 |
THE FOURTHWAY MANHO E-JOUTNAL Volume 30 August 4, 2018 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
TAIJI, YOGA AND ACU-THERAPY - POINTS OF INTEREST IN THE FOURTH WAY PERSPECTIVE By Professor Dr. Tan Man-Ho
(An excerpt from the original work,
Real World Views, Book 13, by Professor Dr. Tan Man-Ho entitled, "Principles of the
Logico-Psychophilosophical
Methods in its Application to Problems of the Real World
A.
TAIJI, YOGA AND ACU-THERAPY
1
In Taiji, every part of the body is a weapon.
Each part either yields or builds up as a concentrated
force and could “punch” like a fist.
2
But remember, there is also the Taiji of thoughts, emotions, instinct
and sex. There is
the way of the water for emotions, thoughts and the physical
body. Taiji makes
the physical body yield like water but you must work for it as
it does not come free.
3
A developed human type is one whose emotions, thoughts and
movements flow like water in a natural Taiji configuration. Muscle-bounds, fixed thoughts and harden-emotions are all
crystallization. It
is anti-life. It is
dead nature. It is
not water or
rubber. To be able to see thoughts
and feelings is a skill to be mastered.
Often, you could
see and feel the
stiffness in your observed subject
4
Objective Taiji should recognize at least three hard
masses in human
actions. The
hardness includes the hardness of physical movements, hardness
of feelings and hardness of intents. In
physical hardness, you can use your physical movements to lock
the hardness and then topple your opponents physically. In
feeling hardness you can use your words, feeling expressions and
other body languages to detect and lock the hardness of your
opponent’s feeling and to finally overcome it. In
mental hardness too, you can use your words and mental
expression to detect and lock the hardness and to finally alter
the mental states of your opponents. If
everything in you is constantly changing and moving, developing
and transforming, then no one can lock you in any forms of
identification of thoughts, feelings, and physical movements. In my later volume of Real World Views, I shall tell you more about ‘Sociological Taiji’ or ‘Sociocosmic Taiji’ or ‘The Sociocosmic Work’ for which the Taiji of the sociocosmic stopinders would be explored. This would be found in Book 18 of Real World Views.
Hollowness or
emptiness everywhere, except the line of gravity which
is the solid line. Punch a hanging puppet and you will realize that everywhere except the string is "hollow air." If the central line is punched, it bends, forward and backward but for a man he can also move left or right and rotate too
6
Which
areas tend to develop in the Taiji work for the individual?
The star areas indicated in the above picture will develop after a few months of Taiji exercise. From there, other parts soon follow.
7
The Qi cannot circulate in a
Hatha-ly tensed body.
Set our speeches, movements and feeling expressions to
flow out smoothly at the right tempo like a ‘tai qi’ Man in
action. Smoothen the
movements of our thoughts and our feelings as we perform Taiji
exercises. Also,
treat whatever endeavor, both social and nature as part of that
Great movement in Taiji.
8
Movements of the waist and neck open the channels to enable the flow of
Qi. Relaxing the
neck, the Qi would sink from the neck into the trunk.
Relaxing the waist, the same Qi would sink into the lower
lumbar region of the body and to the feet.
Relaxing the feet, the Qi sinks into the earth.
9
Would you consider a Yogi a miser?
Of course not!
A Yogi lives in a higher dimension above your
comprehension for he could not give to the
unreadies.
10 Now when pushing a man, you push the upper part and not his lower part. You push the branches but not the trunk. A man "destabilizes" easily when you pushed on the upper part of the body as it yields, but he is NOT rooted out for the lower part is deeply rooted on the ground.
11
Headache results from physical tension
Above, (or the physical Qi above).
Through Taiji Calisthenics, it is possible to relax the
physical tension and bring down the physical Qi.
12
Taiji movements are slow and yet powerful.
Quick force can be warded off because of the emptiness
and relaxed state of the body.
The solidity of a Taiji pose is artificial and internally
hollow. The
slightest pressure would cause the form to give way but
certainly not the Qi.
