Whenever the "use of intent" is mentioned with regard to the practice of Taijiquan, most Taijiquan practitioners think "the mind is the primary controller and the body is the follower, longevity and health is like an eternal spring" from the Songs of the Thirteen Postures. During the practice of Taijiquan, one should maintain a naturally relaxed posture using the mind/intent without the use of external strength. Every movement must be led by the use of the mind. The classics state that the mind leads the internal energy and the internal energy leads the motion of the body. There should never be any type of external brute force used in the performance of the movements. Even though this is a very important principle in the practice of Taijiquan, many beginners often find this to be quite difficult to put into action. Intent of the mind is also required to stimulate the central nervous system to allow the movements to occur. If there is no intent, then there will be no movement. The movements of the body and the activities of the internal organs are synthesized under the orders of the nervous system.
The body must be relaxed and flexible through the use of the mind. The arms and legs should feel as if they have no bones to allow the internal strength to be emitted out naturally without brute force. Through continuous practice with this mind set, one will produce true internal strength, soft on the outside, but strong on the inside.
Meanings of Intent
Combat and cultivation are the two primary functions of Taijiquan practice. From the study of the Taijiquan Classics, Discussion of Taijiquan,” Songs of the Thirteen Postures, The Heart of the Thirteen Posture Movements, The Song of the Hitting Hands, and other classical writings, one observes that all these documents focus on the terms, practice and usage. The Taiji classics state that the "Internal Fist (neigong quan) must first practice the use of the intent." The Taijiquan document Hardness and Softness of Fist Techniques states "the ever changing form of hardness and softness is found completely within the intent." Various research in psychology suggests that under certain circumstances the mind can change the quality and state of matter within the human body. Taijiquan is a martial art which emphasizes the use of intent to implement movement. This use of intent is a specialized term found within the internal martial arts of China. There are usually three meanings of intent when discussed in Taijiquan. The first meaning is "to pay attention to one's internal strength.” The Heart of the Thirteen Posture Movements states that "the intent of the entire body is placed on the spirit, not on internal energy." The second meaning of intent is the same as the term "internal energy" or qi. For example, "the movement of the intent" or "the intention (qi) must change with vigor while remaining circular and smooth.” The third meaning of intent is "expectations" or "thoughts.” This is illustrated in Yang Cheng Fu's Ten Essential of Taijiquan as “use intent, not muscular strength.”
Martial Intent
One of the basic fundamentals of human physiology is that human movement receives impetus from the intent or mind. Everyone must use the mind to make action occur, but Taijiquan places even more emphasis on this type of intention. In any form of movement, be it walking, writing a letter, or practicing Taijiquan, some form of strength is required to complete the motion. Without the use of the muscles no external motion could occur. Intent of the mind is also required to stimulate the central nervous system to allow any particular movement to occur. If there is no intent, then there cannot be movement. Even though in every form of martial art there is the intent of using the mind to apply fighting techniques during practice, there are, however, various degrees of usage within hardness, softness, speed, power, and others. Consequently, each person must find different ways to use the intent to concentrate on the various applications of a specific movement. As can be seen, every style of martial art "uses the intent" to conduct movements and applications. Taijiquan is not the only style with this special requirement. Now, why does Taijiquan emphasize the "use of the intent, not the use of strength"? It is because Taijiquan's use of strength is quite different from other styles of martial arts. The movements of Taijiquan contain soft, slow, smooth, light, and relaxed movements as compared to the fast and hard external styles of martial arts. Because there is a difference in the hard and soft and fast and slow movements, there cannot be the same concentration of thoughts in the mind even though the application may be very similar. On one side, there are the fast movements of martial arts in which attack is conducted during the process of using the mind to apply a technique. Faster martial art movements have a natural relationship with the cause and effect of any given circumstance. The mind cannot change very fast in this kind of situation. On the other hand, the slow movements of Taijiquan have an important function of coordinating the mind with the intent to produce great results in coordination of motion and technique.
