How I motivate myself to practise

It is said that when you have reached a certain level, you cannot stop practising, you do not need to overcome yourself to practise and nothing will distract you. The latter and the first holds true when it comes to my own practise. After years of practise, I am able to find a little spot in my mind where I can practise without being taken away from what I intend to do. NO matter whether it is at a noisy spot, tranquil beach, my lounge or even the Sydney Ferries, I can practise with a mind as clear as crystal.

Once I start practising, I develop a heavy warm sensation with at the same time a certain lightness to move and an attitude of a winning warrior. The release of the endorphine hormones certainly adds to this type of "addiction". My sometimes initial fatigueness, stress and headache is cured after just practising the form for half an hour. Many other medical conditions like positional vertigo(BPPV), a degenerative illness of the inner ear or high blood pressure have been cured within a time that doctors would not expect.

The other day I had a sudden sharp neckpain and really needed to force myself to practise. The standing meditation and reeling silk was bearable but I felt too sick and exhausted for the more challenging laojia yilu form. After telling myself over and over that practice was fun BUT necessary, I started my first round of laojia yilu. The second round felt a lot better and I began to feel an invisible warm substance crawling through my body. It felt like a little internal doctor and the pain was relieved without any pain killers. The same experience happened with minor stomach cramps, colds, muscle pain etc. Apart from this, I felt the feeling of being "high" as a sign that I have released the happy-maker hormone endorphine.

Yes, in the winter time I am less active which is normal due to less melatonin produced by the body. When I am too busy it comes to mind again:" Well, today I don't practise. Maybe tomorrow will do." On such days I really have to force myself to practise. Of course my teacher will tell me to practise but he is not always there.So in this case I need to find my own ways to motivate myself to practise.


Strategies how to keep yourself motivated:

1. Imagine how good you feel afterwards. But this is not enough. For my part, I need to visualize and memorize the feeling that I described above. This is a certain feeling of being powerful, some sort of a healing physical warmth that makes you feel like a human radiator despite cold winter. The form feels light like a cat and rooted like a tree at the same time. I feel like Halle Berry in Catwoman or Charlie's Angels defeating Demi Moore. There are times that I feel like villainess Demi Morre.

2. Thinking back of the victory of a warrior who just came back from the battlefield

3. A more practical way: Try to set a goal like teaching, a Tai Chi coach exam, a competition or demonstration at work. Even a little demo at a party would be a reasonable aim to work on. Write to a forum about your unique Tai Chi experience or start a blog.

These are just a few ideas when I feel the need to give myself a push. Practising in the mind like meditating, daydreaming and posture training while I am at the computer or on the plane have helped me to a great deal. Research has shown that those who need to complete a certain task would perform to a much higher degree when they have rehearsed everything the night before in their mindsI

Chen style for the health-compromised

There are many methods of teaching Tai CHi. Traditionally there are many teaching methods and these are very black and white. Just to mention how to memorize a form: My teachers have been traditionally taught how to observe their teacher, give up themselves and follow. It is by no means just monkey sees monkey does. After following my teacher for some time, I experienced somethng in my body had changed. Apart from the movements I also felt that I started to feel without seeing. My awareness increased, I sensed mistakes and could correct them nearly instantly. I sensed my center of gravity, whether the body is balanced or not, how rooted or uprooted I am, what application the movement is all about........I was able to listen into my own body.

When a newcomer comes to the class, h/she is urged to follow the group and do the form, right or wrong. The teacher emphasized that one does not see oneself. If we focus too much on what is wrong, it will result in unnecessary tension. The newcomer can copy the movements as well as s/he can; the more advanced will get different information for their level. Subconsciously the beginner will imbibe the advanced information as well. After the plenary session with the group, the large group is split up into smaller groups. The beginners or those who do not practise will always be taught a new movement without slowing down the more advanced.

A person with limitation and critical medical conditions is very often unable to lead a normal life. These people may need a special class and attention. It depends on the sensitivity of the teacher how much this group of students is prepared to learn the form or just to enjoy social interaction and some exercise.

Chen style is the oldest style and the origin of all other styles. Most Chen style forms are athletic, characterized by low stances, jumps, stomps, obvious martial movements, fast and slow intermixed. However, the main characteristic for Chen style is not the above mentioned outer appearance but sophisticated spiral force or reeling silk.

The reeling silk qi gong and short forms are an excellent way for the less athletic practitioner to obtain the very high health benefits. The muscles and tendons are stretched well by the joint rotation caused by spiral movements. Apart from this, the inner organs like the heart or intestines receive a gentle massage through the twisting and uncoiling movements. The body is squeezed like a sponge which results in better lymph drainage.

A good teacher who has a certain sensitivity for the students will be able to teach the students with physical limitations. It is important that the teacher works in cooperation with doctors and physical therapists. A medical training would be ideal but it is not really necessary.

Should a teacher correct too much?

A modern teacher in the West usually adjust somebody's posture at will. A traditional teacher, however, gives very little corrections. What my teacher did to me was: He modelled my body like clay and I instantly felt that it was the right posture. Sometimes it can be somewhat painful, especially when it is a low posture.

I remember when my "dragon on the ground" Chen style was corrected, I felt some discomfort but my whole strength was in the lower body and there was a clear difference between heavy and light leg.

My teacher would look at me and test my posture. For Jin Kang Dao Dui(Buddha's Warrior Pounding Mortar) he said I would stamp too hard with downward force. "This is a kick to the ground and you should use the leg as a lead to discharge power." he said. He let me perform a normal kick with downward force and of course it did not work

"Observe me and you will see the mistakes yourself. If you don't see them, it makes no sense for me to correct." I had to learn how to feel the mistakes and correct them myself, because my teacher is not with me all the time.

He shows several martial arts applications to let me feel myself why my movement is wrong. This way it will be engraved in my mind. It would not be the case when he corrected me verbally and at will, critical and patronizing..........

Why?

Why does my back hurt? Very likely I have been leaning backwards, my lower back tensed up and carried my body weight instead of the legs. My mind should be the boss and tell my body to stand upright. When I relax and flex my hips, I would feel strength in the legs.

Why do they call it abdominal breathing? The chief breathing muscle is the diaphragm and abdominal muscles support it. So the belly will bulge forward when we breathe deeply.

The lattisimus dorsi(back muscle or lats) supports breathing out, it is also called the "cough muscle". The back hurts when you have a dry persisting cough.

Sometimes we can feel our teacher's back to get an idea of good breathing.
When we use all these muscles correctly and our posture is right, we will naturally use our legs to carry our weight