Any newly formed pose would again collapse with the
smallest force applied to it along the direction of the force or
at a convenient angle to it or in the same original direction
adding the force.
However, the solidity could be real depending on the nature of
being-intent.
13
Close your eyes and walk about slowly feeling and yielding to any hard object which you
contacted like in a dreamland.
14
Taiji dantian is not equivalent to the Gurdjieffian dantians found in
the 4 bodies of man.
A Gurdjieffian dantian is equivalent to a focus point for the
vibration of each of the gravity-center and there should be 7 of
them.
They
are:
So
remember that in Gurdjieffian Taiji, the object of development
and display should be from the many
dantians besides the traditional Taiji Dantian below the
individual’s navel that is equivalent to a moving G-Dantian of
the moving center of man.
A seven-folded Gurdjieffian Taiji would have a universal
control over a real world
Other
upper dantians are shown in the diagram below:
15 Standing on legs
What
nature provided!
This is naturally strange to many. We are standing bipeds
after all. The Qi will naturally fall by gravity downwards.
Standing
on hands
What
you have to provide!
It is a healing anti-nature.
This must be made natural too!
16 Taiji is able to correct disharmonious breathing and uneven distribution of inner muscular tension in my early years restore harmony to my planetary body in my later years.
17
Hatha Yoga postures do not stress the importance of
moving-towards-the-next-posture.
However, Taiji stresses the importance of movement from
one posture into another in an unbroken chain. In
both cases, the moving-towards-a-posture, and the
moving-away-from-a-posture must always be conscious, slow and
relaxed. It must be
an awareness movement.
Although yoga postures are harder to acquire and once acquired
take an appreciable time to unlock, Taiji postures are simple
and they can be acquired and unlocked fairly rapidly. These
are esoteric physical postures.
We also have the postures of the meso-exo-orders that
consist of dances at classical, folklore and pop level.
And finally, we have postures from the
Confusion of the Tongues. On a different scale, we have social postures due to institutional demands from our sociocosmos such as ergonomics and motion postures that are necessary for production and social functions.
18
In practicing Qigong, mobilize your Qi.
Let it flow inside your body.
Occasionally, you might experience tension, tightness,
pressure, blockages and nerves tinkling.
This is normal at this stage of the Qi-work. When we think our Qi is concentrated in our thinking, when we feel our
Qi is in our feeling and when we act, our Qi would be in the
physical parts involving in the act. Let everything flows in you smoothly. Thinking to feeling, and feeling to action and vice-versa. Treat them all as water and that you are practicing Taiji. Qi is not equal to blood because blood is a physical body while Qi is a vital body. The major passage of the Qi is in the system of acupoints and meridians. Qi is not thought or feeling. It is a vital physical energy originated from the instinctive-moving-sex centers.
19
Moxibustion is less suitable for the heaty type of man.
It is more suitable for the non-heaty type.
Acupuncture is suitable for both the two types of man,
just like acupressure.
A normal person does exhibit "tender pain" in the
acupoint. You can
condition an acupoint so that it will be less tender to
pressure. Acupoints
can be regarded as a target in martial art.
Attacking on certain acupoints can numb one’s arms and
legs........
20 In performing the Taiji movements, the maximum inner effect is produced when the three elements (or indicators) of the circulating Qi appear. The three elements are Aching, Burning and Vibrating (ABV) in the Yang or tension area of the body. Whereas these are the evidences of successful inner and outer Taiji performances, the absence of ABV means mere mechanical movements that change nothing inside. The ABV signs are indications of burning diseases out of the weak regions of the body.
21 In yoga exercise, the aching, burning, and vibrating (ABV) sensations should be sought for as they indicate the healing processes going on in these troubled areas. When these sensations vanish and the postures are acquired easily, the healing process is already over and the patient is cured. The
ABV sensations indicate inner auto-massage.
