Cogging

for Tim Walker

The purpose of my teacher's Tai Chi, and his Heartwork in particular, is to make the student so immediate – so energetically present and ready – that engagement and connexion are no longer a matter of choice but instead happen naturally and inevitably because of this immediacy. A consequence of this is that the student's energy – however much they have, a lot or a little, it doesn't matter – isn't just available instantly, it has already cogged into their environment and the beings in it. My teacher always used to say that if you find yourself in a fight then your Tai Chi has failed you. This was interpreted by his students as meaning that the Tai Chi adept should have developed the sensitivity to feel belligerence in the air well in advance of its physical manifestation, and the wisdom to avoid it. He may well have meant that when he said it (at least 20 years ago), but I don't think he'd mean that now, or not in important situations. He would now argue that if your practice has given you this ability to cog into your environment – this active immediacy – then your very presence transforms that environment and dispels that belligerence. And if it doesn't and you find yourself in a fight then so be it – far better than starting to practice either retreat or avoidance (both the same thing really). This world of cogging – knitting – energies is the world of the heart, hence Heartwork. Your ch'i may reside in your belly but there is part of your energy that is everywhere and it is this part that needs to be developed if we want to learn to yield or to make a difference all of the time. If you reside in the heart of others and you improve then you also improve them. If you do something stupid and hurtful, if only to yourself, then you also hurt them. This is responsibility. The acknowledgment of this aspect of connectedness is respect. Active respect is not just putting the other first but engaging your energy so that the connexion deepens. This is spiritual progress for both of you.