The Many Functions of Emptiness
The Creation of Emptiness
Emptiness is just a result of a larger process at work. So to explain how emptiness is created I need to explain the whole process at work prior to the state of emptiness. Before there is even a millimetre of movement there first must be Yi intent or the will to move followed by consciousness (awareness) being brought into the body. This is done by quieting the mind, and gently drawing the consciousness from the crown of the head all the way down to the bubbling well (Jing Well Kidney 1). This process is covered in the section Yang Style Short Form Measurements under the first movement Preparation.
Once you have brought consciousness back within the body, the second stage is then ready to begin. As your awareness moves downward through the body and begins to physically relax the body, (once again if you need to refresh what is relaxation refer back to what is relaxation) causing the joints to align, allowing the body to let go of excessive muscle strength (remember excessive muscle strength is considered tension). When tension is released from the body, a more balanced state is established.
Now when the body begins to relax the third stage will start. When one begins to relax muscle, quite a few things begin to move more freely throughout the body, Mind, Blood and Chi. One of these Chi's is known as the Chi of the Earth (gravity). It is this Chi that I will be primarily focusing on in this section. The other forms of Chi are more in reference to your own personal chi, such as meridians. This relates more to the health benefits of T'ai Chi and will be covered later on in detail under another section called Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and T'ai Chi.
When muscle softens weight begins to move and draws through the body. This action is often described in T'ai Chi as sinking. As long as there is relaxation from the base there
It takes numerous years of training to create a state of emptiness within the body. When one does create this state of emptiness, you've really only just placed your foot on the first rung of a very large ladder. Try and look at emptiness similarly to an atmosphere of oxygen - oxygen creates an environment or state which allows all manner of life forms to exist such as animals, fish and insects. They're all different from each other but they all have one thing in common, the need for oxygen to live. Emptiness is where the Tao both begins and ends, and from which an environment is created where all the various elements of T'ai Chi can come together, grow and manifest.
Basically a state of emptiness is similar, in that it creates the right environment or state from which T'ai Chi principles can start to take on their physical properties such as Yielding, Listening, Absorbing Sticking, Adhering, Movement and ultimately Issuing. How emptiness cultivates these qualities will be explained in the following sections. I remember being told that if your method is correct and you apply yourself it should take on average four years to learn the principles and understand the process. Of course everyone is different, some may take a little longer, some shorter, but one thing is definite, if you don't train the process throughly with a curious and analytical mind, the length of time becomes irrelevant because the process will never be understood nor acquired. This thought reminds me of an old saying I learnt in my early days of training which is applicable here. “Don't train hard, train wise. And once you train wise, then train hard.”
Emptiness, its Function in the Creation of Movement.
Emptiness doesn't create movement but without emptiness movement would not be possible in T'ai Chi. Where movement really starts is in the physical relaxation of muscles. When muscles relax weight begins to move and drop, when the weight moves the body follows. But what comes first - sinking or emptiness? I would have to say sinking, by a hair's breadth. Sinking creates emptiness, emptiness allows sinking.Let me explain the previous statement. Imagine you have a straw and you put the straw in your milkshake and then lift it up, the milk would
pour out as you lift the straw upwards. (Isn't it interesting how children drive parents crazy when it comes to straws and milkshakes, they blow bubbles, lift the straw up and let the milk run out, usually on the table or they suck it up and blow it back into the milkshake. I must confess I drove my parents crazy with this and now my son and daughter have reciprocated. Karma I guess. If you watch them you can see their natural fascination with what happening to the milk caused by the variations that can be created by the straw and other forces at work).
However what would happen this time if you placed your thumb over the top of the straw and lifted the straw up, the result would be different. This time the milk would stay inside the straw. The effect of Gravity of pulling on the milk within the straw stops the milk from pouring out due to the vacuum that is created by placing of the thumb over the top of the straw, which in turn creates a seal. If I lifted my thumb up, the milk would run out, the reason being the vacuum has been broken. In other words emptiness was allowed to be created by gravity (sinking). Stop the creation of emptiness and you stop the resultant effects of sinking, but sinking creates the demand for emptiness, hence the reasoning that sinking comes slightly first. (Or as the say in western science “nature abhors a vacuum”). Interesting to note that gravity's effect of pulling down on the milk in the straw creates a vacuum within the straw, which in turn keeps the milk inside the straw. In other words the downward action of the milk within the straw causes it to stay up.
