Master Tse’s Taiji Fist #6

Benefits of Taijiquan – 2: Philosophy

The second benefit of practicing Taijiquan is you will start to understand philosophy. The more we practice the more we start to see things differently. For example we will understand that we do not need to rush to do things. This is because our Taijiquan practice is slow and we understand it is better to get it right because then we will get benefits. In Taijiquan training there is a standing meditation we call Zhan Zhuang 站樁 where we stand still with their hands as if we are holding a circle. From the outside it looks like we are doing nothing, but when you do it you will feel calmer and you can feel the Qi flowing internally. After 10 or 15 minutes your mind will be very calm and your energy will start to become stronger.

When you have been standing for long enough you will see things differently and start to let go of many things, you will realise you do not need to chase material things, you can just be yourself and there is no competition. It is true, the more we practice Taijiquan the more we discover things about ourselves that we do not usually notice. We will feel things internally, we will start to understand balance and Qi, and healing without medicine. The principle of Yin and Yang 陰陽, the understanding that everything has two sides will become clearer to us. Then we will see that life is not about trying to be the best or number one. Life is about feeling good and enjoying our lives and having good health.

Michael Tse