Friday 24 April 2020

Physical, Psychological and Spiritual Training...

A student's role in the first stage is to watch the teacher carefully and try to replicate what they see.
Asian arts, whether martial or cultural, typically go through a process of training and discipline that lead to three levels of mastery: physical, psychological and spiritual.

Physical Mastery - The first stage is where the foundations are laid. Foundations that, depending upon their depth and integrity, will determine the ultimate height a person can reach in their practice. In Taijiquan, on the physical level mastery of form is the bottom line requirement of training. By form we’re talking about the development of correct postural integrity and movement patterns, rather than the memorising and collecting of multiple routines. Whether the discipline being trained is Taijiquan, Karate, calligraphy or tea ceremony, the traditional way of passing on skill is highly structured. Teachers serve to provide a model form. A student’s role is to watch the teacher’s every movement carefully and then try their best to replicate it. Through almost endless repetition the physical forms will eventually be internalised. In the words of Buddhist scholar and Aikido master, the late Taitetsu Unno (1929-2014): “Words are seldom spoken and explanations are rare; the burden of learning is on the student.”  Learners who have never trained with traditional teachers often rail against the idea of training without being allowed to discuss and talk about every movement they are asked to do. But it is important, as the great philosopher Confucius said, “…not to mistake eloquence for substance.”
The foundation laid down in the first stage is solid ground we can push off from, a root from which real skill can develop. Students who are stuck in their own minds either through ego or a lack of confidence in the method never get to lay down the necessary base. In his treatise Cultivating the Dao, Daoist master Liu Yiming (1734-1821) explained: “Foundations” means having an actual ground, a root. People do not succeed in attaining the Dao because of their egoism and selfhood… When there are egoism and selfhood, you are filled with a selfish mind and cannot walk on an actual ground… a hundred obstacles obstruct the way, at every step you find obstacles and hindrances and in every pursuit you get stuck in the mud… Our ancestral masters taught that one should first of all lay the foundations for refining oneself. This is because they wanted us to perform the whole practice from an actual ground, in order to rise from what is below to what is above, and to reach the deep from the shallow using the operation of gradual progress.”

In this first stage then, the criteria are precise, stringent and progressive. Taijiquan students have been passed down a systematic map of a training process that must be deeply embedded.
Psychological Mastery
Eventually and paradoxically the learner is freed from the constraints of the form through mastery of it. Accepting and committing to follow a repetitive and little-changing training routine for an extended time inevitably leads to certain internal psychological changes. Remembering the time he spent with his own teacher, Taijiquan master Zhu Tiancai said: “These fourteen years consisted of repetitively training the principles of Taijiquan. Training in this way can often be monotonous and grinding and you come to realise the path is long and there is no end point.” It is this very monotony and grind that examines the student’s commitment and willpower, while simultaneously tempering the character. By falling in line with the process, they become calmer and stoic and accepting of the requirements of the task at hand. Imperceptibly, from the earliest stages of training, negative traits such as impatience, stubbornness and pridefulness are polished away.
  
As time passes this consistent training rids the body and mind of bad habits, and bit by bit a practitioner’s real strength, character and potential begin to emerge.
 
Real confidence and self-belief are key differentiating factors between a successful or unsuccessful outcome when facing a strong opponent. It can be tempting to suppose that the high level of self-belief demonstrated by top class practitioners is something they are born with. For sure every individual is different and some seem more confident than others from an early age. But often it is a trait that has developed over years as a person senses their increased physical and technical capabilities. The words of fourteenth generation Chen Taijiquan master Chen Changxing leave no doubt about the importance of balancing physical and psychological aspects: “To get the upper hand in fighting, look around and examine the shape of the ground. Hands must be fast, feet light. Examine the opponent’s movements like a cat. Mind must be organised and clear… If hands arrive and body also arrives [at the same time], then destroying an enemy is like crushing a weed.”  

Spiritual Mastery
Spiritual mastery is inseparable from psychological mastery but is only set in motion after an intensive and lengthy period of training. Speaking of the different levels of progression in Taijiquan Chen Xiaoxing explained: “Taijiquan can be considered in three stages. In the first stage, the aim of training is predominantly for improving physical fitness. In the intermediate stage, the purpose is for developing the ability to attack and defend. At the highest level, the main emphasis of practice is self-cultivation.” At the heart of this self-cultivation is a search for naturalness and spontaneity, leaving behind predetermined responses and being able to respond exactly as required. Physical skills have been honed to the highest possible degree and, reaching this level, an individual trusts their responses completely. This free expression of one’s capabilities is only possible when the ego has been subsumed. Mistakes come when we over-think or hesitate.  Taitetsu Unno also said: “One becomes vulnerable when one stops to think about winning, losing, taking advantage, impressing or disregarding the opponent. When the mind stops, even for a single instant, the body freezes, and free, fluid movement is lost… Ultimately, physical, psychological and spiritual mastery are one and the same.”
 
Chenjiagou Chen Family Temple image - naturally and spontaneously responding as the situation demands...
 
 

 

 

 

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