About partner work
Partnerwork is a natural thing.
The whole universe is programmed in such a way that
two natural partners, Yin and Yang, exchange their essence.
Yin and Yang exchange always their essence.
Nature is partnership in all silence.
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In nature there are no solitary, free living creatures.
Every form of life is dependent on other forms.
This natural law, obvious as it is, is ignored by most humans.
The human tendency to focus on only one side of an issue brought
western civilisation into a permanent state of worship.
Today, we are living in a permanent Yang state of 'global warming'.
Without a full and clear understanding
of the universal concept of Yin and Yang
the true meaning of Tai Chi partnerwork will be lost.
Because Yin and Yang are always conflicting
yet balancing each other,
Tai Chi players become part of the universe.
An internal martial artist has a lot of physical
and mental partner work to do.
It is not potential danger that causes anxiety,
it is the feeling that we are without defenses
in the presence of what we see as danger that causes anxiety.
A martial application is partnership in silence.
Photo : Hugolorent
Nature is partnership in complete silence.
Humans are part of Nature.
We are not natural partners on a spiritual journey.
Photo : Hugolorent
We are spiritual partners on a natural journey.
Partnerwork is very important insofar it leads us towards a deeper understanding of ourselves. First we must learn to
control ourselves, the rest follows. The whole martial bazaar covered by colors, aromas and flavors, martial forms,
applications, are only important insofar as they lead us towards a deeper understanding of ourselves. Otherwise they are
irrelevant. Partnerwork will lead us towards ourselves.
We are one, the same.
Photo : Hugolorent
In reality there are no partners.
By understanding ourselves we understand our partners.
By understanding ourselves we understand our partners.
"When the heart is right, "for" and "against" are forgotten.”
"Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free:
Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”
Tswang Tse (Chuang Tse or Zhuangzi)
About sensing hands -pushing hands :
We know that fine movements of the hand depend on activity in areas of the opposite hemisphere of the brain.
Right-hand movements depend critically on the left hemisphere, and left-hand movements depend on the right hemisphere.
Whether you are a woman or a man also determines how your brain looks and works. Before going too deeply into that, we can
learn some lessons here.
Sensing hands : the peng-hand should be the yin feeler, the antenna. With an open, soft and empty mind we can feel a lot
about/from the intentions of our partners. That's the reason why in the internal martial applications a soft yin and empty
mind is as important, we need to be sensitive. A perfect application can only be given in an intuition, while all the rest
has to do with analysis. In all of internal martial arts the only valuable thing is not analysis but intuition. Therefore
we need to master "the Chinese art of ting-tong-nien-hua-and fa". We need to use our female open and empty mind, but when
attacking we need to use our male reptilian brain. Our basic reptilian brain is our "static power brain", and our female
brain is the "dynamic sensitive brain". It's a flexible brain in a dynamic state of change and communication (men tend to
compartmentalize their communication, getting right to the issue).
A perfect internal martial application must be the perfect harmonic yin-yang partnerwork of both hemispheres of the brain.
Partnerwork:
'Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment'.
Lao Tse
There is a difference between knowing and understanding.
We can know a lot about ourselves and not really understand ourselves.
We can know a lot about our partners and not really understand them.
In Tai Chi Chuan there is a difference between Ting and Tong.
'Ting' = partner contact, knowing.
'Tong' = understanding what we know.
'Nien' = deeper understandig, deeper knowing.
Never stop testing.
The true test of mastership is the ability to recognize problems
before they become an emergency,
to recognize the mistake, admit it and correct it
Testing each other has no room for moralism.
There is no room for sentiments, feelings, discussions or analysis.
It 's naive to think that we can change our partners.
We can change ourselves by doing the right thing.
By doing the right thing we may never know what results come from us.
Where there is love and understanding there is freedom,
I dont think we can go wrong.
Going wrong?
There is nothing wrong with you.
Martial Taijiquan: sticking hands.
Partner work is never done without errors and defeat.
Errors bring new experiences, new sensivities and flexibility.
To test is to change and to exchange. To test is to mature.
We regard Tai Chi partnerwork also as a stress management.
It is essential to remain calm when faced with extreme,
dangerous or normal situations.
Self defence training is perhaps the best form of stress management.
If we are filled with anger and bitterness, what we do, what we say,
we create more anger and suffering for ourselves and for others.
That's why all great martial artists do not want to say or to do anything
while anger is still there.
It is far more impressive when others
discover your qualities without your help.
If they are finding it too difficult, try to gently help them.
If they are finding it too easy, try to gently challenge them.
Without a full and clear understanding of the universal concept
of Yin and Yang, the true meaning of Tai Chi partner work will be lost.
