Hello everyone,

I would like to share with you Russ Mason's reply
below regarding my questions on how does physical
exercises relate (and benefit, if any) to the internal
arts. I met Russ in Taipei last November through Dan
Emerick. He is an extremely intelligent and warm
person who has been a student of CMC Tai Chi for over
20 years.

Hi Rick,

Regarding your questions about exercise, I think that,
for the most part the concepts "internal" and
"external" refer to approaches, not activities. I
think I shared with you that I heard Ben Lo's response
to a guy's question about weight lifting. Ben didn't
tell him to stop the activity. Instead, he asked HOW
the guy lifted weights. Ben said that, whatever
activity we engage in, we should try to do it softly
and in accordance with the principles of T'ai Chi.
Don't tense muscles unnecessarily.

In the T'ai Chi community, there are a lot of
different attitudes about supplemental exercises.
Most martial arts people have systems of supplemental
exercises, and basic training is considered an
essential part of most martial arts curricula.
Professor Cheng was extremely unusual in his
insistence to Mr. Smith that auxiliary exercises were
unnecessary. But take that in context! Professor
Cheng had practiced all kinds of ch'i kung, nei kung,
sitting mediation, and other exercises. He practiced
the whole Yang family curriculum, including weapons
training, stake standing, and heavy pushing hands
practice. And he had also traveled extensively
throughout China on foot.

In our modern context it is easy to forget that the
lifestyle of the old Chinese masters required constant
physical activity and many miles of walking everyday.
Mr. Smith wrote of a caravan guard who constantly
practiced his Hsing-i forms, moving first backwards
(away from the direction the caravan was traveling)
and then forwards, catching up with the caravan,
thereby working twice as hard (covering twice as much
ground) as the horses. Many of the old-time boxers
were farmers who did all of their tasks by means of
physical labor--no machinery, no
cars/buses/trains/indoor-plumbing/electricity/etc.
This was true in the Chen Family villiage until very
recently. Everywhere they went, they walked.
Everything that was done was either done directly in
indirectly (e.g., winnowing grain, plowing with an ox)
by manual effort. And within the context of this
simple, farming lifestyle, Yang Lu-chan was a servant
(i.e., he did additional manual labor)! Ever tried
carrying buckets filled with water around?

Professor Cheng (according to Mr. Liu) often used the
image of plowing as a metaphor for the feeling of a
rooted stance (see New Method), "planting straight
downward." The farmer stepped onto the plow blade
with one idea, resting all of his weight straight
down, as the ox provided forward motive power. My
point is that people who live in non-mechanized,
agricultural societies get lots of aerobic exercise
and physical conditioning in their daily activities.
Those who developed T'ai Chi Ch'uan did, too, and this
enhanced rather than impinged upon their skills. Look
at weapons training--especially long weapons like pole
and spear! This form of training provides both
aerobic and weight lifting training. The point is to
relax and use whole-body energy, allowing the mind to
lead the ch'i and the body to develop that soft
whipping "chin" energy.

I just heard a T'ai Chi teacher from Shanghai talking
about a truck driver that he met who was what he
called a "natural master of T'ai Chi principles."
This guy (a thin Chinese of small stature) drove a big
truck (with no power steering) and had to use his
whole body to turn the wheel and operate the controls.
He had developed a natural, relaxed, whole-body
energy style of doing his daily labor that was in
accordance with T'ai Chi principles, even though he
didn't practice the martial art.

I would suggest that, whatever we do in all of our
daily activities, we should try to follow the
principles of T'ai Chi. That is real "internal"
practice.

That's my two-bits! What do you think?

Best regards,
Russ






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