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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：太極拳課上的中外交流

太極拳課上的中外交流

朱效民

北京大學哲學系 / 北京大學科學傳播研究中心

2022年2月至6月，我首次在北大全球課堂開設了“傳統太極拳：哲學與實踐”的課程。有10位外國學生選修（線下1人，偶爾有來旁聽的，線上9人），分別來自挪威、西班牙、法國、埃及、新加坡、日本、加拿大、巴西等國。6月下旬批改完大家的期末論文后，我頗感到意外和驚喜，課程期間涉及太極拳的一些中外文化交流的議題很值得回顧和探討。

設計課程大綱時，本著傳統太極拳首先是一門修身養性、乃至齊家治國（“文以太極安天下”）的學問的理念，我決定這門課的內容絕不能只在歷史史料和名詞概念上打轉轉，必須有一定量的傳統太極拳實踐體驗的內容。隨著課程的展開，出乎意料，所有學生對實踐部分都興致盎然、參與積極性非常高，原計劃課堂時間2/3專題講座，1/3具體實踐，但很快我們就調整為一節課專題講座，一節課實踐體驗了。開學伊始談到期末論文的要求，我就建議大家平時記錄下自己的實踐感受，在論文中最好結合自己習練太極拳的親身體會展開一些分析討論（當然要在一個學術研究框架中進行論述）。從大家的作業看，多數人都很好地做到了這一點，也正是從他們的實踐感悟中揭示出不少有趣的中外文化交流的話題。

首先介紹一下我們課程實踐的內容，大致分為4個部分：

一是“基本功”部分（Practice Basic），有10來項，每次課首先做這部分練習，同時也是為了熱身。包括傳統太極拳的母勁——掤勁的練習，以感受內氣的運行；柔韌性的練習，如太極拳、通背拳的不同涮肩方法，斜壓腿——肘尖碰腳尖等；平衡的練習，如金雞獨立一分鐘；原地云手，依靠脊柱帶動手臂由內而外活動開；原地蹬腳，同樣由內及外、手腳合一；以及大家集體最有成就感的吳式太極拳蹲墻功：面墻而立，腳尖觸墻，蹲下起立3次以上。

圖注：課堂柔韌性練習：肘尖觸腳尖

所謂大師者，就是天天練基本功的人。我們要求大家每日練習基本功，提倡1分鐘練太極拳、1平米練太極拳的理念——不需要拿出整塊的時間，也無須專業的場地、服裝和器械，隨時隨地可以利用1分鐘的時間和1平方米的地方進行練習。 舉手投足皆太極，擔水劈柴可修禪，太極拳要融入日常的生活——這種有別于西方專業化運動的、也即生活化的太極理念很受大家的喜愛。從作業反饋來看，絕大部分人無論時間多寡都做到了每天練習太極拳，也取得了相應的收獲。某次課上，我提及有傳統師傅乘坐地鐵時練金雞獨立，不久就有學生在火車上嘗試如何站金雞獨立，可見其認真和感興趣。

二是“每課新學”部分（Practice New），每次課會教一兩個新的太極拳單式動作，不同單式之間可以任意銜接而成套路。主要選取太極拳各門派的代表性動作，如楊式太極拳的母式——攬雀尾、搬攔捶（楊露禪亦有“楊搬攔”之稱）、白鶴亮翅、摟膝拗步等，武式太極拳的母式——懶扎衣、倒攆猴、野馬分鬃等，另外如吳式的云手、玉女穿梭等，陳式的鶴舞，武當太極的雙推式等等。

三是“和而不同”部分（Practice Different），這一部分主要包括各門派太極拳同一動作名稱的不同打法，以讓大家對一些經典動作有更多角度的理解和感受。以云手為例，有楊式云手、武式云手、陳式的交叉步云手、吳式太極拳270°的云手、以及武當太極向前的云手等；此外，倒攆猴有楊式直線倒退的和武式旋轉的兩種方式；摟膝拗步有楊式85式與老六路的不同打法；玉女穿梭則有楊、武式及24式太極拳的簡化版等等。

