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International communication in

Taijiquan course

Zhu Xiaomin

Department of Philosophy, Peking University / Research Center for

Science Communication, Peking University

From February to June 2022, I offered the course, Traditional Taijiquan: Philosophy and Practice, for the first time in Global Open Courses Program. There were ten overseas students enrolled in this course (one offline student, nine online students, and there were also some students who occasionally came as guest students), and they were from Norway, Spain, France, Egypt, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Brazil, etc. After reviewing and marking the final papers in late June, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that some cross-cultural communication topics involved in the Taijiquan course were worth reviewing and discussing.

When designing the syllabus, based on the belief that traditional Taijiquan is a discipline for cultivating the moral self, regulating the family, and governing the state (“The civil lead the world to peace through Tai Chi”), I decided that the course should not be limited to historical materials and terminology explanations, but include a certain amount of practical experience. As the course was conducted, to my surprise, all the students were very interested and motivated to participate in the practical section. The original plan was to arrange two-thirds of the course delivering lectures and one-third of the time doing practical exercises, but we quickly made an adjustment to alternate one lecture class and one practical exercise class. When talking about the requirements for the final paper at the very beginning of the course, I suggested that students should document their personal feelings about practicing Taijiquan and try to analyze and discuss them in the final papers (within an academic research framework). Judging from assignments, most of the students did an amazing job, and it was from their perceptions and experiences that they bring forward many interesting cross-cultural communication topics.

First, I will introduce the details of our practical exercise section, which is roughly divided into four parts:

The first section is “Practice Basic”, which consists of more than ten exercises, and is done to warm up. This session includes the exercise of the mother strength of traditional taijiquan (Pengjin) to feel the movement of inner qi; flexibility exercises, such as different methods to shake shoulder in taijiquan and tongbeiquan (Through the Back Fist), press leg diagonally (use elbow tip to touch toe tip, etc.); balance exercises,such as a one-minute of golden pheasant standing on one leg; wave hands like a cloud in situ (stretch the arms by the rotating spine); kick foot in situ from the inside out, together with hands; the most fulfilling exercise, squat before the wall of Wu-style Taijiquan: standing facing the wall with toes touching it, squatting down and standing up for more than three times.

Classroom flexibility exercise: use elbow tip to touch the toe front

The so-called masters are those who practice basic skills and move on a daily basis. We require all students to practice basic moves every day and strongly advocate the concept of one-minute practice in one square meter, rendering a large block of time, professional venues, and special clothing and equipment nonessential for taijiquan practice. Everyone can do it anytime and anywhere in 1 minute and 1 square meter; every physical move can be utilized for Tai Chi practice and even daily chores can be a process to appreciate Zen. This innovative concept, which contradicts the Western perception of sports that it should be specialized and professional, gained wide popularity among students. Judging from the feedback, most of them persisted in daily practice, no matter how much time they had, and of course, they were all rewarded with something great in the end. Once, I mentioned that there is a traditional master who practices golden pheasant standing on one legwhile taking the subway, and soon there were students attempting to do the same on the train, exhibiting their serious attitude and strong interest toward taijiquan.

The second part is “Practice New”, which teaches one or two new Taijiquan movements that can be connected to each other randomly to form a routine. It mainly selects the representative movements of various branches, such as Grasp the Bird's Tail which is the mother movement of Yang style, Parry and Punch (Yang Luchan also has a nickname of Parrying and Punching Yang), White Crane Spreads its Wings, and Brush Knee and Twist Step from Yang-style Taijiquan; Lazily Tying Coat which is the mother movement of Wu/Hao style, Repulse the Monkey, and Part the Wild Horse's Mane from Wu/Hao Style Taijiquan; Wave hands like clouds, Fair Lady Works at Shuttles fromWu-style Taijiquan; Chen-style’s Crane Dancing; the Wudang Tai Chi’s double pushing and so on.

