Tai Chi Aspects tape deck series – Part Four: Play
One of the most important points – probably the most important point – about Tai Chi is enjoying practice itself. – This way, motivation to practice comes naturally, without being forced.
Just play the form
This Tai Chi Aspect encourages you just to play your form – without questioning, without remembering details, without trying to improve, without wanting to get something out of it. Just hit your play button and move!
Is it really that easy?
Maybe not… If we do something again and again, like the form, some traces of use will appear. Perhaps you remember the tape with your favourite song that you heard again and again? After having played it again and again, the pitch usually began to shift and some point and the sound got distorted. It was not a joy to listen to it any more.
The same might happen to our form as we progress. We have learned a lot about principles and ideals we want to live up to and we sometimes know our faults better than our merits. – All that builds up around our form tape and might make it hard to listen to, even for the most enthusiastic practitioner.
How to fix this?
Changing the tape
From time to time we need to „put a new tape in“, when we do our form. How to do that? We forget everything we worked on the months and years before and make a new recording: Starting fresh from where we are now. – Just playing our favourite form, enjoying life.
Tip: Choose a fixed recording date and make a video
Why not choose a regular date and make this tape change your ritual? Once per month, once per season, once per year – just as you see fit.
And you could even make a new recording for real. – Why not make a video of your form once a year on a specific date? It might seem a strange thought at first, but one thing is sure: We will regret it later if we do not start now.
If you decide to go for it: Be practical! Any mobile video will do, just ask a friend to give you a hand. – There is really only one thing to remember: Even though you stand upright doing the form, the landscape format is the one to go for! The upright format will only give you a lot of black space at both sides when you put together your 25 years silver anniversary edition… 🙂
Author: Tai Chi Studio, Gabi Kannenberg
Images: Nils Klug