四是“溫故知新”部分（Practice Old），該部分主要是每課新學動作的總匯。隨著課程的進行，累計的動作有約20個，不可能每次課都重復一遍，我就請每位同學挑選自己最喜歡或最有感覺的一個動作，大家一起來練習，同時配上與太極拳相適應的中外音樂。這部分大家的參與積極性最高，也是整個課堂氣氛最活躍的時刻。經常被大家選上的動作有：搬攔捶、云手、白鶴亮翅、攬雀尾、摟膝拗步、倒攆猴、雙推式、鶴舞等等。

有傳統太極拳師傅明言，學太極拳關鍵是觀念的轉變。我在每次課的專題講座中也會重點闡述相關的太極拳理念的背景知識，并在實踐部分借助代表性的動作再做說明和演示。對于這些大多首次接觸太極拳的外國學生來說，傳統太極拳的核心理念讓他們感覺非常神奇，認真練習后亦覺得可行可信——一些同學在身心方面的病痛和焦慮也相應得到了緩解，他們因而紛紛表示即使課程結束了也要繼續練習太極拳。許多同學在作業中反復提及一些傳統太極拳的獨特而又讓他們深有感觸的理念：緩慢松柔——動作多是肌肉放松的情況下徐徐展開的，而不是使肌肉和身心緊張；用意不用力——以意行氣，以氣運身，動作無不由內而外如泉涌出，不僵不滯，自然而然，如野馬分鬃的動作，要求從心里面像開花一般依次打開身體和雙臂；整體和諧，一動無有不動——“一枝動，百枝搖”，任何動作不是局部的單一部位的動作，沒有分開間斷的1、2、3、4的步驟，而是一氣流行、一勁到底、周身協調、內外相合。不少同學平時都有跑步以及舉重、打球等西方對抗性運動的健身習慣，但卻無不感嘆按照傳統太極拳的理念，短短一學期的實踐練習就讓他們有了完全不同的切身體會、并取得了實實在在的效果。下面擇其有代表性的要點概述之。

M同學來自挪威, 他因每天無論讀書還是打工都須伏案8小時以上，感覺身體越來越僵硬，體型也有不良變化，為此他天天鍛煉，但效果并不好，心情日益低落，甚至悲觀地感嘆自己“現在本科學位還沒有拿到，身體就已如此，遑論20年后？”可練習太極拳僅僅14周后，他就發現自己的身體開始變的靈活了，心情也大為好轉。

M還有先天麻痹性畸形足的問題，導致一條腿的肌肉力量弱于另一條腿，身體的平衡感也出現問題。長期以來他通過各種各樣的治療和運動手段來加強病腿的肌肉力量，可效果始終不理想。選修太極拳課后，他通過每天練習金雞獨立的動作（要求全身上下、前后、左右、內外都抱圓撐滿，所謂支撐八面、中正安舒）而使身體的平衡感有了極大的改善。他因此明白了原來身體的平衡是由內而外，整體系統的，以前只針對病腿的治療和康復顯然是達不到同樣的效果的（這不由得讓人想起了西醫的“頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳”一說）。他高度肯定自己練習太極拳的結果是“積極和正面的”，并十分享受練習的過程，誓言太極拳已成為他生活的一部分，一定會堅持下去。 ?

L同學是班上唯一的線下學生，來自加拿大，喜愛舉重，已堅持多年，身體相當結實強壯。在柔韌性練習以及太極推手過程中，不難發現他的肌肉塊大而僵硬，動作的靈敏、柔韌也受影響。在感覺到太極拳的松柔后，L很想“魚與熊掌兼得”——把太極拳和他鐘愛的舉重運動相結合，為此他的論文題目是“太極拳和舉重”。通過對比他發現，太極拳強調全身運動的整合，而舉重卻只關注孤立的肌肉訓練，甚至常常是針對一條一條的肌肉進行練習。他認為借助太極拳的放松可以使自己的肌肉得到更高效率的調整和休息，從而進一步提高舉重的成績。經過幾個月的太極拳與舉重的比較練習和思考，L總結道：太極拳由丹田啟動、整合全身的發力方式對他的舉重訓練很有啟發，同時太極拳的放松和平衡也有助于他減少不必要的肌肉緊張，更好地感知自己的身體，在精神上也更容易得到內心的平靜以及負面情緒的消解。經過反復協調，最后他確定下來把舉重訓練由晚上改在早上，原先晚上舉重的時間則專心練習太極拳（以有助于放松、睡眠和恢復），這樣二者可以相得益彰。L打算今后繼續探索太極拳與舉重之間的關系，希望自己可以在“堅剛”（舉重）和“柔軟”（太極）之間找到更好的平衡。