The third part is “Practice Different”, which mainly illustrates the moves that have a uniform name but are performed differently in various Taijiquan genres, in this case, students can have comprehension and feelings of specific classic moves from various perspectives. Take Wave Hands Like Clouds as an example, there are Yang-style, Wu/Hao style, Chen’s Cross legs step, Wu’s 270° style, and pushing forward style from Wudang Tai Chi, etc. Additionally, Repulse monkey is conducted in straight-line backward in Yang-style and is performed in rotation in Wu/Hao style; Brush Knee and Twist Step have variants like Yang-style 85 movement and the old sixth-part style; and there are Yang style, Wu style, and simplified 24 movement Taijiquan for Fair Lady Works at Shuttles.

Finally, comes the fourth part – “Practice Old”. It is a conclusion part to review new movements that have been learned. However, it was impossible to repeat all of them in every single class because there are a total of twenty moves as the course continues. Therefore, I asked each student to pick their favorite one and practiced it together with Chinese and foreign music appropriate to Taijiquan. This is the most active part of the class and has the most dynamic atmosphere. Some of the moves frequently picked by students are Parry and Punch, Wave Hands Like Cloud, White Crane Spreads its Wings, Grasp the Bird's Tail, Brush Knee and Twist Step, Repulse the Monkey, Double Pushing, and Crane Dancing.

For some traditional taijiquan masters, the key to learning taijiquan is to change one’s perceptions and notions. I include and concentrate on the background conceptional knowledge behind Taijiquan in every class. I explain and demonstrate it in the practical exercise sections with the performance of classic moves. For these foreign students who were new to taijiquan, the core concepts of it were amazing and they felt it reasonable to apply them in daily life. Their physical and mental painfulness and anxieties were thus relieved by practicing it, and they expressed their desire to continue their exercise even after the course. Many students mentioned their unique and special feelings about specific concepts in their assignments: slow and soft (The movements are conducted slowly with relaxed muscles, rather than straining body and mind); using will rather than strength (Rely on the will to carry out qi and the movements are all from the inside out like a spring pouring, such as the movement of Parting the Mane of Wild Horse should be like a flower blooming from heart, not rigidly nor stagnantly, but naturally); overall harmony (“One branch moving, a hundred branches shaking”. Any action is not limited to a single part of the body and should not be performed in separate intermittent steps such as one, two, three, four, etc. The force and strength should be carried out to the end with the whole body’s coordination, both internally and externally). Many students had the habit of jogging, weightlifting, playing ball games, or other western confrontational sports, but they were all impressed by traditional Taijiquan philosophy, which gave them a completely unique experience and actual benefits. The following are some representative examples:

Norwegian student M spent more than eight hours studying or working every day and felt stiffer and stiffer and out of shape. For this, he exercised every day, but the outcome was not satisfying, feeling increasingly depressed and even pessimistic with a thought like “I have not yet gotten an undergraduate degree, what I’m going to do with my physical health in twenty years” But after practicing Taijiquan for only fourteen weeks, he found his body started to become more flexible and his mental health improved.

M also suffered from a malformed clubfoot, resulting in weaker muscle strength in one leg than the other, and problems with keeping balance. For a long time, he tried to strengthen the muscles of his ill leg through various treatments and exercises, but the results were not satisfactory. After taking my Taijiquan class, he improved his sense of balance by practicing the Golden Pheasant Standing on One Leg (which requires the whole body to stay stable internally, feel comfortable, and support all directions –up and down, left and right, front and back, inside and outside, etc -- of the human body) every day. He thus realized that the balance of the body is systematic from the inside out and that the previous treatment and rehabilitation obviously could not achieve the same effect (which reminds one of the Western medical sayings: “treat the head when it hurts and treat the foot when it hurts”). He highly complimented that the results of his practice were “positive and satisfying” and he enjoyed the process so much that would vow to make it a part of his life.

