This essay is about the links I have found between my two main passions: Tai Chi and Juggling. As many of you may have found through your own practice, Tai Chi has a profound effect on your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing especially when we apply the lessons of Tai Chi to all areas of our lives. Since taking this approach, my juggling has improved drastically in line with my physical posture, relaxation and concentration.
Balance
Now, the trick to juggling (whether its 3, 5 or 10 things) is balance and posture. I first noticed how much of an effect Tai Chi can have on someone's juggling when I was watching a friend of mine, Peter. As a juggler, Peter totally outclasses me in all aspects; he is considered, amongst juggling circles, one of the best in the country, if not Europe. I did some simple adjustment, that took 5 minutes to explain, resulted in a whole minute longer of juggling (which is a lot!) and, weeks later, he commented on how it had improved his juggling. This may not seem relevant to those of you who don’t juggle, yet there are lessons to be learned from the principles of Tai Chi in anything we do whether it be preventing a back ache from housework, neck strain from coding, or general maiming from professional street fighting! So how do we do this balance stuff then? Well, with Peter, it was very simple: one session, while he was timing himself juggling a 5 club cascade pattern (the classic juggling pattern) to improve his stamina. I noticed that more than 75% of the time the pattern would go astray when he took a step to regain his balance. I spent some time watching him juggle; looking for a line from the crown of the head to the foot centre, I noticed he was leaning back and this would cause him to take a step to compensate and then his juggling pattern to go astray. I asked him if I could give him some pointers on posture from a Tai Chi perspective and, very kindly, he agreed. Firstly, I asked him to stand in a relaxed position with his feet flat on the floor, with his weight in the centre of the foot and then, rather than lean back at the waist, tip his head back more at the neck and keep his back straight and his sacrum dropped. These principles are some of the first things we learn in Tai Chi and can be adapted to any situation. These simple adjustments meant that he could juggle for a lot longer and more comfortably than before.
Being Comfortable in Yourself
In both Tai Chi and Juggling the art of the skill comes from comfort. In Tai Chi this is known as Peng, and it requires the body to be comfortable and secure in its own structure. If we overreach ourselves, we become uncomfortable and tense, we lean and use a lot more energy (a bit like life then!). The effortless feeling of both arts comes from finding an internal equilibrium of body and mind. Sticking with the juggling theme, I teach Circus Skills classes for teenagers in UK schools and around Europe and this is one of the first principles my students learn: how to be upright, centred and confident in their bodies. In this way, Circus Skills becomes a method of self-discovery and, for many of the students I work with, a positive learning experience which shows them that learning can be fun and successful. Although you can learn three ball juggling without good posture, it is an excellent way to get feedback on when your posture is straight and when your old patterns of posture and achiness start to happen. Obviously, for children, learning open and flexible posture at a young age is also a great way to ensure better long term health and can also increase self-confidence, and has been shown to reduce incidents of bullying: whichever end of the bullying relationship I am working with. In both arts there is a prerequisite of awareness and a natural progression in the depth of focus to achieve a high level of skill. In traditional martial arts, in particular Tai Chi, this is trained overtly and intentionally; for the majority of jugglers it is less talked about. For jugglers it becomes very important at conventions when we pack ourselves into as small a space as possible and start lobbing things around in midair. At this level, it is about being comfortable enough with yourself to accept the chaos and find your own stillness within (without trying to sound too much like cosmic hippy). At a recent lunchtime corporate event in London I was teaching people to juggle up to four balls at a time. Here, the learnings about posture and juggling were applied to sitting at a computer: people were asked to juggle while sitting in their normal computer posture and noticed how difficult it was to juggle. Then, sitting in the neutral position they had learnt for juggling they were asked to type, they found that although some muscles were working harder than before their shoulders were more relaxed and, over time, they reported less backache. We also began to explore the relaxing qualities which both Tai Chi and juggling create: by focusing on our bodies and what they are doing right now, we take time out from all that planning and rushing and focus on the present: adrenaline levels drop, serotonin is released and the happy hormones circulate as our breathing slows.
Conclusions
Western life is all about juggling: kids, hobbies, money, professions, relationships, family… the list goes on. The question that Tai Chi raises is how do we stay centered, comfortable and upright in the midst of it? Do we manage this or do we become tense, anxious and stressed? Both Tai Chi and Juggling provide methods and insights about relaxation, calmness and balance that can be transferred into our everyday lives. You can practice when walking down the street, sitting in the bath or waiting for a bus. The time required to achieve noticeable changes in posture, stress levels and concentration is insignificant when compared to the benefits. After studying Tai Chi for four years, I believe it works. I believe it is an underlying principle of movement for life in general; so, I am sure, if I applied the same ideas to any of my other hobbies, pastimes or professions, I would find Tai Chi not only has comparisons to make but, even more, underpins their movement and ideas, and improves on them.