As the Taoist would say “A downward action creating an upward action or Yin creating Yang”.
We'll use the same milkshake and straw analogy later for explaining the process of drawing out your opponent and breaking their root all at the same time.
Now when a part of the body becomes empty then it is nearly ready to be moved. Say you've sunk fully into the front foot, your back leg is now empty. This emptiness is relative, don't mistake this form of emptiness as literal or functional because there is still the weight of the leg there. (I have students who quite often join my school from other T'ai Chi Schools and for me to get an idea of what standard they are, I always ask them to play their T'ai Chi form and inevitably they become the victim of double weightedness. When I point this out to them they proceed to lift the offending leg to prove to me that it is indeed empty. The sad fact is they are only reinforcing my point, not lessening it, thats it's not completely empty. They have mistakenly believed that being empty of body weight and being fully empty are the same, they're not. I have allowed a separate section for double weightedness - it is easily the most mis-understood term in T'ai Chi and has become the most common fault)
At this stage the leg is nearly ready to be moved, all we need to do is to empty the leg of weight. Now as the weight continues into the front foot it will begin to pull the body forward. At some point in the process the weight in the front foot will cancel out the remaining weight in the back leg. At this exact moment the back leg is functionally empty causing it to step forward. (This is the reasoning behind the idea that if a person has to consciously lift their leg to prove it's empty it only proves it's not. The physical movement of T'ai Chi is not created, only the environment for the movement is cultivated. Hence the T'ai Chi saying “One must continuously cultivate the awareness in T'ai Chi”). If your back leg is empty of all weight, how much muscle is needed to lift the back leg? None. This principal of emptiness is also applicable to the upper body as well.
Emptiness doesn't create movement but rather emptiness is the prerequisite for movement.
Emptiness and its Function in the Creation of Speed
In the West we are taught the quickest way to create speed is through the use of muscles contracting and relaxing - which is definitely one way of creating speed. Though effective and fairly straight forward to acquire, progress can be measured and assessed and results are immediate. Even with weight training, it's generally accepted that this form of training is still limited by the person's own physical physique, age and sex. Acquiring speed through the training of muscle involves a lot of sweat and effort and once acquired there is the extra effort involved in maintaining it. What with the shortening of the body's muscles through natural aging, this leaves one with an upward struggle to maintain this speed.
Though most people commonly know T'ai Chi as a slow gentle movement its background is firmly grounded in the martial arts, and in martial arts there are times where incredible speed is required. The written history of T'ai Chi is littered with stories of old T'ai Chi Masters exhibiting near super human speed and power. Do you really think they produced this speed through the use of muscles at their age? One of the key parts in creating this type of speed is in creating the right conditions within which this speed can be cultivated. This is where emptiness once more comes to the fore. When an object weighs next to nothing how fast can you move it - very fast. Emptiness doesn't create speed it's merely the facilitator or a conductor for speed.
The benefits that are gained by using emptiness to facilitate speed are quite numerous. I quote from the T'ai Chi Classics - specifically Yang Cheng-Fu (the grandson of the founder of the Yang style). “There must be continuity in your movements” He is not referring to the external movements of T'ai Chi but is actually referring to the internal movements.
The continuous relaxing and sinking that creates the emptiness which allows movement to take place without the use of muscle, in comparison to physical movement that is generated by constant muscle engagement and disengagement which leaves one vulnerable between these cycles. Because muscles aren't being used in the traditional sense of contraction and relaxation in the creation of movement one is not vulnerable between these two cycles, leaving you with no gaps in your defences. Because T'ai Chi doesn't rely on muscular strength for speed like other martial arts, T'ai Chi speed isn't affected by the same natural aging process as other muscular based martial arts are.
Above is just some of the qualities that Emptiness creates.
Emptiness can also create the following:
- Yielding.
- Absorption of Energy.
- Three Different Forms of Emptiness.
- How to Create Emptiness.
- Emptiness in the Prevention of Injuries.
- How Emptiness Creates Physical Endurance.
- Emptiness and its part in Listening and Sensitivity .
- Emptiness and its Part in Creating Fa-Jing.