"The Pleasure Is Momentary, the Position Is Ridiculous"

"The pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable." Attributed to Lord Chesterfield (1694 - 1773).

The author practising in Greece, the summer of 22

A relation of mine dismisses my practise of T'ai Chi.

"It's not exercise; it's just old people dancing. It's not a martial art; you wouldn't last thirty seconds with a boxer."

He is equally dismissive of religion.

"Just a bunch of old people kneeling down and mumbling. Boring and tedious. Pointless."

He does not express an opinion about sex but I don't doubt he'd share the (alleged) position of Lord Chesterfield above.

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What's going on here? My relation is looking at the syntax of human activity and disregarding the semantics and the pragmatics (by which I mean the expression of consciousness and agency within these practices).

I was at the gym this morning. After warming up I ran through the T'ai Chi form. I have been practising it now for almost three years. Every time I learn something new.

If you watch a T'ai Chi master, they flow through the form. A novice, by contrast, is awkward and jerky, their actions staccato; not joined up.

To do T'ai Chi properly you internalise the flow of movement in muscle memory. Each posture is momentarily stable and controlled, yet also channels momentum into the next. Breathing here is important. Also balance.

But most important is a certain state-of-mind. You cannot daydream: the form loses focus and falls apart. You cannot be rigidly-controlled: the flow disappears. You have to be feeling what your body is doing, moment by moment, as an observer; but also keep the onward flow in mind, setting the body on trajectory within the designated envelope.

If you can't focus on this and avoid all worries or distractions, you cannot do it.

The effort to make the process work will help your state of mind - if it's amenable to being helped.

I felt a lot better after the gym work.

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