Shifu Liu's Christmas Message from the AGM

At Tai Ji Circle's AGM on 12 December 2020, we looked back on the changes of a challenging year. Shifu Liu Quanjun's message to his students seemed particularly important, so we shared it. What follows is based on notes Matt took during the meeting, with thanks to him, lightly edited.

Shifu Liu thanked all the students who had kept attending classes through a difficult time, and wished everyone a happy holiday season and Christmas. Reflecting on 2020 was good, he said, but we should also think about the work of the coming year and how to prepare for it. Many people in middle age, or over 50, should treat every day as very precious. Be happy and fulfilled. Most important of all is to build a strong and healthy body. Build Nei Gong (inner strength), and build balance and coordination, and these will stay with you for many years to come. One key is to be happy inside: don't keep stress and anger in your heart.

Shifu's responsibility, he said, is to find the way to teach all this to every student. Our responsibility is to practise well and learn for ourselves. The focus in practice is the lower dantian: if it is full and strong, old age will be good. Don't rush or hurry; do the work each day to improve the dantian. If you get frustrated in class because you can't remember, don't worry. It only means that your gongfu is not there yet. By improving strength, balance and coordination, you can succeed in building the dantian.

In the tradition, each type of Qigong addresses different kinds of ill health. When you practise, go inside; the outside world is not important. Many people never reach a high level because they have too many thoughts and don't hold the simple focus inside themselves. The goal is to live a long and strong life, and not to waste the ability we have. Many people don't understand that when we react to anger with anger, we waste our energy and can use it up. If you practise for three months and see no change in your body, you should consider whether you are following the teaching properly.

Training has two goals. The first is to build up a strong body. The second is to help other people reach the same strength: Yin and Yang. How do you measure success? If you can teach others successfully, that demonstrates your success. When you help others, you progress faster than when you train only for yourself. First learn the correct way, then pass the correct method on to others. At first, teaching might feel difficult, or like giving something away, but it is not.

Students then put questions to Shifu. One found it hard to calm the mind and asked him to explain more. The breath is important, he answered: it comes down to the dantian and fills it up. Pay attention to this calm connection and you will calm down. He had had the same experience himself. Another asked whether it was all right to train outside in the park, where the ground is not level, or whether a consistently flat surface was better. Relax and keep the back straight, he said. It doesn't matter what is beneath your feet, as long as the hips and joints are relaxed.

He ended with the forms. Taijiquan, Laojia Yilu and Taiji Jian (the sword) are important forms. Weapon training is important for the development of Taiji, and we need to practise them all. Foundation and the short form are the prelude to the long forms. The practice develops balance and movement in different situations, so that you develop fully, and the principles are the same at every stage. Schools practise their own interpretation of the forms in order to develop their full understanding of the system. In the beginning, build up Qi in the body, and then use it through the weapons. At first use the body to move the Qi; later, use the Qi to move the body. Balance Yin and Yang.