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[I:http://freearticlepool.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase1.jpg]Tai Chi Chuan is the art that espouses emptiness. One must move without force to realize true Tai Chi. And, in Tai Chi, you never run out of emptiness.

One must realize, of course, that there are degrees of emptiness. The beginning student will have one idea concerning this concept, and the advanced master will have another, and there is plenty of room in between. Indeed, one could almost say there is a different viewpoint of this great nothingness as there is students to perceive it.

At the start of the art concepts of Tai Chi cause much confusion. The new practitioner tries to get in his own way, tries to figure out the mechanistic nature of the cosmos, and slowly works his way through confusion. Eventually, the beginner starts to realize that there is more to this idea of emptiness than ever he had imagined.

One can perceive a great nothingness inside the body. The apparent concreteness of blood and brain gives way to perception. Awareness seeps unhindered through the machinations of the apparently real body.

This is understandable through practice. The beginning student becomes advanced as reaction time dwindles and begins to move in harmony with the incoming attack. It is a short journey, once started, until the student commits his body to that of the attackers, and is able to draw upon the energies of two bodies.

Eventually the space of the body gives way to the knowledge that there is a great space open to the awakening perception. Indeed, the flesh stops being a dividing line between the student and the rest of the universe. The student becomes master, and his perceptions are not stopped at the threshold of his fleshy sack, but rather are unlimited and as far as he can perceive.

The new master practices with new students, and he speaks of great space, and he gives way that the newbie may fall into that great space, an entire and new and glorious perception of the universe. Slowly, the new student accepts the reality of the master, understands gravity only to reject it in his notions, and the cycle evolves. The fresh seed grows, becomes a young tree, seeks the heavens, undergoing evolutions of life that enliven the mind throughout time.

This is the journey of Tai Chi Chuan, endless, immutable, hastened only by the striving towards knowledge of the student. This is the tai chi of a race, of a humanity, and it is a goal and a method and a principle that should be sought by all. What would happen if all governments gave way to the kindness of the people?

Al Case has delved into Tai Chi for more than 35 years. A writer for IKF for years, his methods are unique, and you can read about them at Five Army Tai Chi Chuan.