The gentle, flowing movements of t’ai chi, as well as its roots in the martial arts, go back four thousand years. The original motivation behind its creation was two-fold: self-defense and spiritual cultivation.
In Tai Chi Chuan Classical Yang Style by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, we learn that the Yang style in its current form began in the 1800s in China. Yang Lu-chan studied t’ai chi and returned to his hometown to teach. People called his style Yang Style, Soft Style or Neutralizing Style, because his motions were soft and able to neutralize his opponent’s power.
That is the idea behind “Repulsing the Monkey Thoughts,” the fourth sequence in the 13-sequence long form.
Repulsing the Monkey Thoughts is one movement repeated five times: a gentle, moderate-length step backward, with feet parallel and hip distance apart. Meanwhile the opposite hand rises from the hip and gently pushes out at about mid-chest height. As the practitioner rests the weight in the back foot, the forward hand suggests a calming, firm grounding and deflecting.
The movement shows the anticipation of all that wild monkey energy approaching, then a step back out of the way, while the extended hand serves to deflect the direction of the opposing force, just past one’s shoulder, off to the periphery. Here are a couple of ways to think about this.
Picture a sailboat tacking into the wind, zigzagging diagonally. It’s impossible to make forward progress into a headwind, but by employing the strategy of turning to each diagonal direction, that wind billows off to the side, thus infusing the sail with forward motion. Each tack passes through the center of the energy for indirect progress on the diagonal path.
Next, remember the big two-pronged magnets from elementary school. When you face the ends together so that the two poles push against each other, they jostle and resist. That force create energy to send the movement to one side or another. When holding the two magnets, the directional force is quite palpable and dramatic.
When we perform the t’ai chi sequence of Repulsing the Monkey Thoughts, we enact our constant challenges with distraction. It’s a way of moving that we might apply to a way of thinking: how could we let the energy of distraction defeat itself. Could we let the force dissipate into the air instead of taking a direct hit? That would save our own energy and invite our imaginary opponent to expend theirs. Just a gentle step back keeps us vertical and sane, while the gently pushing hand provides a little extra insurance. The five repetitions also allow for patience—the reality is that distractions will keep coming our way—and gives an opportunity to re-ground ourselves.
Here’s a link to my series of short videos of the movement, for reflection and practice if you wish. https://www.northernstardenver.com/sequence-by-sequence-tai-chi-lessons-simplify-clarify/ Repulsing the Monkey Thoughts can be seen in the beginning of the third video.
