Tai Chi: ‘One Never
Meets Force Head-on’
By Joshua Terry

It is winter on the mountain and you are walking along a stream, the water frozen in its seasonal retreat. On your path, an aggressive opponent is suddenly upon you. As a practitioner of tai chi chaun, you hold up your hands to ward off the aggressor who lurches toward you with a closed-fist punch.

You feel all barriers have been dissolved and, like the frozen water, you are as sharp as the ice and as clear as its form. The punch comes in and you roll your hands back while stepping backwards—like the retreating water. In a circular defense, you pull down the opponent, stopping the attack using three of the 13 basic moves of tai chi chaun.

"In tai chi chaun, you use soft energies to dissolve an opponent’s aggressive force and you are able to be aggressive when your opponent’s strength is gone," said local tai chi teacher Scott Aronson. With his wife Tammy, Aronson teaches a one-hour weekly class Thursday nights at The Underground Center for the Arts in Randolph.

Tai chi chaun is about harmonizing energies, and it uses the circle as its focus: One never meets force head on.

Aronson has been teaching tai chi chaun in Vermont since 1992 and this fall taught a course at the Gifford Medical Center. He said that tai chi has a lot of benefits—physical, mental and spiritual. The martial art style was born in the ancient mountains of China and is an extension of Taoist philosophy.

There are eight hand movements: Ward off, roll back, press, push, shoulder, elbow, pull down and split, and five stepping techniques to this martial art, which is based on the elemental energies of fire, water, wood, metal and earth.

Students learn the 13 basic moves, which are combined in long forms and short forms, or sets of steps and movements.

"It is a healthy philosophy and it eliminates dualism. All things become one, which I think is a healthy way of looking at the world," Aronson said, adding that past students have come to the class to strengthen injured knees or increase low blood cell counts.

According to him, tai chi chaun is about dissolving the ego and dissolving "imaginary barriers."

"In essence it is about life. It is that original aspect of ourselves that comes into being, and learning to control acquired energy—or chi."

In Aronson’s Randolph classes, students practice solo movements, get into groups, and do partner sets.

Aronson's wife Tammy also teaches the class. She studied with an instructor who studied with the late tai chi master, Jou Tsung Hwa, founder of the Tai Chi Farm in Warwick, N.Y.

Scott and Tammy continue to study with a master tai chi instructor with direct ties to Wudang Mountain in China.

For those interested in trying Aronson’s 6:30 p.m classes, the first class is free. Students can pay per class at the drop-in rate, or by the month, at a lower rate.

For more information, contact Aronson at 728-6323.