University of Wales Lampeter
MA in Eastern and Western Approaches to
the Body
Tai Chíi Practitioner Questionnaire
I am seeking your views as part of a
study into Tai Chíi (Taijiquan) for a dissertation I am carrying out at the
University of Wales, Lampeter; your contribution would be extremely valuable,
and I would be grateful if you could respond to the questions below by email.
Questionnaires are being sent both to
respondents active in the field of Tai Chíi, and to respondents from the
medical and scientific community as an exploration of traditional Chinese and
modern western views.
There is obviously potential benefit in
increased understanding of tai ch'i, and in realistic assessment of health and
martial aspects. The implications of the study may impinge on the
relationship between traditional Chinese explanations and theories, and the
world views supporting modern science.
Please note that while the questions
specifically mention "tai ch'i", they topic is meant to include tai
ch'i ch'uan, pakua, hsing i, i ch'uan, li he ba fa, ch'i kung, or any other
similar relevant art.
Thank you,
John Evans
Your Contact Details:- please insert
enough details for me to get in contact with you in case any answers need
further discussion.
I think the website pretty much covers
that
Your personal details:- please list your
title, surname, forenames, age and gender(if not obvious from forenames).
Ditto as above - they call
me "Paul" thats Mr. Paul and I enjoyed a very
pleasant 50th birthday last week
Please state if you are willing to be
identified in the dissertation or if you would prefer your anonymity to be
protected by a pseudonym.
Ditto as above
In your replies to the questions below,
please just type the question number and your response.
Q1. Do you have any qualifications
you have in science or medicine? PLease list your professional and
academic qualifications and main sphere of Work or interest, as this may be
relevant to understanding your points of view.
my qualifications?
a decent education, a quick brain,
sharpened by being lucky enough to work for some genuine world class geniuses
in my earlier years and some occasional common sense and luck
A bunch of "O" levels and some
water polo medals from the 70's
an HGV licence and over a million miles
driven in 20 odd different countries
ten or so years as a Member of the
Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers
an entertaining year at the College of
Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading
self employed and self supported since
1983
a Taiji practitioner since 1984
a Taiji teacher since 1989
main interests - helping others to enjoy
good health and happiness through the study of Taiji and Qigong, healing,
meditation, exorcisms: surviving in good health and being reasonably happy
whilst doing so, caring for my loved ones:
an occasional bit of treework,
fencing or landscaping, flying a kite, sword play,
watching fish swim or grass grow, making stuff
Q2. Are you a master, teacher, or
student of tai chíi?
I am a Taiji Teacher, a workman and a student - the term Master is only of value when freely given by others, and in my observed experience although many claim it (and I’ve seen most of them) there are very few worthy of it
IMHO the term Master, when claimed,
usually indicates that the claimants view of the world is somewhat coloured by
the self perceived radiance of their own personal glory
Q3. Are you mainly interested in
tai chíi for health and exercise, martial training, or all aspects of tai
chíi?
Yes - all are required and desireable:
however I specialise in Healing
Q4. How many years have you been
practicing tai ch'i?
Since 21st June 1984 - about 24 and a
half years
Q5. How many years have you been
teaching tai ch'i?
I took my first public class in
1989 - very nerve wracking it was too
Q6. Which style(s) do you
practice? (include other internal and external martial arts).
Cheng Man Ching & Yang Style, Heaven
Mountain Style, NanPai Taiji 37, Taijwuxigong, E-Mei Qigong, YiJing Jin, Buqi
Healing, Meditation
Q7. Do you practice standing ch'i
kung, ch'i kung movements, neigong, self-massage, meditation?
Yes
MARTIAL ASPECTS
Q8. Do you practice form, fast set
or pao ch'ui, pushing hands/tuishou, Sanshou, sparring without gloves, sparring
with gloves, Weapons?
Yes - I have done all of the above in the past - I no longer spar,
I prefer swordplay
Q9. Have you experience of contest
pushing hands, full contact contest with gloves, observing tai chi in a street
fight, using tai ch'i in a street fight, sparring injury?
Yes I have experienced all of the above
- never had a serious sparring injury though thankfully
Q10. Have you ever experienced,
witnessed, been subjected to, or exerted kong jing/action at a distance?
Yes - I have very extensive experience of
all of the above
Q11. Has tai ch'i affected your
resistance to injury, and your ability to strike effectively?
I have never had a major injury and have
virtually never been ill ( well a couple of odd weeks in 50 years ) so I can
personally guarantee that Taiji helps in this respect
Its so long since I hit someone (or even
something lol) that I couldn't really say for sure but I reckon so
HEALTH ASPECTS
Q12. Do you know of someone who
has been healed as a result of practicing tai ch'i?
Very Many
Q13. Have you been healed as a
result of practicing tai ch'i?
Yes
Q14. Has tai ch'i affected
your personality?
Very Much so
- to the good
Q15. Has tai ch'i increased your
general vitality?
Yes
GENERAL
Q16. Has tai ch'i a spiritual and
philosophical meaning for you?
One of the 4 levels of Taiji practice is the Spiritual level; philosophy is sometimes a useful tool so Yes. I used to think
of Taiji as essentially Daoist but now I practice in a Buddhist way. The basic
difference? Daoists aim to accumulate chi, thereby keeping the negative factors that can lead to illness. Bhuddists give out, thus constantly expelling the stagnant chi and replacing it with new fresh chi (as much as one can in our polluted and overactive society).
Q17. Is tai ch'i a meditative
practice for you?
The meditative aspect of Taiji is one of
the foundational practices - if you can't make yourself quiet enough to hear
whats happening how will you decide what to do?
Q18. Could you accept scientific
explanations of tai ch'i?
Sure, but I'm not a scientist. I believe
with certainty that there WILL be a scientific explanation one day but I don’t
think current technology is up to it yet and so I'm not sure it will emerge in
my lifetime. Got any good ones now?
Q19. Describe your own particular
sensations of what you call chíi, and your experiences of jing and shen.
Chi (in this context) is the
kinaesthetically detectable movement of internal body fluids due to the
organisation and alignment by the will of cellular vibrations in the body. In
plain english, you can feel and direct stuff moving around inside you.
Jing (to me) means the ability and
strength to stretch the spine upwards. In TCM this is called Kidney Yang and considered to be a function of Jing. This stretching resists, slows and even reverses the
gravity driven pathological narrowing of the intervertebral spaces that results in what we in
the west call aging. From a western perspective people get shorter because they
get older: in my view people get older because they get shorter. Again, you can physically feel it.
Shen is mental attention, concentration
of the mind, spirit or (most literally) the light that comes from the fire of
their spirit and shines from a persons eyes and their ability (or not) to
control, direct and and regulate it. It can be cultivated through practice, particularly of the sword.
CONVINCING OTHERS
Q20. What would you do, or say to
convince a sceptic that it would be worth trying tai chí in order to
experience its claimed benefits
Nothing. Why would I try to convince
someone of something they weren't interested in? Its their life to do with as
they wish and they get to live with the consequences of their choices, just
like I do. It would be different if they genuinely asked for help; then in most
circumstances I would probably try and help them.
I only teach people who actually want to
learn
Please add any other comments you wish
to make.
If you want a close insight into some of these things you have a very excellent and genuine local teacher and practitioner with immense experience, Mike Henley, who you could contact here:-
Thank you for taking the trouble to share your views.