On Sep 28, 2009, at 2:56 AM, marcus_austin_ tcclist wrote:
[Q] In what way(s) are 'energy' and 'force' different things in Tai Chi Chuan?
[A] You'll have to get the "flavor" of what I mean from the context in which I'm using the words, Marcus; I'm not talking western physics here, I'm using these words the way my teachers used them.
The"difference" between them is based on my experiences in learning TCC in the way that I did - but whenever I meet a new Chinese Tai Chi Chuan teacher who knows what he's doing, they use these words in a similar way; Yan Yuan-hua would be one example, and he's an engineer.
Basically, "force" is "muscular", and "energy" is "jin" - yeah, I know that doesn't help much in the western "dictionary" sense, but learning Tai Chi Chuan is primarily a "physical" process - one of my third teacher's favorite sayings was "Comprehension comes from Doing".
The "intellectual" or "mental" appreciation of how Tai Chi Chuan "works" comes later, after your body "comprehends" , and in Tai Chi Chuan the "body" remains the central factor in achieving "understanding" - my teacher's favorite saying about that was "Consistency equals Knowledge".
In traditional terms, "Knowledge" in Tai Chi Chuan is based on what you can "do", or on what you can "show" that you know physically - not on what you can "say".