One has to interiorize with it. Maintain the yoga postures until ABV has taken effect in the inner body. In this way, diseases are burned out. Then seek ABV in the Feldenkraisen awareness movements. Finally, seek it in all routine and non-routine activities in our life.
22
Do not take your bath mechanically.
Transform it into Water-Therapy Practices and Arts.
Use it not just for removing dirt from the body, but for
stimulating Qi circulation and relaxation as well.
23
Folding and tensing the body interrupt the harmonious flow of Qi.
Display Taiji movements and use Taiji methodology for all
your centers' culture.
Neutralize (absorb or yield to) the "forces" coming as
sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell the Taiji way.
Thus spake the instinctive passenger!
24
Gymnastic and Ballet are not any closer to Taiji or Yoga.
They are aesthetical and socially oriented, therefore,
exoteric which have an impact on the harmonoius development of
the physical body.
Taiji and yoga, on the other hand, are esoteric. For a Taiji man, love is but a form of the Qi in the heart, but for a
religious man Qi is but a form of the love in the body.
25 The essence of Taiji is not defense. It is the harmonious development of man. In your life you rarely fight more than 7 times, therefore Taiji’s aim is not for such a small defense. There is something greater than this. It is the unfolding of your Dao and the Dao of the universe. Some see in Taiji the prospect of business.
Many see it as a way to good health.
A few see it as a savior from the precarious situation
and ruin as a result of the merciless conditions of modern
civilization. If your complexion is poor, your skin is pale and the body is weak, and exhausted, practice Qigong, Pranayama, Taiji and Yoga.
26
"Haida Yoga" is a new Gurdjieffian Yoga "Haida" means in Russian a
peremptory call, as when somebody gives an order and wishes it
carried out at top speed.
"Haida Yoga" is therefore a "quick yoga" which gives the
pupils the possibility of learning much in a short time.
(From Our life with
Mr. Gurdjieff,
P. 44 by Thomas de Hartmann).
The fourth way serves this shortcut.
27
"What helped me was to look at myself as if from the outside, and
laugh." (Thomas de
Hartmann)
28
Kama Yoga is practiced with the opposite sex for objectivity and
naturalistic purposes.
It is a natural trialectics of man and woman in the
sociocosm.
29
The heating of the various internal parts of the body by the internal
method of directing the Qi should be utilized to cure diseases
and heal the body.
30
Yoga is static equilibrium wherein the Qi of the body is locked in a
special way so as to produce healing by parts.
Little is emphasized on motion.
Taiji is dynamic equilibrium wherein all locked up Qi of
the body is to be set into motion to produce all rounded or
integrated healing.
Little is emphasized on rest.
The unity of Yoga and Taiji is amongst the most effective
combination for developing the physical body and for restoring
health. You either
exercise in rest
(Yoga) or in motion (Taiji). But you
must work towards motion
starting from rest and
ending in rest after motion.
This is an important principle to follow if you practice
the two exercises together.
31
If Qi rises and tenses up the upper region of the body and causes
discomfort, tightness and pain, do the
Horse Stand to sink
the Qi back into the
dantian.
32
I told him at one of (Chang Chih-Kang) these sessions (Taiji sessions)
that a drunkard has perfect relaxation.
Is this what we are seeking for?
For, if so, it would be easier to uncork wine bottles
then to undergo the rigorous Tai-Chi discipline.
"No," he said," we do not seek this state.
For the drunkard gains relaxation but sacrifices his "ee"
(mind or intent) to the drink."
(P. 44, line 15, Chinese Boxing by Robert W. Smith)
33
Where the mind focuses, there the Qi goes.
If the mind focuses in the World of Knowledge, the Qi
also goes into this world.
34
Karma yoga, the law of actions and reactions of human interactions
teaches us that if a negative action is applied to a person, an
equal and opposite negative reaction will be generated against
the applier. The
actions and reactions do not act on one another immediately.
Their effects are often felt much later as the
interacting processes which function in accordance to basic
psychological laws.
35 "What you do not want others to do to you, you must not do to others."
