SELF DEFENCE?

T'ai Chi Ch'uan is a vehicle. Through the correct practice of T'ai Chi we gradually work towards the cultivation of expanded open awareness. Central to this type of awareness is the principle of 'Forgetting self and becoming One with the Tao'. Forgetting self is not to be confused with simply drifting off into oblivion or distraction.

The more we forget self, the more our awareness tends towards expansion. The more we dwell on self, the more our awareness contracts. Expanded awareness is inclusive - contracted awareness is exclusive. To be exclusive is to be separate, to include is to join... from true joining comes Love.

When we forget self there is no subject, there is no object - the boundaries and defence mechanisms that prevent connectedness fall away - we melt into the Now. There is no self, there is nothing to defend. From this place of naturalness we can begin to learn.