Tai chi competition is a strange thing.
I know many people who are very good at martial arts.
No great martial artist I know will say:" I am the second best".
Mostly they think they are the best.
Even if they are good at what they do, they create a lot of unnecessary conflicts.
It's better to be the second best.
Words as: 'the greatest or the best' are 'too great or 'too good' for simple human beings.
Tai Chi world championships are strange things.
Very funny.
Partner work offers you a mirror that tells what sort of person you are
in relationship with someone else.
Work with your partners, not against them.
If they are finding it too difficult, try to gently help them,
if they are finding it to easy, try to gently challenge them.
Life is not the survival of the best.
Tai chi partner work is a physical dialogue:
1.Be formal, respect the process by setting out rules, things you will not do.
2.Focus on feelings/issues/movements not the individuals.
3.Be patient, search within yourself and be honest.
4.Determine what is the problem and what is your role in the problem. Rephrase what you hear your partners say so that they know you are on the same page.
Use words that promote peace, not words that inflame.
You are trying to solve a problem, not create one.
Yin and Yang exchange always their essence.
We cannot let another person into our body, into our heart,
into our mind unless we empty ourselves.
We can truly listen to him or truly hear her only out of emptiness.
Sticky hands:
Every empty yin can sense every hard yang.
But a hard yang can never sense a soft empty yin.
For self defence you need to be sensitive.
When to do what?
A perfect application can only be given in an intuitive state of mind*.
Sensitivity training helps to build confidence in doing just that.
*In nine lifetimes I'll never know as much about my cat as my cat knows about me.
Courage is mastery of fear. To live with fear
and not be afraid is the final test of mature partner work.
Each time we face our fear, we gain strenght, courage
and confidence in the doing.
'Full hard yang' against 'Soft empty yin'.
Partnerwork entails risks.
Don't wait until everything and everyone is perfect.
It will never be perfect.
Learning the game
It is not whether we win or lose, it's how we play the game.
Play well, it will never be perfect.
What matters isn't how well we play when we play well,
what matters is how well we play when we are playing badly.
Let me win
But if I cannot win.
Let me be brave in the attempt.
(Special Olympics)
Tai Chi Classics: About partner work;
Your body's sensitivity should be such that you are aware
of the tiniest feather brushing against your skin.
Even a mosquito finds no place to land on you
without causing you to move.
Those who use force soon exhaust themselves.
And what can be accomplished with exhaustion and struggle?
Lao Tse
"It 's not murders that kill us, it's the way we work with our partners,
the way we think, meet, touch, look, move, talk and laugh,
eat, hang around, run and drive our cars".
"Safety is your priority number one, be careful and protect your garden".
Chinese proverb.
Aggression, that is not an option.
"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be,
since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be".
Thomas a Kempis.
Internal martial artists are partners on a journey
Nature is partnership in all silence. In nature there are no solitary, free living creatures, every form of life is
dependent on other forms. It is partnership trough which partners recognize their dependence on each other, together
nothing is impossible. Real partnership inspires the other and brings fruition to both.
Humans are not equal, accept the fact that one of the two partners always bites the best part of the apple. Equality
has no partner, there is no partnership among equals because equality doesn't exist in the universe. Either one
prevails and the other follows, or both negotiate their differences and create a greater partnership. In martial Tai Chi
Chuan you'll never find a better partner than adversity. Try to work with your partner as a partner, when you have the
choice to be right, or to be kind, choose kind. Nothing can hurt you unless you give it the power to do so. The purpose
of partnership is not to have another who might complete you, but to find another with whom you might share your
completeness. You must begin to trust yourself. If you do not, then you will be looking to your partner to prove your
own merit to you. You will be asking your partner what to do and at the same time resisting those from whom you seek
such aid. Lack of self-worth is the fundamental source of all emotional pain, a feeling of insecurity, unworthiness and
lack of value is the core experience of powerlessness.
Internal martial artists are partners on a journey of physical and spiritual growth. When partners want to make the journey,
they laugh a lot and their trust keeps them together. They don't look with the eyes but with the mind. If you like someone,
tell them, but sometimes you have to be silent to be appreciated. What angers us in our partner is often an
unhealed aspect of ourseves. Well then, your partner is a mirror and simultaneously you are a mirror. Everyone we meet is
a mirror. All people in our lives are really mirrors; a loving person lives in a loving world, a hostile person lives in
a hostile world. Everything that irritates you about your partner can lead you to an understanding of yourself.
Be honest, false partnership is a strange thing. False partnership demands that we give, and give, and give and in the end,
as we flop into our graves exhausted, we are told that we didn't give enough. The worst thing we can possibly do is
worry about what we could have done.