A solid core of practice lies at the heart of t’ai chi ch’uan. To get the most out of t’ai chi ch’uan you must practice often and regularly while paying attention, not just to what you are doing with your body, but to the state of your entire being. Here is an exchange that I have had many times with students over my three decades of teaching.
STUDENT: Sifu, how long should I practice each day?
ME: I dunno—maybe 20 minutes or so?
STUDENT: But I want to be really good at this! What if I practiced for 40 minutes? Twice day? Will that help me get better faster?
ME: How much of that time will be spent paying close attention to what you are experiencing? Master Ben Lo once said, “Better 10-minute attention, than hour confusion.”
Like many of Master Lo’s teachings, it was both short and eloquent. Let’s see if we can unpack what he meant.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter how long you practice—it’s what is taking place inside of you while you practice. Over the years I have heard from many students who set timers to ensure that they practiced for a certain number of minutes every day to obtain the best results. While the habit of practicing each day for a set duration is a not a bad one to adopt, unless you practice with the right focus you are wasting your time. In his workshops Master Lo emphasized that the primary practice goal should be to focus on the Five Principles to insure correct execution of the form. But t’ai chi ch’uan is more than simply starting a clock, running through the solo form a few times, then checking off another practice successfully completed. To achieve true excellence proper practice should also involve paying attention to the more subtle elements of one’s psyche—what one might call the “Soul of T’ai Chi Ch’uan.”
In the West, the soul is believed to be the spiritual essence of a person, which includes one's identity, personality, and memories. The Chinese have a different take on the soul, dividing it into three distinct parts—the Po, the Shen, and the Hun. The Po is the component that resides in the flesh of the physical body, the “Corporeal Soul” as it is often translated. This should be the center of your focus when attempting to adhere to the Five Principles, While it remains key for achieving excellence in t’ai chi ch’uan, it should not be your sole focus point. What many practitioners often neglect is the Shen, roughly translated as “Spirit,” but more usefully rendered as “Rational Mind.” This component is the part of the soul that does our thinking, and at times can be extremely difficult to bring under control. When practicing correctly your Shen should remain like a clear mountain lake, unruffled by extraneous thoughts. The Hun, or “Ethereal Soul,” refers to the emotions which arise during practice—happiness, sadness, love, hate, frustration, etc. To get the most out of your practice, you should check in with this part of your soul as well and let go of any strong emotion that might sidetrack you from your focus.
What Master Lo was getting at was developing a practice regimen that begins with paying close attention to your body, but extends far beyond that. No matter how long or often you practice, by paying attention to all three components of the Soul of T’ai Chi Ch’uan you will not only improve the quality of your form but also foster inner harmony.