Given the relativity of the terms, this may be curious to quantify.
Ive practiced with and observed many different practitioners and teachers with diverse pacing of their practice & movement.
Some people who practice with what i feel to be rather faster movement have said they feel it helps keep their chi moving and not stagnate or become overly "cautious".
While some tend to often practice with a much slower pace of movement.
Likely i tend to fall more into this latter category at least relative to most of what I've seen others teach & practice. My own feeling is whatever floats ones own chi boat so to speak is likely what is good for us and others.
Yet I remember someone commenting about a slower pace as being too "cautious", which seemed silly at the least to me. Then again i guess its all relative, as I had attended a couple classes of that person and his teacher out of curiosity about how people teach and practice, and to me the way they practiced seemed fast and jerky to the point of careless and coarse. And generally felt to be fueled in part by a nonstop chattering mind as they tend to talk nonstop throughout the whole session.
Rather than simply being, feeling and doing.
If it was fine for them and they were happy enough to practice like that its none of my business as far as im concerned. Aside from choosing how i practice and who I continue to practice & learn with.
I respect that some people enjoy that. And can appreciate a certain mental playfulness in that approach as well. Although I certainly feel playful, deeply nourished & sometimes move at a faster pace for a change of energy in my practice, minus talking and constant speedy / rushing nature.
Moving slowly is not simply about moving slowly for its own sake, but also ( can ) come naturally from a meditative quiet, feeling the relaxed yet alive state, really sinking and expanding simultaneously which is also facilited by focused standing post meditation.
Even a tiny movement becomes more acutely felt from this place of deeply quiet embodiment. And the slowness once more obviously moving the body through various movements naturally emerges from a place of deep "ecstacy", as one of my teachers has often described it. Which feels like a very apt description to me.
And the slower we can mindfully move in an alively embodied way, the more subtly and fully refined, coordinated and full of quality qi & awareness fills our being. At least this is my experience.
Also in moving more slowly, the deeper energetic blockages, mind noise and impulsiveness can be more deeply attuned to & transformed. Whereas subtle awareness can be more readily drowned out in faster, coarser movement simply by being too fast to really feel & open with a quieter in the moment awareness that is not rushing to get anywhere. As we are already where we need to be in this moment.
While I enjoy sometimes playing with faster spontaneous movement, in addition to relatively slower spontaneous movement, the overall feeling of slower mindful movement tends to feel much richer, refined, coordinated, deep & subtley quiet / calm in terms of equilibrium to me.
Feels to relate to the nutritive yin foundation that is the primary base or foundation in chinese medicine theory for our energy, from which activity is built from. The more we nourish and build this energy in a refined, quality way the more real energy is available for our living, awareness and wellbeing. Daily living for most of us in cities, with the many demands, time and enviornmental stressors tends to continually potentially drain the yin energy while keeping the mind overactiviated and the yang energy in the forefront.
Of course how we choose to relate to all we experience is our choice.
Sometimes quick, alive movement is simply an expression of being in the moment too. Most of life is like this it seems. Fast, rushing to get to the next thing, the next movement, to do do do do .... While we can move quickly like a cat with a quiet mind, for cultivation practices moving even slower when done with a deeply expanding awareness can assist refining and nurturing quality, subtle & deeply rooted yet expansive energy, integration even more.
Often a welcome balance to the pace of most modern life activity.
How do you gauge your comfort, equilibrium and increasing sensitivity to sublte energy, refined movement and embodiment?
Ive practiced with and observed many different practitioners and teachers with diverse pacing of their practice & movement.
Some people who practice with what i feel to be rather faster movement have said they feel it helps keep their chi moving and not stagnate or become overly "cautious".
While some tend to often practice with a much slower pace of movement.
Likely i tend to fall more into this latter category at least relative to most of what I've seen others teach & practice. My own feeling is whatever floats ones own chi boat so to speak is likely what is good for us and others.
Yet I remember someone commenting about a slower pace as being too "cautious", which seemed silly at the least to me. Then again i guess its all relative, as I had attended a couple classes of that person and his teacher out of curiosity about how people teach and practice, and to me the way they practiced seemed fast and jerky to the point of careless and coarse. And generally felt to be fueled in part by a nonstop chattering mind as they tend to talk nonstop throughout the whole session.
Rather than simply being, feeling and doing.
If it was fine for them and they were happy enough to practice like that its none of my business as far as im concerned. Aside from choosing how i practice and who I continue to practice & learn with.
I respect that some people enjoy that. And can appreciate a certain mental playfulness in that approach as well. Although I certainly feel playful, deeply nourished & sometimes move at a faster pace for a change of energy in my practice, minus talking and constant speedy / rushing nature.
Moving slowly is not simply about moving slowly for its own sake, but also ( can ) come naturally from a meditative quiet, feeling the relaxed yet alive state, really sinking and expanding simultaneously which is also facilited by focused standing post meditation.
