卜杭賓

Its been three years since I learned the rudiments 1 of the Tai-Chi “forms，” as theyre called. Slow-motion kung fu—thats probably the best way to describe what Tai-Chi looks like. But its not primarily a martial art. Its a series of continuously shifting stances2 which the mass and energy of the body flow through with serene slow-motion grace.

Tai-Chi is better than yoga because yoga is a series of static forms， the isometrics3 of energy exercises， while Tai-Chi is constant movement and flow. It offers the experience of moving muscular grace rather than the mere statuelike “correct postures” of yoga. I know yoga addicts will howl at4 this， but its true. Tai-Chi will give the spinal column， joints and ligaments5 the same limberness6 and resilience7 as yoga but without all that cross-legged sitting around.

In addition yoga sessions tend to leave you so relaxed and blissed out8 that youre ready for a nap， while Tai-Chi relaxes and energizes—its more of an upper9 than a downer10 among Eastern exercises.

Tai-Chi offers you more than weight lifting. It builds the strength and resilience of the muscles from the inside out rather than just piling lumps of tissue on top. Tai-Chi in a way is like lifting weights internally—it strengthens the body by lifting and shifting ones own weight. And it shifts more than weight; it moves harmonizing energy through your body in the way the stressful straining of weight lifting will not. This energy the Chinese call chi， and instead of “pumping iron，” Tai-Chi has the effect of systematically pumping chi throughout the body.

Tai-Chi offers more than the specifically therapeutic “bioenergetic” type exercises11 that have become popular in various forms of the human-potential movement， although some of those are based on Tai-Chi principles of centering and activating growth energy. Tai-Chi acts more subtly on the whole body rather than attacking specific physical and emotional complexes with the often dramatic， tearful and painful results of bioenergetics and rolfing12.

The only problem with recommending Tai-Chi so highly—also a problem with writing about it—is that you cant learn it from a book， you cant really describe it in words—you have to see it in action. You have to learn it from a live teacher and not from stop-action still photographs of the exotically named “forms.” Because its the movement from one form to another， the motion rather than the postures， that is the essence of the exercise.

There are several different schools or styles of Tai-Chi， but the important thing is not the denomination13 of your Tai-Chi teacher but whether hes able to communicate the feeling of what youre looking for.

You need an inspiring teacher because the learning can seem strange and mechanical at first， and it takes a while before the grace emerges in your own movements. At first its hard to remember all the steps and hand movements that you have to make for the transition. The connections seem arbitrary.

But if you practice it daily， slowly step by step， eventually the movements begin to lose their formal mechanistic quality. They seem to have a flowing liquid muscular logic to them; each one grows out of the other. Each becomes inevitable， satisfying， graceful， just. Your mind becomes more absorbed by the movements and they seem to propel themselves as you fill and empty one form after another.

Its hard to explain the purpose of the slow-motion movement through the exotic forms but an oceanic metaphor helps.

If you imagine rows of ocean waves rolling toward a shore， think of the body as the mass rolling its liquid weight through the rising and falling wave forms of the Tai-Chi movements. Indeed there is something oceanic about the deeply satisfying rhythms of Tai-Chi movement. People who meditate and are used to achieving the experience by keeping the body still and rising up through the mind will be pleasantly surprised by the way Tai-Chi allows the body to become the ground of meditation， the site of transcendence14 rather than something to be escaped from. People familiar with Taoism will discover that Tai-Chi incarnates15 Taoist principles in the flesh， that it is a way to the consciousness described in the Tao Te Ching of Laotze. Yoga students will be amazed that the prana16， or life energy， can be evoked and propelled throughout the body by the exercises.

Tai-Chi communicates a sense of purposefulness to the other areas of life， a sense of the way to gather energy， concentrate， direct and fulfill it in movement.

Tai-Chi can take the jangling17 discordant mental electricity of nervous energy， anxiety and stress and channel it through the passageways of the body， transmuting18 it into harmonious and useful energy.

It can center you， get you back in touch with your body， gradually break up neurotic character armorings and all those things bioenergetic therapies focus on. Its better than Valium19 for tension and works more quickly.

It will subtly， gradually but permanently transform your internal musculature20 so that your breathing and posture will naturally fulfill their greatest potential for energy and power. Even the very act of walking becomes a newly pleasurable experience of rising from and sinking into the propulsive forces of your body.

