Taiji – An Art or A Science?

3^rd April 2012

Last night, during an usual Taiji training session, Master Chow emphasizes again that Taiji is very scientific, citing the continuous 'sparks' firing non-stop in our brain as we develop and increase the 'awareness' in our mind through constant practice of Taiji.

Master was demonstrating how a Taiji exponent should be sensing and reacting to his opponent in a 'pushing -hand' duel. That as the opponent exerts strength, one must reduce and vice versa. As one cannot continuously exert strength all the time, when the opponent relaxes, you will take over. Seize the moment when the opponent has reached the peak of exerting his strength and just when he starts to relax, that's when you must quickly react as quickly as possible to 'push' him off.

This exerting and relaxing cycle – Master calls it 'Positive and then Negative, then Positive, then Negative . . . '. This is not only Science, it is also Mathematics. It is the Binary system of 1,0 (One & Zero).

Master's most senior student Steven also added that as he is mindful of the positive and negative rhythm, he can even feel as if his brain expands on positive and contracts on negative thoughts.

Master also highlighted that this “1,0” sparks are constantly firing non-stop in our brain, keeping us actively thinking, mindful and developing awareness. This touched on Biology. Our brain constantly has electrical and magnetic activities non-stop – Physics.

Other examples brought out by Master Chow during Taiji lessons are:

• positioning our arms must always be circular, sometimes big circles, sometimes smaller circles – to generate 'Qi' flow on the one hand and in 'combat' – the magnetic field generated is a shield against attacks. In an attack, the point of greatest impact has to be sharp – a corner of a triangle – Mathematics & Physics.
• Taiji movements are always 'substantial' and 'insubstantial', ying & yang, positive & negative, action & reaction – Physics.
• By reacting to an on-coming attack, one way is to turn sideways, firmly on our own axis and at the same time making use of the opponent's force to spin him into a fall – Centripetal force vs Centrifugal force causing the opponent to spin off along a tangent from the point of release. (Physics & Mathematics).

There are many more evidences . . .

And therefore – I would state it as:

Taiji is an Art of Appreciating, Understanding and Applying Science and Mathematics.

Our great grand masters of Taiji understood all these so long ago and they put them into practical uses.