Competition

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Competition is good for one who is ready for it. How to prepare oneself for competition?
1/ after at least 2 years of form, the student has built up his Peng Jing. He can practice his form fluently and in well balance.
2/ with push hand training a year; he understands Taichi theories through experiment.
3/ He know how it feels when doing things right, also know what is wrong, and be able to avoid using stiffen energy as much as he could.
4/ understand ones energy is very related to his mental condition. Know how to demonstrate what should be done and do it, rather than do it with anger after loosing his balance.
5/ Know that the opponent he faces is actually his partner that will help him to improve. And the only ways to show ones respect is to do a good Taichi push hand.

There is something you can't be possibly learned from anywhere else but in competition. What can we learn from it?
1/ Teach us to deal with the unexpected scenario. In general we don't know your opponent at all. We have to purify ourselves without any preset. We have to learn how to deal with it when things just happen.
2/ to deal with long wait and at the same time keep us in best condition. During the long wait, how to keep ourselves from exhausting. Walk around, watch other practice, and compete. Do a warm up once for a while to keep body relax.
3/ Learn that there is only one chance for you to do it. Do it right. In competition, both sides are there with a reason and purpose. The margin for mistake is very little. Also with limited time frame, how to layout our strategy and make it work to the best for one's capacity and best result is something we can learn.

Competition gives us a rich environment to share our Taichi with others. The extra dimensions such as emotion, energy preservation and strategic application give us good challenge to improve ourselves.