Last night at class we started with a little push hands practice which lead us to spending about half of our time discussing taiji vs taijiquan as well as how to use what we learn in class out in the "real" world.

For those who don't know, taijiquan is the martial art that we play, while taiji is a philosophy or way of perceiving the universe. Two totally different things, yet together they form a whole. 

Taijiquan can be thought of as the gross physical interactions of life while taiji equates to the more subtle interactions of mind and thought.

Taiji teaches us to think differently which will of course translate into acting differently. An example we talked about is when we truly learn that we don't have to engage in conflict... then we won't. It is simple, it is profound and it can be hard... at first.

We also talked about how we strive to look at the world with an open mind and allow any differences of opinion or participation to play out, rather than trying to force a commonality. 

Keep training and playing!

Rod

PS - Kyusho training is this Friday! :)