Even a tiny movement becomes more acutely felt from this place of deeply quiet embodiment. And the slowness once more obviously moving the body through various movements naturally emerges from a place of deep "ecstacy", as one of my teachers has often described it. Which feels like a very apt description to me.
And the slower we can mindfully move in an alively embodied way, the more subtly and fully refined, coordinated and full of quality qi & awareness fills our being. At least this is my experience.
Also in moving more slowly, the deeper energetic blockages, mind noise and impulsiveness can be more deeply attuned to & transformed. Whereas subtle awareness can be more readily drowned out in faster, coarser movement simply by being too fast to really feel & open with a quieter in the moment awareness that is not rushing to get anywhere. As we are already where we need to be in this moment.
While I enjoy sometimes playing with faster spontaneous movement, in addition to relatively slower spontaneous movement, the overall feeling of slower mindful movement tends to feel much richer, refined, coordinated, deep & subtley quiet / calm in terms of equilibrium to me.
Feels to relate to the nutritive yin foundation that is the primary base or foundation in chinese medicine theory for our energy, from which activity is built from. The more we nourish and build this energy in a refined, quality way the more real energy is available for our living, awareness and wellbeing. Daily living for most of us in cities, with the many demands, time and enviornmental stressors tends to continually potentially drain the yin energy while keeping the mind overactiviated and the yang energy in the forefront.
Of course how we choose to relate to all we experience is our choice.
Sometimes quick, alive movement is simply an expression of being in the moment too. Most of life is like this it seems. Fast, rushing to get to the next thing, the next movement, to do do do do .... While we can move quickly like a cat with a quiet mind, for cultivation practices moving even slower when done with a deeply expanding awareness can assist refining and nurturing quality, subtle & deeply rooted yet expansive energy, integration even more.
Often a welcome balance to the pace of most modern life activity.
How do you gauge your comfort, equilibrium and increasing sensitivity to sublte energy, refined movement and embodiment?
posted by:
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SF Bay Area
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Re: Tempo & pace of practice. Slow or quicker movement tendencies for cultivation...
Fri, February 29, 2008 - 10:39 AMI've had experience studying with a number of different teachers. The only one who said that Tai Chi should be practiced at a normal pace was Kuo Lien Ying of the Guang Ping Tai Chi style. But then Kuo emphasized standing post as the most important practice. I'm studying now with a Tai Chi school which emphasizes deep connection/relaxation thru the hip track in all phases. To achieve this at any level, it's really necessary to relax deeply into structure and definitely helps to move slowly. Although I find that the slower the movement/pace/tempo, the more difficult it is to keep the mingmen open and lots of internal adjustments are necessary. So that's my take on it. It's more about adhering to the principles that a focus on pace. -
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Re: Tempo & pace of practice. Slow or quicker movement tendencies for cultivation...
Sat, March 1, 2008 - 9:31 PMI found that in taiji training eventually my body just wanted to start manifesting jin and moving more quickly. I've also learned fast forms in the Yang style, and faster moves from the Chen.
It is my feeling that these 'internal' arts cover the entire spectrum from meditation and personal healing to extremely effective fighting arts - and the traditional practices reflect this - from slow to fast, gentle to powerful.
I personally don't think it's a great Idea to start with speedy practice, thereby missing out on all that alignment and qi sensation - but, when it's time, it's a natural progression of practice. -
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Re: Tempo & pace of practice. Slow or quicker movement tendencies for cultivation...
Sun, March 2, 2008 - 4:06 PMYes, as a supplemental way of training, I agree moving faster sometimes can be very beneficial as integrating different tempos and energies.
Its useful to be able to learn to integrate the principles during faster moving energy as well as during slower movement and stillness.
Moving fast all the time, regardless of how much we have developed our variously defined energies, though seems to be less optimum than still training in very mindful, slower & alive movement for the many benefits such training can provide which moving faster will be less suited to developing, eternally refining and nurturing. Aside from physical alignments alone, moving mindfully slower at whatever level we have developed ourbeings can still be useful in continuing to regeneratively nurture through actual embodiment and practicing, being fully in the present moment without rushing or grasping nature, feeling fully & sensitively, moving in a unified manner which can become eternally progressively more and more refined. -
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Re: Tempo & pace of practice. Slow or quicker movement tendencies for cultivation...
Thu, March 13, 2008 - 12:03 AMUltimately however we feel nurtured and fulfilled by practicing for ourselves is all that matters in our own practice.
There are so many unique systems, forms, orientations, perspectives and freedom to create based on our own understanding & creative embodiment of core principles, to meet desires and needs of different people.
For those who integrate "faster" practice into your practice, do you tend to focus on practicing at faster speeds using only specific form sequences or also spontaneous movement based on principles?
When using implements like swords, broadsword, etc does faster movement tend to be predominant or some blend in such practice for you?
i tend to do a bit of both slower and more spritely, quicker movement with the straight sword.
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