This
Confucius saying is based on the understanding of a basic law of
human interaction, the psychological law of actions and
reactions.
36
Kundalini probably so called is a view of the
serpents emerging from the human organs and conducted by the
parasympathetic nerves.
These serpents
creep out from their nests (organs) especially at night when the
brain center and its sympathetic nerves are resting, offering
them an opportunity to venture freely throughout the whole body
and even to the brain center itself.
37 Yoga dams the river of Qi, whilst Taiji opens it. Both the static and the dynamic methods deserve equal attention in the development of the human body. In the
eyes of Fourth Way, there are four Yogas. a)
The Yoga of Carriage b)
The Yoga of Horse c)
The Yoga of Coachmen d)
The Yoga of Passenger And
the Yoga of Carriage is divided into i)
the Yoga of the Moving Center ii)
the Yoga of the Instinctive Center iii)
the Yoga of the Sex Center These are the internal yogas and these yogas are developed in us through “The Programs of the Work”.
38
What kind of diseases would be a subject matter for healing objective in Taiji,
Yoga (Hatha) and Acu-Therapy?
They are:
39 The Internal Meridian System should likewise exist for nature. It could not have been so selective. The External Meridian System, or the Surface Meridian system with its abundant acupuncture points, will not suffice to cover those internally constructed points located deep in the human body, viz., in the viscera ‑ the organs lying deep in the human trunk. Surely, in the viscera there are such switching points. In
this case, either very deep penetration is researched on or
other means of internal work such as Qigong or pranayama could
be used to work on these points.
But first, the map of these Internal Meridian Points has
to be plotted. Since these burnt-out-points can be self-healing, unlike the electrical switches, there is a possibility of minimizing the use of needles in the Internal Meridian System during an inner healing process.
40 Yoga, Taiji and the breathing exercises have more effects on the viscera than acupoint work or external massage. The acupoints are like switches in the meridian system. They occur in the overlapping regions of the nerve plexus that indicate the switch behavior. The visceral organs are like the bulbs. Both the visceral organs and the acupoints are transmitters as well as receivers. If the bulbs do not glow, the acupoints become tender and if work is done on the acupoints the bulbs will re-glow.
Acupuncture relaxes the muscles and causes the Qi to flow.
When Qi waves build up against a tense and block-up
acupoint, the body feels uneasy and weak.
It is prone to diseases.
Acu-therapy is a way to ease these dis-eases. A weak Yin-man whose Qi-waves are not strong, is best treated by moxibustion or infra red ray therapy as they will generate Qi-waves and at the same time open up blockages at the acupoints.
41
The abdomen has to be constantly massaged.
Forces of various strengths, on various areas and
directions have to be applied to make it responsive.
It must be made to be like a bag or the palm of a hand
that can contain, absorb and throw out an object that acts on
it. Continuing
working using these guiding principles will ensure a powerful
abdomen.
Before practicing yoga postures which involve the head stand or any
other inversion of its kind, remove the bowel to ensure no toxic
waste from the rectum could flow back to the upper intestine to
be absorbed back into the body.
42
The division into Gong-li
(power) and Chuan
(form) when the physical center action takes the characteristics
of movements-specifics known as
The Art of self-defense,
is necessary.
Gong-li is the essence of the physical body it is different in
different people.
Chuan is an external art form that can be easily acquired.
Gong li is the
content and Chuan is
the form. Just as
the form acts on the content so
Chuan acts on
Gong-li.
Correct form of
Chuan practiced for a long time, opens up the economic use
of Gong-li. Strong and
powerful Gong-li
begins from one-foot, secondary
Gong-li(s) begin from
the waist and even the shoulders. Both Gong-li and Chuan depend on each other.
43 In Hatha Yoga only related muscles for a posture are kept Ha (Yang) or tension and unrelated muscles remain Tha (Yin) or relaxed and when changes occur Ha should change to Tha and vice-versa. Thus, one should always perform an inner world tour to separate the Ha and the Tha and place them in the proper place and in a proper state.
|
