We came across this picture today and had to share it. It is a beautiful reminder of the proper mind set with which to approach any type of training, but most especially Tai Chi training. There is a vast difference between mentally understanding how a technique should be done and actually being able to do it. One of the most common things we hear from new students who are learning a new technique is, "I understand what I am supposed to be doing, but I can't seem to get my body to do it..."
The good news is, such a difficulty can be overcome through repetition, repetition, repetition......with a little extra practice in between. You will receive little or no benefits from only understanding a move mentally, but if you do that move over and over and over, your body will be strengthened to perform the move more powerfully, you will begin to naturally understand how to do the move more efficiently, you will become more aware of your body's position and gain much better control over your body (which will not only improve things like balance, but will allow you to learn new movements more easily).......simply put, you will begin to actually experience, in a very deep and profound way, all of the benefits of Tai Chi that you have heard about.
Even more importantly, you will begin to experience the benefits that you don't often hear about, because they are not easily expressed in words and in most cases can only be experienced through determined practice and lots, and lots, and lots of repetition.
So, if you are waiting to hear the deepest, darkest, most profound, game changing, secret of the ancients that will catapult your Tai Chi training to the next level and help you realize all of the benefits that attracted you to Tai Chi in the first place......here it is....."Follow the advice in the picture below and don't ever stop following that advice." ;)