Canadian student L, the only offline student, loves to lift weights and has been doing so for many years, and is quite strong and sturdy. During the flexibility exercises and Tai Chi Push Hands, it was easy to notice that his muscles were large and stiff, and his sensitivity and flexibility were affected by it. After learning and comprehending the flexibility concept, L wanted to combine Taijiquan with his favorite weightlifting sport, and therefore, “Taijiquan and Weightlifting” was his thesis title. By comparison, he found that taijiquan emphasized the integration of whole-body movements, while weightlifting focuses on isolated muscle training, often even targeting one muscle at a time. He believed that the relaxation of Taijiquan would allow his muscles to be more efficiently adjusted and rested, and also have a better awareness of his own body, thus further improving his weightlifting performance. After several months of comparative practice and reflection on Taijiquan and weightlifting, L concluded that the fact Taijiquan initiates and integrates all might by the elixir field (Dantian) was very inspiring for his weightlifting training, while the relaxation and balance of Taijiquan also helped him reduce unnecessary muscle tension, and it is easier to get inner peace and smooth negative emotions. After much comparison and coordination, he finally decided to change his weightlifting training from evening to morning, and to concentrate on taijiquan in the evening to relax, sleep sound, and recover from morning tensive training. L expressed his desire to find a better balance between “firmness” (weightlifting) and “softness” (Tai Chi).

Y is a very hardworking Spanish girl who is studying for two undergraduate degrees at the same time. She spent a lot of time every day in front of the computer, taking notes, reading papers, and writing assignments. Therefore, gradually, her body reached its limit and became exhausted, and she was even absent from class due to illness. Since last September, she has been suffering from heart palpitations, back pain, severe insomnia, anxiety, and other symptoms, although she tried swimming and exercising, the effect was not satisfying. After taking the Tai Chi class in February and practicing it every day, she noticed that “All the symptoms gradually reduced”. By practicing the movement of Waving Hands Like Clouds, with the arms driven by the rotating spine, Y perceived heat and energy flowing inside her body, and she felt excited about the appearance of “inner qi”, which is very common in taijiquan practice. Everyone feels taijiquan differently and uniquely, which is thus called “Ten peoples have ten kinds of Tai Chi”. During the semester, we have another traditional taijiquan activity every Friday at noon on campus which cooperates with the class. One of the Peking university teachers felt her feet getting hot after learning Peng Jin for the first time (it's easier for ordinary taijiquan learners to feel hot energy in their hands, but hard to get their feet hot). Everyone was in awe and they teased, “So you are the top one in a million martial arts masters!”.

Testing each other's “internal qi” in the classroom

Y practiced taijiquan seriously and diligently. She fell down many times to practice squatting before the wall. She once doubted why her teacher and other students could do it easily while she couldn’t, but she persevered and practiced even harder. Finally, two weeks before the end of the semester, she announced with great joy that she had conquered squat before the wall. Through the practice, her mental anxiety and stress were alleviated and she was pleased to find that even 5 minutes of Taijiquan practice before bedtime greatly improved her sleeping quality. Her interest thus increased, and she started to practice twice a day, devoting more time and energy to the study of taijiquan. As a result, she also realized the difference between Taijiquan and western sports: Taijiquan “was based on accepting your thoughts, relaxing your body and controlling your mind”, and “moving with synchronizing and harmony”.

J is a Singaporean Chinese student of Chaoshan origin, and she was the only student who wrote homework in Chinese (We encourage foreign students to learn Chinese as early as possible, as quickly as possible, and as much as possible to better perceive taijiquan). J had formed a habit of drinking Chaoshan kung fu tea since childhood and had twenty-year experience in making and drinking tea. After my class, she realized that there were similarities between the two, so she finally titled her dissertation “Taijiquan and Kung Fu Tea”. The process of brewing and performing kung fu tea requires consistent movements and a calm and stable state of mind, no rush, no slowness. Therefore, the “looseness” of taijiquan especially helped her tea art to be smooth and natural in the process of making tea. “It is not only a visual enhancement but also a more optimal experience for the tea maker”.

K, also from Norway, had chronic back pain and had tried various modern western medical treatments, such as muscle massages, physiotherapists, and chiropractors, but the results were unsatisfactory. After four-month taijiquan practices, his back pain problem was relieved. He was impressed by more than this: he felt actual heat and “internal qi” flowed inside his body for the first time in his life from the exercise of Pengjin (the mother strength of traditional taijiquan), squatting before the wall improved his balance, and Waving Hands Like Clouds driven by the spine force alleviated his symptoms of tennis elbow. After reading some papers, he discovered that back pain was a common social phenomenon in the West, with 1/4 of Westerners suffering from this problem. He realized that the relaxation and holistic treatment of Taijiquan which emphasized the inside-out process could potentially be the alternative for the medical treatment and rehabilitation of back pain in the West. Therefore, he concluded by recommending that Taijiquan should be included in the alternative treatment of back pain in the West, and “the vast positive effects of Taijiquan should no longer be ignored”.

