The Harmonies

Happily, I found my way onto my circle again today. Circle walking is quite bizarre in that it simultaneously is very uncomfortable, even painful to perform, and yet it strangely fills the body with, for lack of a better phrase, an overall good feeling. I feel healthier, happier, and more vital every time I turn, even if I only walk my circle for a few minutes, though longer seems to be far better. This sensation seems separate from any sense of failure or triumph that the particular day's practice brought as well, and it lingers for some time after training.

Today's post is less about turning and more about the harmonies, which I've written into a small poster that is plainly visible from where I'm sitting and where I feel I spent too much time, about half of which is necessary. I'm not sure I was ever clear before today on exactly what the six harmonies are, but I knew clearly that there were three "external" harmonies and three "internal" harmonies, all of which are important, and just one of which has been a stressed point in my training.

The external harmonies are straightforward but difficult, perhaps because we have, in modern life, alienated ourselves largely from our body. Perhaps it's due to the philosophies of DesCartes, encapsulated nicely with "I think, therefore I am." This syllogism (thinking implies being, and I am thinking, therefore I must be) is a two-way street, though we don't often think of it that way. "Ah ha!" a fool might add, "You think, therefore you are, but you are, and only therefore can you think!" In any case, bases for Western thought aside, it seems the harmony between hand and foot, between elbow and knee, and between shoulder and hip should be straightforward and easy to implement, but we just don't move that way. Hand-foot harmony has been an active part of my training for a year now, and I feel that I'm getting quite good at it now. It seems natural. Knee and elbow harmony refers mostly to providing the body with the necessary structural strength for a good result, and with a reasonable martial background and a little attention is accessible. Hip and shoulder harmony is, I think, mostly postural, and it is perhaps one of my bigger weaknesses in terms of the harmonies.

The internal harmonies are interesting because all three involve Chinese ideas that don't cleanly translate into English. The first is the xin should be in harmony with the yi. Xin means heart, which does, on the one hand, mean the organ by the same name, but, on the other hand, does not mean that here. It means, instead, the "heart" we use to describe someone's spirit, courage, and mental-emotional kernel. Yi means "intention." Last year, we were told by Dan Crescenzo that we, meaning Bradley and myself, have excellent yi. To put these in harmony is difficult. I often feel that when the desire to train is there intellectually but doesn't actually manifest, resulting in skipped or sluggish, short, ineffectual workouts that the xin and yi are out of harmony. This is a difficult harmony to master, but it is critical for becoming proficient in anything, not just Yin Style Baguazhang.

The second internal harmony is between the yi and the qi, where this yi is the same yi as before, and this qi is the same qi in qigong. Of course, qi is a multifaceted term in and of itself, meaning breath, energy, and motive, to name a few of the concepts encapsulated within it. This harmony is even more difficult than the first and is, I think, outside of my immediate experience. The third internal harmony is similar, I believe, being between the qi and the li, where li is probably best translated using the words strength, power, and force. Ultimately, I'm beginning to feel that the three external harmonies are central to proper movement and use of the body and force while the three internal harmonies are essential to development. The three internal harmonies together, for instance, suggest that the heart must be fully in the training along with the intention of getting better, doing whatever it takes, enduring whatever challenges and discomforts it presents so that our goals are accomplished, and our force emitted, essentially from our heartfelt desire to see them succeed.

The only observation I've decided upon in this with certainty is that doing the standing practice daily has a profound effect on helping harmonize xin and yi, among other things (it's supposed to be fairly effective qigong as well, and so perhaps eventually my practice will become profound enough to sense that it is harmonizing yi and qi as well).

Anyway, this is quite long enough. If real life doesn't bog me down again for the remainder of the evening (I think the grocery store is a requirement at this point), then I'll try to put in some more effort tonight.