Yang Family Tai Chi Discussion Board

what is the Confucian theory in relation to Taijiquan?

my understanding is that Confucius taught many things. 3 of the most important IMO:
1. Piety, in the student-teacher relationship.
2. honor family/ancestry.
3. Moral for society to live in balance with Tao.

so my thoughts are: in relation to Taijiquan, Taijiquan strengthens the individual, which in turn strengthens the family, and thus strengthens society.

anyone?

Yes, if you understand Chinese, you can read http://www.pro-confucius.com/bible/i_bible-1.htm

Fred Hao

i agree in principle but i do have 1 question. Was Kong Tzu,(Confucious) a Taoist ?.
You mention in point 3) Moral for society to live in balance with the Tao.
I am asking this out of curiosity. Could be i have confused Confucious with Confucian.
Could you please enlighten me. Thanx

Greetings!

Kong Tsu is a philosopher not a Taoist.

"in relation to Taijiquan, Taijiquan strengthens the individual, which in turn strengthens the family, and thus strengthens society."
That is true. However, The idea was not necessarily totally originated from Kong Tsu.

Here a little article about Confucius and some connections to Tai Chi Chuan:

http://taichi-philosophy.blogspot.de/20 ... acher.html

Enjoy

Martin

Attention to general 'rules' or standards found within tai chi chuan can be considered relative to Confucian philosophy. Although standards exist, especially commonly occurring conditions, you should flow with the natural tides of life. Often this means what was a proper rule could be considered improper in different circumstances. I'm not a big fan of strict behaviors often seen in Confucius, and often Buddhist systems - exactly for this reason. Try to entangle yourself in propriety when practicing anything, but realize propriety is dynamic. Anyway, applying concepts to your own life to reach greater levels: this is much more important than following any belief systems. Don't worry about it... What good does knowing actually do? Isn't it better to just know that tai chi is better being part of your life than not, and then just to do it? Thanks.

Hey Jaxi,

I think you would enjoy this article:

http://taichi-philosophy.blogspot.de/20 ... lness.html

Ziran – the Chinese Concept of Naturalness

Martin

Very nice article, esp. at end when mentions how although it is natural must align in way many don't naturally do. I just posted about people focusing too much on breathing rather than allowing it to occur naturally while instead focusing on noticing the feeling of chi. There are people who say directing the chi or even feeling it isn't done so much by trying to make it happen, but rather just noticing it. Just the expectation. If you align your actions with the tao, you aren't just relaxing. It is using effort naturally (wu wei) aka effortless action. If all you did was one or the other, there would be an imbalance between yin and yang. And maintaining the balance isn't always the case, but feeling where it is at and flowing with it. Sometimes the tide is rising, sometimes it's falling. It's unreasonable to practice the same way all the time, but standards are constructed or chaos would ensue. Allen Watts spoke about how acting spontaneity can be beneficial, but you still need some structure to keep your spontaneous actions from leading you everywhere besides where you're trying to go. Consider the 'structure' Confucius in method, although I bend the rules regularly. Piety in following protocol of master-student relationship is important, just like following rule of elders or parents, but realizing when it isn't the right thing to do and adjusting is key. If a parent is less responsible than the child they raise, the child should take the leadership role if possible, or remove from situation. Often a child must take care of their siblings because parent out doing drugs or prostituting. Common, and it skews the standard piety formula set down by Confucius. This doesn't make it wrong. Usually the parent cares for the child so usually the child should respect the role of leadership by parent. Not always. Too little or too much structure can devastate. Always see the state of things, then act accordingly... using rules as a way to calculate what is usual only.

so my thoughts are: in relation to Taijiquan, Taijiquan strengthens the individual, which in turn strengthens the family, and thus strengthens society.

I think this was what Yang Chengfu's aim was in trying to popularize Taijiquan.

Hi,
Just a thought which has perhaps nothing to do with the general discussion about Confucius and Taijiquan. I have read somewhere that going back to Yang Luchan, he was concerned at the weakness and corruption of China in the latter Qing Period, with the arrival of the West. He believed that Chinese society needed to be strenghthen morally and as a consequence would become strong enough to withstand the onslaught of the West. He saw that Taijiquan was a way of doing this, as it was a pathway to strenghthen the Chinese people and not just physically. It is also the reason why the Yang form of Taijiquan became so widespread, as it was taught to any person who wished to learn it, and not to just the select few, typically only family members.
Stay well.
Frank