Roots/squares...was not expecting that (I have done a lot of Physics/Maths reading, that concept is something I have pondered a lot)
Hi I live in Australia but was born in Canada. Was thinking of making a trip back to meet you until COVID happened. All of your videos have been great. They have helped my Taichi practice here and there with different aspects. Regarding the standing form. You ever have any students who practice the standing posture diligently that find their energy levels and general health start having issues when they do this?
i've found that the tensions I've built up were caused by an inactivity of other muscle groups.. so my structure would have to contort and grab hold of things to keep itself upright. so to get to a relaxed, neutral position, I would have to let go of certain systems and figure out how to grab hold of others to create tensional harmony. it feels like i have to 'expand' and 'contract' everywhere at the same time and as I proportionately increase the intensity it's honing them towards a center line where maintaining the balance between them takes no effort and I can let go of the intensity. it feels like when the coordination is right, the effort is minimal and a slight change anywhere will send a cascading effect that can be felt everywhere and it's about total internal tension
I find myself having an unexpected laugh out loud at least once a episode with your videos 😊 Thank you for not taking yourself so seriously #HairsBreadth
What do you think about the Taichi posture cue 塌腰 collapsing / relaxing lower back? I was told to relax lower back and sit down so my lower back and buttocks muscles are loose. I did this on and off when i practise Chinese styles for years and the inward curve of my lumbar spine is now more flattened (retrololithesis), which corrupted my movement pattern making my lower back bear more stress and weight instead of glutes and hamstrings during squat and hip hinge patterns.
The mathematics we have uses the phenomenal universe as a reference frame, even though the numbers are sometimes imaginary and irrational. To view the phenomenal universe from a different reference frame requires a different kind of mathematics, in which such differentiation can be undefined, or inobservable. For a person be one with the unknowable and unnameable is to be cut the line between “before” and “after”, to view the phenomenal universe from the point of view of the non-differentiated. To be infinitely small is the same as being infinitely large, undefined by dimensions or differentiation. “Zero” is defined by what it is not. Wuji is not defined, except in how it is perceived by what is not it. Non-duality is the source of all duality, yet duality cannot perceive it.
The teacher is the standing, if you don't do it you don't get it... BUT ... I started to get it just by doing form and teaching push hands. Got weird, students started to bounce off me for no apparent reason during push hands. I was lucky enough to find a teacher that could explain that to me, his students threw me all over and I'm an experienced martial artist, it ain't standing per say but standing really helps that understanding (pun not intended) or really that letting go within structure and attention
Great great great!!! I have experienced what Mr. Sinclair described and emphasized. His teaching methodology is philosophical truth. As the most ancient book of philosophy "I Jing", where the Tia chi concept comes from, says do not go up to your students until they come down to you.
Your Franciscan friar story reminds me that I had one of them in my class when I used to teach Tai Chi years ago (only beginner level) and he was my best student. At first I thought it had to do with how good he was at paying attention but I came to believe it had more to do with his way of never being in conflict with anyone or anything, not even himself apparently.
I thought I was prepared then the video was taken down and I wasn’t prepared for that, now it’s back and I’m pleasantly surprised, which I hadn’t prepared for
All the more reason to practice!
@@yeaown8139 indeed
You have great insights into the practice of Taiji/Tai Chi which often make me question and reexamine my own practice. Thank you Ian Sinclair.
In recent months I've been doing some online lessons with teachers I met in the 90s, which is helping me in my own practice. I do benefit from "corrections" and being "pushed" to learn and practise new exercises to help with various aspects of Taiji.
A teacher can only give us guidance and help us develop our practice, some "drills" might be useful, others might not - I think it depends a bit on what the student may need to gradually help them progress and to what extent the teacher can connect with the student and vice versa. Obviously, a "drill sergeant" approach could be counterproductive, but some gentle encouragement through repetition of movements doesn't have to be delivered in a military style.
All students have different "starting points", the same applies to teachers. As we attempt to work together, hopefully some good connections and understandings can be developed and shared. As teachers, we can make a positive impact on someone's interest and motivation to discover more about Taiji for themselves. Ultimately, it's the individual, student and teacher alike, who must dedicate time to work on themselves through the practice of Taiji. This often presents challenges, both physical and emotional. It may or may not be easy to resolve or make breakthroughs, generally a certain amount of pain, sacrifice and suffering is necessary to get to the other side. It is often in these moments of discomfort that our spirit can be roused and our ego temporarily distracted. It might begin with short moments of "awareness of something different" inbetween much longer moments of "mind wanderings through the forest...." Could this be why Taiji is sometimes referred to as "moving meditation"? Being still and empty is challenging enough in a world that can easily distract us in so many ways, especially now with the pandemic chaos that has affected many people's lives in one way or another.