Most foreign students are curious when they first encounter the concept of Taijiquan and are often surprised by the positive outcomes of diligent practice. For example, French student N mentioned several times in his homework that the “water flowing” movements and concepts of Taijiquan were very “graceful” and gave him a very distinct life experience. Compared to Chinese students, foreign students seem to be more longing for realistic outcomes and use them to prove hypotheses and theories, so they normally have better performance in my class. For example, in recent years, only one Chinese graduate student in my class every term could complete the squat before the wall in the course (this implies a suspicious attitude toward one's own cultural traditions, or even considering it as a “strange power”, which is quite similar to the situation of Traditional Chinese Medicine). Whereas, in this global class, five students completed the course in the fifth week, which is quite exciting because even the simplest move – “Asian squat” was difficult and hard for these students at the beginning.

Most students mentioned that doing western sports and yoga are relatively more likely to injure themselves, while taijiquan is far from a mechanical movement of the limbs. Its looseness, gentleness, and coordination of mind and body not only help to relieve physical injuries and discomfort, but also contribute to physical and spiritual peace and harmony. It is fair to say that through the combination of classroom discussion and practical exercise, students had a very good understanding of this traditional Chinese martial art. Heidegger said that human beings feel close to each other because of similarities, and they are curious about each other because of differences. Obviously, the different backgrounds and unique perspectives of the foreign students, in turn, enhanced our own perceptions greatly, such as Japanese student T's paper on “Taijiquan and Judo”, and Brazilian student D's paper on “Taijiquan and Brazilian Capoeira”. The quiet and gentle Egyptian girl H talked about Chinese kung fu in her homework passionately, and the Singaporean student J, who used to practice Aikido, wrote to us that her deep understanding and experience of “qi” in the taijiquan class had improved her knowledge in Aikido.

A martial arts teacher who saw my syllabus before the beginning of the school year kindly reminded me that the class content ranged from the movements and the routines to stake-standing and pushing hands were probably too much and too complicated to actually carry out in class. But I don't agree with him. In traditional taijiquan, it often takes three years to learn a single movement, and there is a saying that “You can’t go out even if you have been practicing taijiquan for ten years” (which means that you may not be able to “master kung fu” even if you have been practicing for ten years, showing the complex, exquisite and so difficult to master taijiquan). In fact, taijiquan is a process of continuous awareness, perfecting life naturally, uniting body and mind, and building self-roundedness. In short, it’s a never-ending process that whether it will be complete or not doesn’t matter. Cheng Man-ch'ing once lamented that it took him 50 years of practice before he had a real understanding of the “looseness” of Taijiquan, and it is difficult to divide the learning process to clear stages and set fixed goals. In addition, as “one tree, one bodhi, one person, one tai chi”, everyone's perception and excitement of taijiquan are different. And because of various individuality, teaching cannot and should not be standardized. At the beginning of every class, Wang Peisheng always says to his new students that “I'm here with you by fate”, and he emphasizes that learning Taijiquan “is not a matter of thinking without practicing, nor practicing without thinking”. Yang Yuting believes that traditional taijiquan does not have any routines at all, “I wave my hands and everything of tai chi is there”. There are no actual rules in taijiquan, and to move is probably the solo principle. We only open a window by providing a unique and insightful concept of Taijiquan and a colorful and individualized practice experience. Perhaps a movement or a concept will be a seed of Tai Chi that will sprout in the students' hearts. The rest is just a process to educate students according to their own specialty and let them grow naturally.

