Invest in Losing

"Aggression is not the way of tai chi.

The Art of War is about deception. Only a fool proclaims their skill. Better to be quiet, passive, yielding. When you yield in the face of aggression, you win on two counts:

The aggressor thinks they have the advantage
You create space – for staying calm and for opportunity
Withdraw is one of the 13 postures. Tao Te Ching speaks of the importance of not presenting an aggressive front. Be receptive.

In partner work, you must be prepared to lose. If you have skill, this becomes a lure."
- Dynamic Balancing Tai Chi, 6/19/2006



I think it was Professor Cheng Man-Ching who said,
"Invest in losing."

"Getting to the top of the mountain is easy,
it's leaping off the top that's difficult."
John Kells

"This reminds me of something Garrison Keillor said on Desert Island Discs a few years ago - that the most important thing in life is to go beyond where your talent will take you. For that you need a lifetime of single-minded application, immense hard-work and above all grace."
- Tai Chi Heartwork, 6/14/06


"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me,
I know that is poetry.
If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off,
I know that is poetry. . .
Is there any other way?"
- Emily Dickinson


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