23. Conserve Your Energy

By now, we have learned almost the entire 40-movement routine.
Only three small moves remain to be learned, so what is next? The
principles of tai chi actually suggest that the secret to mastery is that there
is no secret. In this lecture, we’ll explore the importance of qi itself.
Qi’s Meaning
● Qi is said to have four basic sources: food, the environment, air,
and prenatal chi. Prenatal chi is a spark of chi essence that you
get from your mother and your father at the moment of conception.
● The qi from these sources combines in the kidneys, according
to Chinese medicine, to mix together and make qi energy for
the body.
● Food, air, and environmental qi are replenishable, but prenatal qi
is not. Prenatal qi slowly begins to dissipate throughout a person’s
life. When it’s gone, we pass from the earth.
Tai Chi and Conservation
● Tai chi is known as a longevity practice. In the Middle Ages in
China when tai chi was coming together, life and death were a
mystery to many people. The idea that something could be done
to extend life was novel and exciting.
● How tai chi can slow down the aging process and make the most
of the qi that you have is the basic question that the tai chi masters
were posing. The simplest way to put the answer is a question:
Are you using up your qi unintentionally or are you mindful to
conserve it?
● This has relevance in the modern world because we have a
culture based on consumption. We consume goods and services.
We consume information and entertainment.
● In our physical culture, our concept of fitness rests on the science
of metabolism. We talk about burning calories when we work
out. In this model, we have to expend energy to do everything,
even think. In the world of tai chi, we find a culture based on the
conservation of energy.
Circulation and Cultivation
● According to traditional Chinese medicine, which is tied to the
foundations of tai chi, even more fundamental than metabolism is
the cycle of qi circulation and cultivation. We want to keep our qi,
not use it up.
● In addition of taking care to open up the meridians so that the qi
can circulate, we also want to take care not to leak qi accidentally.
One of the most common diagnoses that traditional Chinese
doctors make for their patients is that there are places where they
are leaking qi out.
● Often this is happening right at one of the main energy gates in the
body, the big acupuncture points along the meridians, or channels,
of qi circulation. The most notorious of these is known as the gate
of illumination or gate of life. It’s located in the low back, between
the adrenals and the kidneys. According to Chinese medicine, qi
leaking from there is the reason why low back pain disables so
many people.
● Another place where we leak qi is through the mouth. There’s
a stereotype of the tai chi or kung fu master as silent, dour, and
inscrutable. This leads to the assumption that they are secretive
and only share what they know with specially selected students, if
at all. This is not always true. Another way to view the masters is
to keep in mind that they know that talking leaks energy. They call
it spitting out qi.
● The lesson of conserving qi is a conscious metaphor about not
wasting life. Cultivating qi is how you become a better person. It
raises your spirit and energy so that you can become a person
who can make a contribution to the world that you live in. Qi is life,
and life is precious. Don’t waste either.