Due to the high level of speed and strength in faster forms of martial arts such as Fanziquan, Praying Mantis, and Tongbeiquan, the martial artist can coordinate the mind with the intent during the beginning and ending portions of a technique. Because of the slow and soft movements of Taijiquan, not only can the beginning and ending portions of a technique be controlled with the mind, the intermediate transition can also be controlled. When the practitioner wants to stop, the body will stop, and when the practitioner wants to advance, the body will advance under a totally controlled body and mind. There are two primary functions for this type of practice in terms of self-defense. First, it teaches the person to continuously think during any type of action to bring the mind to a higher level state of consciousness. In other words, one utilizes the strength of the spirit (a psychological function) to influence the training of the physical body to obtain high level skill in martial art application. Second, it teaches the practitioner to unconsciously use minimal techniques to defend and attack against an opponent. In this way, one will conserve energy while obtaining wanted results. The material just discussed explained briefly one difference between two types of self-defense styles, external and internal. Following is a discussion on the theory of how the spirit can influence the physical body.
Spiritual and Physical Connection
One of the most commonly observed examples of how the spirit can influence the function of the physical body is when a very strong-willed person endures physical pain to overcome a particular problem such as a life-threatening event. Under this type of circumstance people can endure pain in the body to overcome obstacles that appear to be humanly impossible. We often hear of a person who uses extraordinary amounts of strength to help save a person in a deadly situation such as lifting a very heavy object to release a trapped person. This illustrates how the ability of the spirit can influence the control of the physical body. An example of a simpler situation is when we are very happy or just in a good mood, everything seems to be so beautiful and our appetite for food will be better than usual. However, if a disturbing event is encountered in our lives, just the opposite will occur. We lose the taste for food and withdraw from reality. These types of situations have happened to almost everyone. Consequently, this can help explain how the psychological functions of the mind affect the physical body. One reason for this is that the nervous system reaches all parts of the body. When external stimulation is encountered, the first to react is the part of the nervous system closest to the stimuli. After the sensation is felt, the impulses are sent along the nerves to the central nervous system. This process will affect the functions of thought and knowledge. This function of thought and knowledge is called consciousness. Consciousness is the foundation of various senses and ideas which aid us in rationalizing events.
Those whose work envelopes the treatment of various ailments with the use of hypnosis also utilize the psychological character of the patient to achieve beneficial results. In some cases, in fact, we unintentionally use hypnosis to achieve success with only the use of words. For example, there was a twelve year old girl in Shanghai who could not walk due to a long sickness. The reason the girl could not walk was because she did not believe that walking was possible. After the family convinced the girl she could walk, she finally stood up and was able to walk. This was a case in which there was no surgery or doctor’s interference with the girl’s problem. It was with the use of intent that the girl was able to overcome her fear of not being able to walk. The girl was convinced she could walk and therefore she did. One other short example is that in recent years Russian scientists have been able to use hypnosis on athletes to aid in the improvement of sporting events. With these and other examples one can suggest that there is a close relationship between psychological functions of the mind and physical exercise. Taijiquan beginners should try to understand the principles of the mind/intent to more deeply comprehend the functions behind the "use of the mind, not the use of strength" in the practice of Taijiquan.
In the Taijiquan classics there is a statement, "the mind should move the internal energy and the internal energy should move the body.” Even though this is a very important principle in the practice of Taijiquan, many beginners often find this to be quite difficult to put into action. In actuality, the mind in the above statement is the use of the intent. The most difficult portion of the statement to understand is the movement of internal energy and the use of internal energy. What after all is this "internal energy" in regard to this statement? The internal energy that is discussed here is not the air that we breathe into the lungs, but it is the matter that nourishes the nervous system. The movements of the body and the activities of internal organs are synthesized under the orders of the nervous system. As can be seen, the use of the mind to move the internal energy, not only implies the use of the intent, but also explains the relationship between the intent and physical movement. Using the mind to stimulate the nervous system causes the body to be connected in a more stable manner. When the body can connect then there will be a better means of issuing internal strength from the ground up through the body in martial application.
