Practice Tai Chi: 'A Journey Worth Taking' – Experience the Aesthetic Beauty of Tai Chi
Upon waking, people rise with the dawn to begin their morning exercises. As we ascend the stone steps of the memorial tower, our mood is particularly joyful and refreshing. On the platform, those practicing qigong wear flowing qigong suits, and a relaxed and elegant atmosphere naturally emerges.
I am grateful that I started with the correct qigong philosophy. It was the combination of Tai Chi with life that not only brought my body into 'Tai Chi' but also rewarded me with 'Tai Chi' in spirit! That serene and Confucian-like demeanor, soothing and elegant movements, made one feel cleansed of worldly concerns and anxieties, creating a sense of tranquility, stillness, and composure.
Practicing Tai Chi by the River is a way of life; practicing in the drizzling rain is a sense of 'Heaven, Humanity, and One's own composure; practicing in snowy weather integrates the icy purity of jade; practicing on allows one to feel vastness and momentum; practicing on feels like a journey to the distant and archaic; and practicing at all the city's high points on the memorial tower attempts to reach a state of sublimation with the sun and moon.
Tai Chi is not only able to strengthen the body and cultivate sentiments, but also in the cultivation of Tai Chi, I learned how to be a person, how to cultivate and maintain my health, and how to 'experience strength through softness'; 'move in circles to embrace propriety'; 'seek balance between void and reality'; 'find and lose through inhalation and exhalation'. Thus, life for me was no longer haphazard and slack, nor was it directly complex and fragile…
Gradually, I gained a lifestyle from Tai Chi: clear-mindedness, simplicity, rhythm, and tranquility; and a lifestyle concept: composure, generosity, and moderation; in countless inhalations and exhalations, in (bowing and kowtowing to heaven and earth) and (softening and transforming) , I resolved contradictions and released emotional burdens, achieving a sense of emptiness and transcendence.
Learning Tai Chi has its joys and hardships, especially learning (Chen style Tai Chi), every move and stance must be watched dozens of times before it is learned, sweating profusely and exhausted; but every day walking to the memorial tower practice field, closing our eyes and breathing, relaxing the whole body, feeling like a ball rolling, spinning, with hands resembling two dragons moving with martial arts posture, that sense of presence is refreshing and indescribable!
Tai Chi is practiced when the movements are both soft and firm, when yin and yang are integrated, that's when one truly understands 'mastery'. At 'mastery', the specific moves are no longer constrained by tradition; that's the stage of 'forgetting form'.
'Mastery' is a truly profound expression and feeling of Tai Chi. Lao Tzu said, 'The Great Way is nameless, the Great Way is like water'. This is the most profound depiction of Tai Chi.
Whenever we are engrossed in practicing Tai Chi, we feel as if we are traveling through the heavens and earth, swimming in the air, and enjoying it immensely, with a feeling of smooth blood flow, flexible bones, and vibrant energy.
'Not elated by external things, not saddened by personal affairs' is a theory of detachment and humility; 'Great joy and great sorrow' is a genuine expression of one's own feelings. These two vastly different outlooks on life lead to significant differences in personal preferences, and each person's belief is formed by their innate or acquired environment and experiences.
But no matter what, life must 'not be wasted'; one must not waste time or squander years.
