From the Bible to Tai Chi (11) To Return

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,

 in quietness and trust is your strength,…”

Isaiah 30:15

In Biblical Hebrew, the idea of repentance is represented by two verbs: שוב shuv (to return) and נחם nicham (to feel sorrow).

On the road to excellence in Kung Fu, the practitioners need to abandon using Li when he discovers the innate energy of Qi.  This is the process of ‘repentance’.

This process may be accomplished in either one of the following scenarios:

Scenario one is that the learner is practicing Kung Fu so hard that he runs out of all his ‘Li’ energy. Despite being extremely exhausted, he keeps practicing with strong will.  Having no more energy of Li left, he is forced to find a new kind of energy which he used to overlook, Qi.  And this is the point when he ‘returns’.

Another way may cause him to return is through direct contact with a Kung Fu teacher with Qi energy.  Through direct experience, the learner perceives teacher’s Qi and knows what it is.  This is the point when he is inspired and returns.

After this point of return, the learner will enter a new horizon.  He will deny his past habit and use less and less Li energy.