The main point in the above discussion was to demonstrate the relationship between the psychological functions of the mind and Taijiquan movement, and to illustrate how these functions are brought into the practice of Taijiquan. We all know there are many different points to comprehend during the study of Taijiquan. This comprehension can bring many benefits in regard to health and self-defense. However, the founders of Taijiquan looked at both the physical and mental training of Taijiquan with equally high regard. Because the founders deeply believed in the theory that the mind could cooperate with the body, there arose the highest fundamental of "using the mind, not strength" to generate motion under the influence of the intent. This will, in return, improve the quality of movement in Taijiquan. Consequently, during the practice of Taijiquan, one should not just satisfy the requirements of the form's appearance in terms of posture and movement, but, at the same time, one should also include the mental process of thinking while conducting the postures and movements.
Even though the above material may seem relatively simple, the results of practice are not readily achieved overnight. One must allow the spirit to influence the development of the physical body under the strict and continuous training of the routine. Because of the importance of the "use of the mind, not strength" in the theory of Taijiquan, this very complex topic must be discussed and considered even though we still have much more to learn about the way the mind influences the body.
Eye Intent
The following is a brief description of the basic essentials for the training of the eyes and intent during the practice of Taijiquan.
One of the first mistakes many practitioners run into is keeping the eyesight behind the hands. In the Taiji Classics, it is stated that "the hands and eyes must mutually follow each other", however, many people take this to mean that wherever the hands go so do the eyes. Many think that the eyes should always be pasted on the movement of the hands. This is a mistake and a problem that should be corrected. If this is practiced for a long time, many types of bad habits will develop such as staring only at a single object or looking down at the ground. When an opponent is encountered, one will always lose because of the lack of eye contact. The thoughts will be obscured and the movements will be slowed down. The true meaning behind "the hands and eyes must mutually follow each other" is when the eyes arrive so do the hands. It does not mean that the eyes must look directly at the hands during Taiji movement. There are many Taijiquan movements which do not demand that the eyes look at or follow in the direction of the hands. An example of this is "White Crane Spreads Wings". In this posture, the eyes must first arrive before the hands stop moving. One cannot look at the hands in this posture because one moves up while the other moves down. Should the eyes follow the hands then the principle of keeping the head held upright will be broken. The important point in this is that the eyes must lead the action of the movements to produce increase the intent of the posture. This will then bring about greater internal connection and strength.
The second mistake made by many practitioners is to lower the eye lids during practice. There are many people who lower the eye lids as if half a sleep during the practice of Taijiquan in order to feel calm and tranquil. This type of training is in fact destroying the ability to train the intent for self-defense situations. This also mixes the moving practice of Taijiquan with the sitting or standing meditation postures which utilize the closing of the eye lids. Furthermore, this will destroy the spirit which is developed during the practice of Taijiquan and could cause the problem of closing the eyes during contact with an opponent. Consequently, during the practice of the routine, one should not allow the eye lids to lower down. Only in this way can the requirement of "moving within silence" be attained. To reiterate, if one practices with the eye lids lowered for a long period of time, the eyesight will become stagnant and without any vigor, thereby losing a valuable tool for self-defense.
Conclusion
As can be seen, Taijiquan is a very beneficial exercise for the improvement and maintenance of the body's mental and physical health and well-being. Through the continued practice of Taijiquan, many remarkable benefits will naturally appear. Many people in today's society expect sudden improvement of the body's health and superior fighting skills with only minimal time conducted in the practice of Taijiquan. This is a big misconception and should be explained to those who are beginning the study of Taijiquan. Only through diligent practice and perseverance will the true benefits of the style be known. Many people believe that there is some sort of secret which will make the difference in the benefits received from martial arts training. The only secret, however, is practice. A regular practice schedule is one of the most important essentials in Taijiquan and other forms of martial arts. Should one only practice once a week, one will only receive slight benefits, should one practice everyday, one will receive much more both in terms of physical and mental well-being.
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