We may need to go beyond the modern Western teaching and research paradigms and principles to present our own traditional cultural course of Taijiquan in a more comprehensive, localized, and natural way, offering the world a diverse option that is colored with Chinese characteristics. Besides, a variety of unique understandings and accomplishments from overseas students in my class from the Global Open Courses program have provided new shining lights to Chinese civilization. Undoubtedly, it also further strengthened our confidence in spreading Taijiquan to the world and doing it by “walking our own path”.

Translated by WU Tianpeng

Access the Chinese version of this article here: /system/go.jsp?treeid=1041&apptype=content&urltype=news.NewsContentUrl&param=wbnewsid%3D1083

Next：太极拳课上的中外交流

太极拳课上的中外交流

朱效民

北京大学哲学系 / 北京大学科学传播研究中心

2022年2月至6月，我首次在北大全球课堂开设了“传统太极拳：哲学与实践”的课程。有10位外国学生选修（线下1人，偶尔有来旁听的，线上9人），分别来自挪威、西班牙、法国、埃及、新加坡、日本、加拿大、巴西等国。6月下旬批改完大家的期末论文后，我颇感到意外和惊喜，课程期间涉及太极拳的一些中外文化交流的议题很值得回顾和探讨。

设计课程大纲时，本着传统太极拳首先是一门修身养性、乃至齐家治国（“文以太极安天下”）的学问的理念，我决定这门课的内容绝不能只在历史史料和名词概念上打转转，必须有一定量的传统太极拳实践体验的内容。随着课程的展开，出乎意料，所有学生对实践部分都兴致盎然、参与积极性非常高，原计划课堂时间2/3专题讲座，1/3具体实践，但很快我们就调整为一节课专题讲座，一节课实践体验了。开学伊始谈到期末论文的要求，我就建议大家平时记录下自己的实践感受，在论文中最好结合自己习练太极拳的亲身体会展开一些分析讨论（当然要在一个学术研究框架中进行论述）。从大家的作业看，多数人都很好地做到了这一点，也正是从他们的实践感悟中揭示出不少有趣的中外文化交流的话题。

首先介绍一下我们课程实践的内容，大致分为4个部分：

一是“基本功”部分（Practice Basic），有10来项，每次课首先做这部分练习，同时也是为了热身。包括传统太极拳的母劲——掤劲的练习，以感受内气的运行；柔韧性的练习，如太极拳、通背拳的不同涮肩方法，斜压腿——肘尖碰脚尖等；平衡的练习，如金鸡独立一分钟；原地云手，依靠脊柱带动手臂由内而外活动开；原地蹬脚，同样由内及外、手脚合一；以及大家集体最有成就感的吴式太极拳蹲墙功：面墙而立，脚尖触墙，蹲下起立3次以上。

图注：课堂柔韧性练习：肘尖触脚尖

所谓大师者，就是天天练基本功的人。我们要求大家每日练习基本功，提倡1分钟练太极拳、1平米练太极拳的理念——不需要拿出整块的时间，也无须专业的场地、服装和器械，随时随地可以利用1分钟的时间和1平方米的地方进行练习。 举手投足皆太极，担水劈柴可修禅，太极拳要融入日常的生活——这种有别于西方专业化运动的、也即生活化的太极理念很受大家的喜爱。从作业反馈来看，绝大部分人无论时间多寡都做到了每天练习太极拳，也取得了相应的收获。某次课上，我提及有传统师傅乘坐地铁时练金鸡独立，不久就有学生在火车上尝试如何站金鸡独立，可见其认真和感兴趣。

二是“每课新学”部分（Practice New），每次课会教一两个新的太极拳单式动作，不同单式之间可以任意衔接而成套路。主要选取太极拳各门派的代表性动作，如杨式太极拳的母式——揽雀尾、搬拦捶（杨露禅亦有“杨搬拦”之称）、白鹤亮翅、搂膝拗步等，武式太极拳的母式——懒扎衣、倒撵猴、野马分鬃等，另外如吴式的云手、玉女穿梭等，陈式的鹤舞，武当太极的双推式等等。

