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Monday, November 21, 2005
Perez: Taiji
By Joy G. Perez
Sensitivity
AROUND three o'clock one morning, I heard rhythmic chants from far off. After some 30 minutes, they faded away. Then, silence. I thought I was only dreaming. I wasn't.
I miss those distinctive rhythmic chants, heard daily by the residents of Xiamen island (formerly Amoy), echoing from the distant Nanputou Temple, a Buddhist temple overlooking Xiamen University in Fujian, China.
An hour later, another sound, this time an amplified "exercise music" broke the stillness going on for 15 minutes and serving as a wakeup call for everyone. This time, the music came from the university campus. That, to me, was a form of discipline to rise early.
Those are some of the memories I have of China when I stayed there for eleven months ten years ago. Another is observing people, young and old, male and female, performing a slow motion shadow boxing early in any morning in parks, the beach, the open auditorium or gymnasium, and on rooftops.
The Chinese call this shadow boxing "taijiquan" or the popular "taiji" (pronounced tai-chi).
Everybody wishes to stay healthy. And one way to keep physically fit is to do a slow motion shadow boxing.
In China, I was too shy to go out and join the crowd, so I satisfied myself by watching television and carefully followed the slow movements shown. After 20 minutes I would really perspire and the feeling of satisfaction was so high. That started my curiosity and interest in taiji.
Taiji is therapeutic. A popular belief is that taiji movements are supposed to develop the breathing muscles, promote digestion, and improve muscle tone. It is done in a very slow, gentle, and graceful manner. It is a vigorous form of shadow boxing. It requires concentration.
In high school (China was far from my mind then), I remembered trying to join my elder brother when he did his warm up karate exercises.
Taiji is not a form of self-defense although its movements are similar to "gong fu" or "kung fu". Kung fu, though, is performed in higher speed.
Taiji is basically a form of physical exercise. It is an art. It has become popular lately to young women concerned with keeping their bodies beautiful.
The first time I was in Beijing, in August 1994, I was attracted to the presence of thousands of bicycles on the roads and groups of old folk performing movements in parks or tree-canopied pavements. In any place spacious enough, men and women were doing the same. I learned later that they were performing taiji.
In September 1995, my second time in Beijing when I attended the NGO Global Forum on Women, taiji had further become popular with more men and women doing it in open spaces.
Taiji is performed in different styles such as Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun. Veteran practitioners teach them to their successors. Some taiji doers are innovative. They use background music during performances.
Most Chinese do taiji to help cure medical problems or to while away spare time. To some, especially the old, taiji has become a key part of their daily life.
The Chinese believe that taiji represents the harmonious state between yin (negative force) and yang (positive force), the two principles of nature.
In most physical exercises, patience and concentration are very important. A person concerned with his and her health through exercise is a healthy individual.
(November 20, 2005 issue)
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