Craig Mallett

I don't train Taiji (taichi). I use some principles and some drills from the art for my own purposes, but I'm not a "taichi" guy.

Pushhands is one practice I like a lot. It has multiple uses, but what I mainly explore is how the interaction gives me an opportunity to discover and connect with new experiences or perceptions. For me, it's not about winning or losing, keeping your structure integrated or not, or even having good release or not. I have my good days and bad days with these things and overall they tend to evolve in the way they do, apparently getting better slowly. The overarching idea I work with is to notice the discovery and the inherent joy or curiosity within that. Even discovering something difficult (a disconnection or blockage) is charged with this. "How interesting, I never noticed that before" or "I have never experienced it quite like this before". There's no end to what might be discovered a new or something forgotten rediscovered, but the process of discovery is what interests me.

To be in this mode, one must remain connected to the mystery, what you do not know, what is unknown. As Zen Master Seung Sahn says: "only don't know".

In my language this is part of the opening quality, releasing being linked to "letting what is discovered be as it already is and change however it will change" (the change is simply more discovery). Opening leads to discovery, releasing allows the discovery to change however it may. Both sides of this single process are always and already occurring, which becomes obvious when one stops trying to know.

Pushhands play here with the mighty Chris Radnedge who I believe was excommunicated from Instagram but is still releasing untold meme mastery over on Facebook. Recommend checking him out of you're in Canberra!

A snippet from a recent workshop, on accepting the pressure of the partner to your centre. There are no external perceptions!

When the releasing process is running through the body, the body does not move using conventional coordination. Instead, the release allows the body to organically reorganise itself around the position of the hands. As the hands are constantly moving, the body is constantly following.

As the body releases more deeply, it becomes more free in its reorganisational capacity, so the posture and alignment of the body becomes progressively less controlled by the mind. This freedom is also what allows the natural circulation of Qi in the system. Most of the practices in qigong are not there to govern the circulation but rather to free up the interior so the circulation can do its thing without governance.

Each of the processes (opening and releasing) must be distinct and clear on its own while being able to run simultaneously to its opposite. When they can run in unison without interfering with each other, a profound union occurs that allows the processes to occur spontaneously in indescribable ways.

Clip from my recent workshop at .studio ... Shout out to .nishad for filming.

Gotta be one of my favourite exercises! This particular clip was from a practice of the week a few weeks back, we were working on breathing and chest and lungs.

Moving towards winter (here in Oz) we will start working on the lower body, mainly the kua and abdominal cavity, then spring time we will be opening back up and out!

Feel like joining in? Go to https://patreon.craigmallett.com

Pressure is a fact of life. The modern human spends enormous energy avoiding pressure, either by fighting against it or asking external agents not to put pressure on us. Both responses keep us in a state of sympathetic nervous system response; fight or flight. It's possible instead to learn to connect to and absorb the pressure to the centre, which changes it from an adversarial force to an ally, once that will help us connect to and discover the deeper potentials we all have.

Returning agency to the unconscious processes of the system. This was a small snippet from my recent workshop on the Sunshine Coast at .studio

Cheers to .nishad for filming!