Martial Art as a Spiritual Practise (6)

Tao manifests itself in two dynamic interdependent and perfectly balanced poles called Yin (female) and Yang (male). These forces are depicted in the mandala symbol of the Tai Chi -Great Ultimate (often referred to as the Yin/Yang sign). Capra (1975) illustrates this dynamic interplay of polar opposites with a simple example of a circular motion and its projection. If the motion of a circle turning is projected onto a screen it becomes an oscillation between two extreme points. In any projection of this kind, the circular movement will appear as two opposite points, but in the movement itself the opposites are unified and transcended (Capra, 1975, p. 159).

Si-Gung Lee explains the appropriateness of this philosophy in Kung Fu training. Instead of apposing force by force, a Kung Fu practitioner completes his opponent's movement by "accepting" his flow of energy as he aims it, and defeats him by borrowing his own force. In order to reconcile oneself to the changing movements of the opponent, a Kung Fu practitioner should first understand the true meaning of Yin/Yang, the basic structure of Kung Fu.

The common mistake of most martial artists is to identify these two forces, Yin and Yang, as dualistic. Yin/Yang is one unceasing interplay of movement. They are conceived of as essentially one, or as two coexisting forces of one indivisible whole. They are neither cause nor effect, but should be looked at as sound and echo, or light and shadow. If this oneness is viewed as two separate entities, realisation of the ultimate reality of Kung Fu cannot be achieved.

In the Yin/Yang symbol there is a white spot in the black and a black spot in the white. This is to illustrate the balance in life, for nothing can survive long by going to either extremes. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo survives by bending with the wind.
A kung Fu practitioner should be soft yet not flaccid, firm, yet not hard.
(Inosanto, 1980, pp. 68-69)

Thus, in Lee's previous account of struggling with the principle of gentleness, we can now understand that he was able to become aware of Tao through the destruction of his illusion of conflict between Yin and Yang and his acceptance of the unity of Yin and Yang within the Tao.

In Kung Fu many techniques work on the principle of moving with the opponents attack instead of against it and through intercepting (accepting) and not apposing his force we are able to overcome him. An example of this is the projected wrist twist technique. In this technique we see how a student has overcome the attacking force of the opponent simply by redirecting his attack in a circle, this forces the opponents body to flip in the air. The student maintains a relaxed and balanced stance illustrating the ease with which the technique is achieved.

Chi is another important concept in Taoist philosophy and Kung Fu. It can be understood as being the manifesting energy of Tao. Dr Yang Jwing-Ming (1990) explains,
Chi is the energy or natural force, which fills the Universe. There are three general types of Chi. The heavens (the sky or universe) have Tien Chi (Heaven energy), which is made up of the forces which the heavenly bodies exert on the earth, such as sunshine, moonlight and the moons effect on the tides. The earth has Dee Chi (Earth energy), which absorbs the Heaven Chi, and is influenced by it. Humankind has Ren Chi, which is influenced by the other two (p. 2).

These energies are in a state of dynamic balance with Tao, when the energy fields (Tien, Dee and Ren) become unbalanced they strive to rebalance themselves, examples of this are when Heaven chi initiates a hurricane, or Earth chi initiates an earthquake (Yang, 1990). It must be noted however that these energies are interdependent and exist as a whole within Tao, we must view the divisions between them as we do with Yin and Yang - as illusions. As with the piece cut from the hologram, these Chi fields are in themselves maps of the great Cosmos and thus follow the same inherent pattern. As has been mentioned, these fields are interdependent and thus in order to create balance they follow the flow of each other, when one becomes unbalanced so the whole system is affected e.g. too much rain will force a river to flood and drown the plants, and with no rain the river will dry up, the plants will die and thus the animals will perish. (Yang, 1990, p. 2)

Each Chi field consists of patterns of energy e.g. the earth's magnetic field and the atmosphere's weather patterns. In the same way each individual animal and plant has its own Chi field, which always seeks to be balanced, and manifests all the information of Tao within it e.g. How does a plant know to grow, an animal know to fear certain predators etc. (Yang, 1990). Rupert Sheldrake's theory of Morphic Resonance seems to dialogue well with Taoist Chi field concepts. He postulated that biologically each individual organism has access to a “morphic field” that resonates around and within them, this field contains all the information of the species within it and is constantly adapting and acquiring new learnt evolutionary information from the individual experiences of all the members of the species. (Sheldrake, 1989).

Humans, in the form of Ren Chi of course also manifest their own energy patterns. It is at this point that Chi becomes relevant to our study of the martial arts, as Yang points out:

Since you are part of this nature (Tao), you must understand Heaven Chi and Earth Chi. Then you will be able to adjust yourself, when necessary, to fit more smoothly into the natural cycle and you will learn how to protect yourself from the negative influences in nature... From this you can see that in order to have a long and healthy life, the first rule is that you must live in harmony with the cycles of nature, and avoid and prevent negative influences. You must remember that nature is always repeating itself. If you observe carefully you will be able to see many of these routine patterns and cycles caused by the rebalancing of the Chi fields.
(Yang, 1990, p. 3)

Martial arts provide a practice whereby humans are able to balance their Chi fields with Tao. The Chinese found that through a process of balancing Chi they were able to strengthen their Chi circulation and slow down the degeneration of the body, gaining health and longer life (Yang, 1990). This control over Human Chi provides for acquisition of new abilities. Kung fu practitioners are known to be able to make one hand hot while the other is cold, lie on beds of nails and pierce their skins with needles leaving no mark. Chi control allows the practitioner to extend his energy outside of the body. This is where amazing feats of healing are recorded and where the martial artist is able to knock down an opponent without touching him simply by generating chi into the opponents chi field of balance.

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