Why Chen's

Peace

Principle:  Relax

The second principle of Taiji, and therefore peace, is relaxation. Relaxation can take years, depending on the student's background and willingness to be flexible, and if the teacher does not "loot a burning house,"—take advantage of a student's desire to make money.

The word relaxation is not wrong, for that is the state to be reached. It is, however, slightly misleading. A better translation would render "a calm mind"—a peaceful mind—or even better yet, peace of mind. In our society, peace of mind is one of the hardest states to achieve because we are told through media and social interaction to be discontent. Dissatisfaction drives consumerism, which in turn fuels our economy.

Nonetheless, the animal part of our nature, our body, is so receptive to peace of mind that the mere suggestion sustained over time loosens tension, aligns the body, and facilitates deep breathing. Static or standing yogic postures are exceedingly useful in generating peace of mind suggestions for the body.

Sifu knew when a student began to experience peace of mind. The relaxed sensation was visible, allowing the introduction of the Eight Energies.

Imagine pulling eight distinct energy patterns out of Chen's Taiji's energy flow. The one pictured here is the fourth energy, An. Although the footwork, body, and hand positioning are slightly inaccurate, they serve their purpose. The Eight Energies could be taught as "static" yoga-like postures, but Sifu Chen preferred to string the same move together and keep it in motion. 

Here, a distinction must be made between the energies for health and those same energies for self-defense. The Eight Energies for Health builds the student's constitution. Once a student was familiar with the Eight for Health, the Five Elements were added to the Eight for self-defense application, becoming the Thirteen Methods; more on those later.