Boring Practice

Over at Thoughts on Tai Chi, there is a nice article on what it may mean to be bored with one's practice. An excerpt is below. The full post may be read here.

It is my opinion that if you're bored in your practice, then you're not doing it right.

I’ve actually never really understood why people ask about if Tai Chi is boring. You know – doing the form, practicing the same exercises over and over again. No, I’ve never found it boring. There’s just too much going on to be bored. Just keeping to adjust your own alignment and keeping relaxed as you you move, and as the balance keep changing, is not as simple as it could seem. Perfecting something seemingly simple is not something you do just by repeating movements. You need to be aware, practice with awareness, or as the Chinese say: “use heart“.

Well, you really need to put your heart in what you do. If not, well, frankly said – it would become boring. But if you do put your heart into the practice, I don’t think form practice could become boring. I find the opposite to be truth – not that I am excited every time I practice, but opposite to time moving slowly, I find the time moving fast. If I practice a whole Yang form, slowly and focused, the time just flies away and after the session I wonder where the time went.

But here is the thing with time: it is something psychological. If you don’t like what you do, or if you do something you don’t want to do and just wait for the time to pass, then the time will pass slowly. And that goes for everything you do.

You need to fill the time with meaning. Which means that you have to like what you do, because only if you like something you do it doesn’t become boring. So to answer if Tai Chi is boring, I would first ask if you like the practice or not, and if you find it rewarding.

And here is something I want to be honest about – I don’t believe that Tai Chi is for everyone. In the long-term specifically, I think you need to be of a certain personality, or rather – have a sort of mind-set to stay a Tai Chi practitioner. It demands a certain kind of view on reality and yourself. I say this because I have seen practitioners suddenly stop and give up their Tai Chi after even 30 or 40 years of practice. Some people just made a full stop, while others drifted towards other internal arts as bagua, harder styles as White Crane, and yet others towards arts as Yoga or similar.