Y同學是個學習非常刻苦的西班牙女生，她同時念著兩個本科學位，每天都要花大量時間在電腦前上課、記筆記、讀文獻、寫作業，日復一日，她的身體達到極限、逐漸透支（看樣子外國大學生也相當“內卷”啊），課上還因病請假過。從去年9月開始，她出現心悸、背痛、重度失眠、焦慮等癥狀，雖然也經常游泳鍛煉，但效果不佳。今年2月份選修太極拳課以及每天練習太極拳后，她發現“所有癥狀都漸漸發生了改變”。通過練習單式的云手，由脊柱帶動手臂的運動，Y察覺身體內部發熱、有能量流動，她興奮地認為自己有了“內氣”——這在太極拳練習中很常見，每個人對太極感覺的多、少、快、慢都不一樣，所謂“十人十太極”也。學期期間我們每周五中午在校園另有配合課堂教學的傳統太極拳活動，有位北大老師第一次學習了掤勁的動作后就感覺到腳底發熱（普通太極拳友手發熱比較容易，腳發熱很難），大家驚嘆之余，紛紛調侃：“原來，你就是那萬里挑一的武林高手！”

圖注：課堂上彼此檢驗“內氣”

Y學習太極拳同樣認真刻苦，為了練蹲墻功，她不知摔倒了多少次，一時難以理解為什么老師和其他同學可以做到？但她鍥而不舍，苦練不懈，終于在期末前兩周興高采烈地宣布自己完成了蹲墻功。通過太極拳的習練，她精神上的焦慮和壓力感也得到緩和，并欣喜地發現臨睡前即使練5分鐘的太極拳都會大大改善睡眠狀況。她因而興趣大增，早晚各練一次，投入更多的時間鉆研太極拳，由此也深刻地意識到太極拳與西方運動的不同點：“太極拳更強調身體的放松、意念的控制和身心的協調。”

J同學是新加坡華裔，祖籍潮汕，是全班唯一用中文寫作業的——我們鼓勵外國學生盡早、盡快、盡可能多地學習中文來認知和表達太極拳。J從小喝潮汕功夫茶，已有20年的喝茶、泡茶經驗。在修了太極拳課后她發現二者竟然也有相通之處，因此最后把自己的論文題目定為“太極拳與功夫茶”。相應于太極十三式，功夫茶也有8步法和16步法，在沖泡和表演的過程中，同樣需要動作連貫、不急不慢、一氣呵成，并且也要求心境的平靜和穩定，而太極拳的“松”尤其有助于她茶藝步驟的流暢、自然，兩者相映成趣，“不只是視覺上的提升，更是能夠帶給泡茶的人更優化的體驗”。

K同學亦來自挪威, 他有長期的背部疼痛問題，曾嘗試過西醫的多種現代和傳統治療手段，如按摩、物理理療、脊柱療法等，但效果都不滿意。經過4個月的太極拳練習，他的背疼問題得到前所未有的緩解。使他印象深刻的尚不止此：太極拳母勁——掤勁的練習讓他身體內部有熱流涌動，第一次感受到了“內氣”，蹲墻功則提高了他身體的平衡能力，云手通過脊柱帶動手臂的運動也改善了他的網球肘癥狀。查閱文獻后，他發現背疼在西方是一個普遍的社會現象，1/4的西方人有此問題，背疼也因而成為西方人看醫生的首要原因。他意識到太極拳由內而外的身心放松、整體和諧有可能給西方的醫療、康復帶來不一樣的選擇，因此在結論處他鄭重建議把太極拳納入西方治療背疼的替代方案（alternative treatment），“不應該繼續受到忽視”。

