底线 Dǐ Xiàn: The Bottom Line

Notes from morning Zoom lecture.

Trinity
Theory must be independent of what you do.
Triangulation. When you have two lines, there is a point where they join.
At the beginning, when you pinpoint on something you cannot have distraction.
Even though you think you have changed, other people will know you haven’t. Habits die hard.

Another element that wasn’t discussed: adapt and retune your mind and body to something. Not against, with.
Example: On a rifle, there is sights and a piece on the barrel, that you line up against a third point far away.
- Needs to be fine tuned so that the two line up properly. The gun has to be recalibrated before you can use it.
- Aiming is against an object. Calibration is done against a fixed target, the standard.

What are you calibrating against, or according to: the Standard. The bottom line.
Basic premise: It is the foundational assumption of the entire system. If you don’t accept it there is no point to continue.
You will realize that your assumption is not that accurate, but may not be 100% wrong.
- For example: in with elbow, out with hand. Cannot question it because it is not something to discuss, it is just something to learn.
- For example: the letter A, don’t need to know why it is written that way, just that it is.
That’s why certain questions shouldn’t be asked.
- Why some questions are good / others a waste of time.
- When you ask questions relating to the standard, to the bottom line, you are wasting your time thinking about it.
- It’s like asking why a yard is 3 feet long?

Three points, that all support each other.
The first is recalibration, second is dixian.
Memorize the word so that you have that concept. If you understand it, the teacher can tell by the questions that you ask.
A matter of following the instructions.
The system is a system of shortcuts.
- To understand things in a much quicker way instead of spending a lifetime relearning what the predecessors discovered.
- By copying and reproducing so that knowledge can accumulate.

There are various standards that can be changed, improved. In those cases if it is more correct, it is more complex.
That’s why it’s needed to go to school to learn it, because there are a lot of concepts that need to be built up.
But those concepts all have a basis / basics. Base assumptions.

English: You entire thought process must be combinations of 26 letters plus punctuation. This is understood until it is too primitive; we think in words now.
Chinese basic element: 64 (易經 yìjīng). In this system, human intelligence is based on 64. In the past, it became a technique of fortune telling (a trick) instead of a philosophy.

In Taijiquan: the bottom line is more complex than, for example, in boxing. With 3 or 4 basic punches, you can quickly become good.
- Taiji is based on 13. Upper body 8; lower body 5.
When the base is very big, it takes longer to proceed, but also the potential is higher.
In the positive circle, 9 steps, but usually doesn’t demonstrate all of them.
- 8 and 1 settle (adjust).
- Only teach 3 because this is the basic.
- With all 8 of them, the yilu becomes too complex because every movement needs to be broken into 8.

What are the dixian? The guiding principles of Taijiquan:
- Principle: Split yin yang.
- 虛領頂勁 xulingdijin: Suspended head.
- Action: 13 moves: Your alphabet for movements.
  - e.g. Why doing the form without the choreography / the direction is wrong. Look at the floor in relation to the practicioner. In certain moves the center does not move. Without this, t basically means you don’t know.
- Concept: Center: 中定 zhongding.
When you know it, it is a science. It’s not random. It is a collection of rules for how things are.

Your understanding of the data is considered intelligence / knowledge. Meaning. Relating the things you already know to why. As opposed to committing to memory.
During the learning process you do not know the whole system. Learning is starting from not knowing the whole picture. There is no top, no bottom. Only after you’ve learned it, then can you identify top and bottom.
The sequence is a method to get it more effectively.
参照物 cānzhào wù: reference points
校对 jiàoduì: recalibration

2020-08-14