Taiji is one of several practices that can help us navigate, or just accept being adrift, through the stormy waters. Often, the "fights" that we encounter in our lives are far more likely to be health related (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual), rather than a threatening physical engagement with another person. The training or preparation for such events is what motivates some students to learn, at least at the start of the journey. Later, other discoveries are made and people's lives are usually transformed in a positive way eventually, if they stick at it. Taiji requires us to work hard (gradually, in a sensitive way, not brutal or forceful), be patient (trying to be kind and helpful to ourselves and others) and persistent (trying to be consistent over time).
5:54 this is exactly why it is clear you have something to teach, if you did not, you could not approach it thus. love your videos. I dont practice Tai Chi as such (other than from your vids) but I do meditate a lot and you help me with that as much as Tai Chi so thank you
I wasn't prepared for this class popping up today...but there's also advantages in not being prepared for anything: you can get pleasantly surprised :D. Thank you!
14:20 This is something discussed in computer programming. If a variable has no value, setting it to 0 still means it's still a number. Setting that variable to be " " doesn't work either, because that's a word with zero letters. And if you want "", is still a word with zero letters and zero spaces. In this situation, a variable that is neither zero nor a word with zero letters is called "null". It is not even "nothing," more like non-existing
I'm so glad you said this! I was thinking "You want 'null'!" for the duration of that explanation 😂👍
14:55 - This story hit me with personal profundity.
Thank you, Sir Ian 💝
I been waiting for your explanations ... Thank you ! You are appreciated !
"as the Zen Monk said to Euclid I don't see the point" very nice actually made me laugh there
Right?! 😂🙏
Mad surprised you mentioned Imaginary numbers/negative Roots/squares...was not expecting that (I have done a lot of Physics/Maths reading, that concept is something I have pondered a lot)
Hi I live in Australia but was born in Canada. Was thinking of making a trip back to meet you until COVID happened. All of your videos have been great. They have helped my Taichi practice here and there with different aspects. Regarding the standing form. You ever have any students who practice the standing posture diligently that find their energy levels and general health start having issues when they do this?
Ian, love your lesson, I watched half way of your video and my mind was so empty that I asleep. :-) Looking forward to more of your Tai Chi talk.
Glad you enjoyed it!
i've found that the tensions I've built up were caused by an inactivity of other muscle groups.. so my structure would have to contort and grab hold of things to keep itself upright. so to get to a relaxed, neutral position, I would have to let go of certain systems and figure out how to grab hold of others to create tensional harmony. it feels like i have to 'expand' and 'contract' everywhere at the same time and as I proportionately increase the intensity it's honing them towards a center line where maintaining the balance between them takes no effort and I can let go of the intensity. it feels like when the coordination is right, the effort is minimal and a slight change anywhere will send a cascading effect that can be felt everywhere and it's about total internal tension
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Ah. Yes. Them, too.
I find myself having an unexpected laugh out loud at least once a episode with your videos 😊
Thank you for not taking yourself so seriously #HairsBreadth
Glad you like them!
Brilliant!
What do you think about the Taichi posture cue 塌腰 collapsing / relaxing lower back? I was told to relax lower back and sit down so my lower back and buttocks muscles are loose. I did this on and off when i practise Chinese styles for years and the inward curve of my lumbar spine is now more flattened (retrololithesis), which corrupted my movement pattern making my lower back bear more stress and weight instead of glutes and hamstrings during squat and hip hinge patterns.
Great! An-mhaith at fad! 👍🏽
hahah I love your energy :D
Is infinity the number less than zero?
I know mathematically that's nonsese, but for the purpose of this concept, is that useful? Or also nonsense?
The mathematics we have uses the phenomenal universe as a reference frame, even though the numbers are sometimes imaginary and irrational. To view the phenomenal universe from a different reference frame requires a different kind of mathematics, in which such differentiation can be undefined, or inobservable. For a person be one with the unknowable and unnameable is to be cut the line between “before” and “after”, to view the phenomenal universe from the point of view of the non-differentiated. To be infinitely small is the same as being infinitely large, undefined by dimensions or differentiation. “Zero” is defined by what it is not. Wuji is not defined, except in how it is perceived by what is not it. Non-duality is the source of all duality, yet duality cannot perceive it.
@IanSinclair Thank you.
It's like overfitting mathematical models. You get something that fits the situation nicely but it loses it's ability to explain other situations :).
Mindset
ta
🤣