三是“和而不同”部分（Practice Different），这一部分主要包括各门派太极拳同一动作名称的不同打法，以让大家对一些经典动作有更多角度的理解和感受。以云手为例，有杨式云手、武式云手、陈式的交叉步云手、吴式太极拳270°的云手、以及武当太极向前的云手等；此外，倒撵猴有杨式直线倒退的和武式旋转的两种方式；搂膝拗步有杨式85式与老六路的不同打法；玉女穿梭则有杨、武式及24式太极拳的简化版等等。

四是“温故知新”部分（Practice Old），该部分主要是每课新学动作的总汇。随着课程的进行，累计的动作有约20个，不可能每次课都重复一遍，我就请每位同学挑选自己最喜欢或最有感觉的一个动作，大家一起来练习，同时配上与太极拳相适应的中外音乐。这部分大家的参与积极性最高，也是整个课堂气氛最活跃的时刻。经常被大家选上的动作有：搬拦捶、云手、白鹤亮翅、揽雀尾、搂膝拗步、倒撵猴、双推式、鹤舞等等。

有传统太极拳师傅明言，学太极拳关键是观念的转变。我在每次课的专题讲座中也会重点阐述相关的太极拳理念的背景知识，并在实践部分借助代表性的动作再做说明和演示。对于这些大多首次接触太极拳的外国学生来说，传统太极拳的核心理念让他们感觉非常神奇，认真练习后亦觉得可行可信——一些同学在身心方面的病痛和焦虑也相应得到了缓解，他们因而纷纷表示即使课程结束了也要继续练习太极拳。许多同学在作业中反复提及一些传统太极拳的独特而又让他们深有感触的理念：缓慢松柔——动作多是肌肉放松的情况下徐徐展开的，而不是使肌肉和身心紧张；用意不用力——以意行气，以气运身，动作无不由内而外如泉涌出，不僵不滞，自然而然，如野马分鬃的动作，要求从心里面像开花一般依次打开身体和双臂；整体和谐，一动无有不动——“一枝动，百枝摇”，任何动作不是局部的单一部位的动作，没有分开间断的1、2、3、4的步骤，而是一气流行、一劲到底、周身协调、内外相合。不少同学平时都有跑步以及举重、打球等西方对抗性运动的健身习惯，但却无不感叹按照传统太极拳的理念，短短一学期的实践练习就让他们有了完全不同的切身体会、并取得了实实在在的效果。下面择其有代表性的要点概述之。

M同学来自挪威, 他因每天无论读书还是打工都须伏案8小时以上，感觉身体越来越僵硬，体型也有不良变化，为此他天天锻炼，但效果并不好，心情日益低落，甚至悲观地感叹自己“现在本科学位还没有拿到，身体就已如此，遑论20年后？”可练习太极拳仅仅14周后，他就发现自己的身体开始变的灵活了，心情也大为好转。

M还有先天麻痹性畸形足的问题，导致一条腿的肌肉力量弱于另一条腿，身体的平衡感也出现问题。长期以来他通过各种各样的治疗和运动手段来加强病腿的肌肉力量，可效果始终不理想。选修太极拳课后，他通过每天练习金鸡独立的动作（要求全身上下、前后、左右、内外都抱圆撑满，所谓支撑八面、中正安舒）而使身体的平衡感有了极大的改善。他因此明白了原来身体的平衡是由内而外，整体系统的，以前只针对病腿的治疗和康复显然是达不到同样的效果的（这不由得让人想起了西医的“头痛医头，脚痛医脚”一说）。他高度肯定自己练习太极拳的结果是“积极和正面的”，并十分享受练习的过程，誓言太极拳已成为他生活的一部分，一定会坚持下去。  