應該說，多數外國學生首次接觸太極拳的理念后，都會感到好奇，通過認真練習往往也給他們帶來驚喜。如法國學生N在作業中多次提及太極拳“身形似水流”的動作和理念非常“優雅”（graceful），使他有了迥然不同以往的人生體驗。與國內學生相比，外國學生似乎更加“真學實干”，更樂于“以身證道”，效果自然也明顯有別。以蹲墻功為例，近年來我的國內研究生太極拳傳播討論班一學期下來，基本上只有一個人能夠完成（這背后多少隱含著對自己文化傳統的半信半疑，甚至以“怪力亂神”看待之，這一點與中醫藥的處境頗為類似），而這次全球課堂開學后僅第五周就有5個學生完成了蹲墻功（另外，以前修過太極拳課程的研究生助教受此“出口轉內銷”的感染也做到了），真是令人既振奮又感慨——要知道這些外國人原本連“亞洲蹲” 都是很困難的啊！

大部分同學提及，與太極拳相比，很多西方運動以及瑜伽相對更容易導致受傷，而太極拳遠非單純的肢體機械運動，其松沉柔和、身心協調不僅有助于緩解身體的傷痛和不適，而且還有利于心理、精神的平靜與和諧。公平的說，通過課堂討論和實踐體驗相結合，他們對太極拳的理解非常到位。海德格爾說過，人類因相似而互覺親切，因相異而互感好奇。顯然，外國學生各自文化的不同背景與獨特視角反過來也大大開拓豐富了我們自己對太極拳的多元化認知，如日本學生T的論文題目是“太極拳與柔道”，巴西學生D的論文題目是“太極拳與巴西戰舞”，而課堂上始終恬靜溫潤的埃及女生H卻在作業里大談中國功夫，以前練過合氣道的新加坡學生J則來信談到，通過太極拳課上對“氣”的深入理解和體驗，也提升了她對合氣道的認知和進步……

開學前一位武術老師看到我的課程大綱后曾好心提醒，課堂內容從太極拳的單式、套路教學，到站樁、推手體驗，恐怕多且雜矣，估計難以完成教學計劃。對此，我卻覺得不然，傳統太極拳的師徒傳授經常有學好一個單式要三年之說，更有“太極十年不出門”（實指練習十年也未必能“功夫上身”，可見太極拳的復雜、精妙及學成之難）的規訓。實際上太極拳是一個道法自然、身心合一、自我圓成的人生不斷覺知和完善的過程，無所謂完不完，只是我們長期受制于現代教學制度既自我設限又缺乏自省罷了。鄭曼青曾感嘆，他練了50年才對太極拳的“松”有了真正的理解，期間很難說有什么明確的階段和目標的劃分。此外，“一樹一菩提，一人一太極”，每個人對太極拳的感知點、興奮點均有所差異，存在著鮮明的個性化色彩，教學實際上無法也無須統一化、標準化。王培生每次給新學員授課的第一句話便是“我和大家結緣來了”，并強調學太極拳“光腦子空想不下功夫練不行，只知傻練不動腦子也不行”。楊禹廷則認為，傳統太極拳壓根兒就沒有什么套路，“我一揮手就什么都有了”。太極本無法，動即是法——我們只是打開太極的一扇窗，提供太極拳獨辟蹊徑、別有洞天的理念探討以及富有個性、多姿多彩的實踐體驗，或許其中的一個單式、一個觀念在學生的身心里萌發一粒太極的種子即可，剩下的只是“成龍成虎任方便”罷了。

由此觀之，我們或許首先需要跳出源自西方的現代教學、科研范式，更全面、真實、自然地展示出我們自己文化的傳統太極拳，為世界提供中國特色的多元選擇。山川異域，風月同天，本學期全球課堂太極拳課上各國學生“真學實干”的不同體驗和各自收獲，同樣為傳統太極拳這塊中華文明的瑰寶增光添彩，毋庸置疑，也進一步堅定了我們傳播太極拳、“走自己的路”的信心。 ???