Greetings. Some rain today. Puts a damper on our outdoor practice, but our dry ground sure loves it. It is so Tai Chi like. Some elements are positive and some negative. We Tai Chi players learn to go with the flow.
Wu Chi to Tai Chi
The concept of Wu Chi to Tai Chi is paramount to understanding Taoism and Tai Chi Chuan. Wu Chi is the state of complete balance, nothing and everything, the all inclusive void. At some point the balance is shifted so that Yin and Yang are formed. In perfect balance Yin and Yang combine and only through imbalance do they appear. Our lives contain two movements. The first is the movement from nothing (birth) to something (maturity). This is the Yang phase of life the movement outward and upward. At the peak of our maturity, the Yin phase starts. We start our movement back down and in toward Wu Chi and our reuniting with the Tao. This is the natural way of the Universe, and mankind is part of nature. Observe nature and you can understand how things can be and are. Our Tai Chi form is a ritualistic dance that plays out this process. We start by standing in perfect balance Wu Chi stance. At some point a thought comes to us to set us into imbalance, and then starts the movement back and forth from Yin to Yang and Yang to Yin, until at some point, we return to Wu Chi and stillness. This is a wonderful opportunity to observe the birth of energy, experience the fullness of each movement, and prepare for death. Wu Chi to Tai Chi, Tai Chi to Wu Chi.