L同学是班上唯一的线下学生，来自加拿大，喜爱举重，已坚持多年，身体相当结实强壮。在柔韧性练习以及太极推手过程中，不难发现他的肌肉块大而僵硬，动作的灵敏、柔韧也受影响。在感觉到太极拳的松柔后，L很想“鱼与熊掌兼得”——把太极拳和他钟爱的举重运动相结合，为此他的论文题目是“太极拳和举重”。通过对比他发现，太极拳强调全身运动的整合，而举重却只关注孤立的肌肉训练，甚至常常是针对一条一条的肌肉进行练习。他认为借助太极拳的放松可以使自己的肌肉得到更高效率的调整和休息，从而进一步提高举重的成绩。经过几个月的太极拳与举重的比较练习和思考，L总结道：太极拳由丹田启动、整合全身的发力方式对他的举重训练很有启发，同时太极拳的放松和平衡也有助于他减少不必要的肌肉紧张，更好地感知自己的身体，在精神上也更容易得到内心的平静以及负面情绪的消解。经过反复协调，最后他确定下来把举重训练由晚上改在早上，原先晚上举重的时间则专心练习太极拳（以有助于放松、睡眠和恢复），这样二者可以相得益彰。L打算今后继续探索太极拳与举重之间的关系，希望自己可以在“坚刚”（举重）和“柔软”（太极）之间找到更好的平衡。

Y同学是个学习非常刻苦的西班牙女生，她同时念着两个本科学位，每天都要花大量时间在电脑前上课、记笔记、读文献、写作业，日复一日，她的身体达到极限、逐渐透支（看样子外国大学生也相当“内卷”啊），课上还因病请假过。从去年9月开始，她出现心悸、背痛、重度失眠、焦虑等症状，虽然也经常游泳锻炼，但效果不佳。今年2月份选修太极拳课以及每天练习太极拳后，她发现“所有症状都渐渐发生了改变”。通过练习单式的云手，由脊柱带动手臂的运动，Y察觉身体内部发热、有能量流动，她兴奋地认为自己有了“内气”——这在太极拳练习中很常见，每个人对太极感觉的多、少、快、慢都不一样，所谓“十人十太极”也。学期期间我们每周五中午在校园另有配合课堂教学的传统太极拳活动，有位北大老师第一次学习了掤劲的动作后就感觉到脚底发热（普通太极拳友手发热比较容易，脚发热很难），大家惊叹之余，纷纷调侃：“原来，你就是那万里挑一的武林高手！”

图注：课堂上彼此检验“内气”

Y学习太极拳同样认真刻苦，为了练蹲墙功，她不知摔倒了多少次，一时难以理解为什么老师和其他同学可以做到？但她锲而不舍，苦练不懈，终于在期末前两周兴高采烈地宣布自己完成了蹲墙功。通过太极拳的习练，她精神上的焦虑和压力感也得到缓和，并欣喜地发现临睡前即使练5分钟的太极拳都会大大改善睡眠状况。她因而兴趣大增，早晚各练一次，投入更多的时间钻研太极拳，由此也深刻地意识到太极拳与西方运动的不同点：“太极拳更强调身体的放松、意念的控制和身心的协调。”

J同学是新加坡华裔，祖籍潮汕，是全班唯一用中文写作业的——我们鼓励外国学生尽早、尽快、尽可能多地学习中文来认知和表达太极拳。J从小喝潮汕功夫茶，已有20年的喝茶、泡茶经验。在修了太极拳课后她发现二者竟然也有相通之处，因此最后把自己的论文题目定为“太极拳与功夫茶”。相应于太极十三式，功夫茶也有8步法和16步法，在冲泡和表演的过程中，同样需要动作连贯、不急不慢、一气呵成，并且也要求心境的平静和稳定，而太极拳的“松”尤其有助于她茶艺步骤的流畅、自然，两者相映成趣，“不只是视觉上的提升，更是能够带给泡茶的人更优化的体验”。

K同学亦来自挪威, 他有长期的背部疼痛问题，曾尝试过西医的多种现代和传统治疗手段，如按摩、物理理疗、脊柱疗法等，但效果都不满意。经过4个月的太极拳练习，他的背疼问题得到前所未有的缓解。使他印象深刻的尚不止此：太极拳母劲——掤劲的练习让他身体内部有热流涌动，第一次感受到了“内气”，蹲墙功则提高了他身体的平衡能力，云手通过脊柱带动手臂的运动也改善了他的网球肘症状。查阅文献后，他发现背疼在西方是一个普遍的社会现象，1/4的西方人有此问题，背疼也因而成为西方人看医生的首要原因。他意识到太极拳由内而外的身心放松、整体和谐有可能给西方的医疗、康复带来不一样的选择，因此在结论处他郑重建议把太极拳纳入西方治疗背疼的替代方案（alternative treatment），“不应该继续受到忽视”。

