Tai Chi teachers often remind me of the blind men and the elephant. Tai Chi by its very nature is impossible to define and however we try, we will always make it less than it is. We can only lead a student toward their own enlightenment from opinion and let them make their own journey to see what we are unable to fully describe. It’s the same for a teacher in any art.

We have to be careful that we don’t let our ego get in the way and give people the impression that only we have the ‘real’ Tai Chi when all of us are only holding our part of the elephant. The words and explanations that we use can always be easily misunderstood and used against us by those seeking to boost their own ego, it’s better to explain what you know and that which you’re not sure of with honesty rather than put down genuine efforts by others.

When we let go of excess tension we also have to let go of our ego and any negative opinions of others even if we think they haven’t got any part of the elephant, it’s our job to explain our bit because when we are negative toward others, our hands are slipping.

I write this to also remind myself.