No， its not a panacea21， but as people get more sophisticated about their physical highs22， looking less to drugs and more to the potentials of the body as a source of transcendence， Tai-Chi has a lot of unique advantages.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?■

我學習所謂的基礎太極拳“招式”已經三年。慢速功夫可能是描述太極拳樣態(tài)的最佳用詞。但太極拳本質上不是一種武術。它是一系列不斷變化的姿勢;身體的質量和能量以平靜慢速的優(yōu)雅流通其中。

太極拳優(yōu)于瑜伽，因為瑜伽是一系列靜態(tài)姿勢，是關于能量練習的靜力鍛煉法，而太極拳是不斷的運動和流動。它提供了一種優(yōu)雅的肌肉運動體驗，而非像瑜伽那樣只是雕像般的“正確姿勢”。我知道瑜伽愛好者會怒吼反對，但事實的確如此。太極拳能像瑜伽那樣讓脊柱、關節(jié)、韌帶變得柔韌、有彈性，但不用像瑜伽那樣盤腿坐。

此外，瑜伽練習容易讓你感到放松愉悅，以致昏昏欲睡，而太極拳則既能讓人放松，又使人精力充沛——在東方人的鍛煉活動中，它更多的是讓人興奮而非加以抑制。

比起舉重，太極拳給人更多裨益。太極拳由內而外增強肌肉的力量和彈性，而非只是在上層猛力堆積組織塊。某種程度上，太極拳就像內在的舉重——通過提舉和轉移自身重量強健身體。它轉移的不只是重量;它讓起調和作用的能量在體內運動，這是舉重運動壓力巨大的拉伸所做不到的。中國人稱這種能量為“氣”;與“舉重強健肌肉”不同，太極拳將“氣”系統(tǒng)地注入體內，使其流貫全身。

特定的“生物能量”治療鍛煉以各種形式的人類潛能運動而盛行，盡管其中一些以太極拳聚氣和運氣的原則為基礎，但太極拳帶來的好處超過那類治療鍛煉。生物能量療法和羅爾芬按摩療法能夠解決特定的身體與情緒問題，但常常帶來流淚、痛苦等強烈效果;太極拳則不是那樣，而是更微妙地作用于全身。

如此強烈推薦太極拳的唯一問題——也是寫文章談太極拳的一個問題——就是你不能從書本上學，你無法真正用文字描述它——你必須在動作中去看。你必須現場跟老師學，而不是跟逐格拍攝、命名奇異的“招式”靜態(tài)照片學。因為太極拳是從一式到另一式的運動，是動作而非姿勢，那才是這項拳術的本質。

太極拳有幾種不同的派別和風格，但重要的不是太極拳老師的派別，而是他能否傳達你在尋找的那種感覺。

你需要一個啟發(fā)能力強的老師，因為學習太極拳可能一開始看似奇怪、呆板，需假以時日，你自己的動作才會變得優(yōu)雅。一開始很難記住所有招式之間過渡的步法和手勢。它們之間的連接似乎是隨意的。

但如果你每天練習，一步步慢慢練，這些動作最終會開始褪去其拘謹、呆板的特性。肌肉似乎找到了流暢的運動規(guī)律，一招一式環(huán)環(huán)相扣。每個動作都變得順理成章、圓滿舒暢、優(yōu)雅平穩(wěn)、恰到好處。這些動作會讓你的意念更加專注，隨著不斷地蓄力放力，招式會行云流水般自動推進。

很難通過太極拳的奇異招式來解釋這項慢速運動的目的，但是以海洋打比方會有所幫助。

如果想象層層海浪向海岸奔涌而來的樣子，那就把身體看作海浪般的質量體，其液態(tài)體重隨著太極拳招式的起伏不斷翻涌。太極拳令人心怡的節(jié)奏中的確具有某種海洋的特質。有些人習慣通過保持身體靜止、達到意念躍升的方式進行冥想，而太極拳則將身體變成冥想之所、超驗之地，而非某種要逃避之物，這會讓冥想的人喜出望外。熟悉道家的人會發(fā)現，太極拳可謂道家思想的化身，它通向老子《道德經》中所描述的思維境界。練瑜伽的人會感到驚詫，太極拳可以喚醒和推動全身的生命能量（梵語為prana）。

太極拳向人生的其他領域傳遞一種目標意識，感受如何聚焦能量并在運動中集中、引導和利用能量。

太極拳可以抓住緊張、焦慮、壓力這些令人煩躁且不甚協(xié)調的情緒，引導它穿過身體的各個通道，將其轉化為和諧而有用的能量。

太極拳可以讓你集中于自身，重新了解身體，逐漸破除神經質型性格防御，擺脫生物能量療法所關注的全部事物。這比安定劑還適合減壓，起效更快。

太極拳會微妙地、逐漸但永久地轉變內在肌肉系統(tǒng)，這樣呼吸和姿勢自然而然會發(fā)揮其潛在的最大能量和力量。即便只是走路，也會成為新的愉悅體驗，感受身體各種推力帶動步伐的起落。

不，太極拳不是萬靈藥，但當人們越來越了解身體的最佳狀態(tài)，越來越不仰仗藥物，而是更多地依靠各種身體潛能來獲得超脫感，那么太極拳便具有很多獨特的優(yōu)勢。 ? ? □

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）