Between Heaven And Earth
Between heaven and earth, there exists a life force or energy, called chi, which is somewhat like steam to a steamboat. Chi serves to make things move or bounce. It is the chi that makes the tai chi movement light and nimble, change and grow. It is the chi that makes a person feel the sensational fulfillment in doing the exercise. With the absence of chi, there can be no tai chi chuan. Chi fills the universe. The universe is chi, thus it should surprise no one to learn that there is chi flowing through the human mind and body. The better the communication and harmonious oneness a person has with the universe, the more chi with which he is gifted.
Tai chi is an art of conserving chi. The secret of tai chi is to harmonize ourselves with the movement of the universe and bring ourselves into accord with the universe itself. Thus, tai chi is the work of giving life to all beings and not struggling or striving with each other.
- H. H. Lui
2 Comments:
Thanks to Barbara Alderson of Chico, California, for contributing this. It is the quote we used on the T-shirt produced in 1995 for the 16th Annual Tai Chi Friends Reunion in Fort Mason, San Francisco, California.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe "chi" means energy only. From Mr. Lui's quote, you can see that more is involved. It's a life force, an ocean current . We can choose to struggle against the current, or we can choose to swim with the current. We magnify and strengthen our own chi when we help others, and love others, and we harm ourselves when we harm others.
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