鬆・柔、虚・空、円・満 Song-Rou, Xu-Kong, Yuan-Man

These 6 characters effectively describe the development of mind and body in the practice of Tai Chi Chuan.

As we progress in keiko, a number of mind-body characteristics start to develop: 鬆 “Song” meaning relaxation, 柔 “Rou” (the character for flexibility, meaning soft resilience), 虚・空 “Xu-Kong” (the characters for deficiency and emptiness, meaning that within ourselves we respond naturally to stimulus from outside), 円・満 “Yuan-MAN” (the characters for round and full, meaning that we are naturally filled up with universal KI energy).

鬆 “Song” means relax, or loosening.

柔 “Rou” means “soft and flexible” We also have three additional Chinese characters that express similar feelings: 軟 (“Ruan”, meaning soft and fluid), 軽 (“Zhi,” meaning soft and lightweight), and 静 (“Jin,” meaning soft and quiet).

So never stop thinking about “Song-Rou” whenever you do standing meditation, kata or push- hands.

松・柔 “Song-Rou” becomes a growing part of your awareness, your inner self will be more and more filled with deficiency and emptiness.

True natural movement begins from true internal deficiency and emptiness; then your body will respond easily and gently to outside stimulus.

A relaxed body makes instantaneous judgements from the skin sensors and other input, and responds naturally and appropriately.

There are many famous Chinese medical texts that contain information related to Tai Chi, making it very difficult to distinguish any essential difference between martial arts and medicine. Meditation returns the inner Tanden to its ideal state, filled with the same life-force as a newborn baby. This is the same as the ideal state in martial arts. In other words, the spiritually of Chinese martial arts is the power to live as a natural human being.

From an article written by Professor Tomoji Miyamoto, Chuo University:

“The World of Ma Chang Xun, Fourth-Generation Master of Traditional Wu-style Tai Chi” Chinese Martial Arts for the Body, Mind, and Spirit –