应该说，多数外国学生首次接触太极拳的理念后，都会感到好奇，通过认真练习往往也给他们带来惊喜。如法国学生N在作业中多次提及太极拳“身形似水流”的动作和理念非常“优雅”（graceful），使他有了迥然不同以往的人生体验。与国内学生相比，外国学生似乎更加“真学实干”，更乐于“以身证道”，效果自然也明显有别。以蹲墙功为例，近年来我的国内研究生太极拳传播讨论班一学期下来，基本上只有一个人能够完成（这背后多少隐含着对自己文化传统的半信半疑，甚至以“怪力乱神”看待之，这一点与中医药的处境颇为类似），而这次全球课堂开学后仅第五周就有5个学生完成了蹲墙功（另外，以前修过太极拳课程的研究生助教受此“出口转内销”的感染也做到了），真是令人既振奋又感慨——要知道这些外国人原本连“亚洲蹲” 都是很困难的啊！

大部分同学提及，与太极拳相比，很多西方运动以及瑜伽相对更容易导致受伤，而太极拳远非单纯的肢体机械运动，其松沉柔和、身心协调不仅有助于缓解身体的伤痛和不适，而且还有利于心理、精神的平静与和谐。公平的说，通过课堂讨论和实践体验相结合，他们对太极拳的理解非常到位。海德格尔说过，人类因相似而互觉亲切，因相异而互感好奇。显然，外国学生各自文化的不同背景与独特视角反过来也大大开拓丰富了我们自己对太极拳的多元化认知，如日本学生T的论文题目是“太极拳与柔道”，巴西学生D的论文题目是“太极拳与巴西战舞”，而课堂上始终恬静温润的埃及女生H却在作业里大谈中国功夫，以前练过合气道的新加坡学生J则来信谈到，通过太极拳课上对“气”的深入理解和体验，也提升了她对合气道的认知和进步……

开学前一位武术老师看到我的课程大纲后曾好心提醒，课堂内容从太极拳的单式、套路教学，到站桩、推手体验，恐怕多且杂矣，估计难以完成教学计划。对此，我却觉得不然，传统太极拳的师徒传授经常有学好一个单式要三年之说，更有“太极十年不出门”（实指练习十年也未必能“功夫上身”，可见太极拳的复杂、精妙及学成之难）的规训。实际上太极拳是一个道法自然、身心合一、自我圆成的人生不断觉知和完善的过程，无所谓完不完，只是我们长期受制于现代教学制度既自我设限又缺乏自省罢了。郑曼青曾感叹，他练了50年才对太极拳的“松”有了真正的理解，期间很难说有什么明确的阶段和目标的划分。此外，“一树一菩提，一人一太极”，每个人对太极拳的感知点、兴奋点均有所差异，存在着鲜明的个性化色彩，教学实际上无法也无须统一化、标准化。王培生每次给新学员授课的第一句话便是“我和大家结缘来了”，并强调学太极拳“光脑子空想不下功夫练不行，只知傻练不动脑子也不行”。杨禹廷则认为，传统太极拳压根儿就没有什么套路，“我一挥手就什么都有了”。太极本无法，动即是法——我们只是打开太极的一扇窗，提供太极拳独辟蹊径、别有洞天的理念探讨以及富有个性、多姿多彩的实践体验，或许其中的一个单式、一个观念在学生的身心里萌发一粒太极的种子即可，剩下的只是“成龙成虎任方便”罢了。

由此观之，我们或许首先需要跳出源自西方的现代教学、科研范式，更全面、真实、自然地展示出我们自己文化的传统太极拳，为世界提供中国特色的多元选择。山川异域，风月同天，本学期全球课堂太极拳课上各国学生“真学实干”的不同体验和各自收获，同样为传统太极拳这块中华文明的瑰宝增光添彩，毋庸置疑，也进一步坚定了我们传播太极拳、“走自己的路”的信心。