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"Either/Or" questions...

kb9wfq

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A few days ago I put an "either/or" question to the I Ching, and I'm a bit stonkered with the answer it returned.

Background:
I study Yang family tai chi as my primary martial art. Yang tai chi is mostly known for its graceful "empty-hand" form but it also has a form for the Chinese straight sword (called a jian). There are other such forms for the jian, one of which attracted my interest. It is a Wudang style and as such, is more "lively" than the one used in tai chi. I find each style attractive in its own way but I also understand that I should learn one first and then the other.

My question to the I Ching was which one I should devote my time and energy to first. It returned the following response:
12:3:4:6:39

I get the impression the I Ching is giving me a completely different way to look at the question, but I'm at a loss as to what that different way might be.

Normally, if I have such a binary question and there's no clear advantage or hazard to either choice, I'll flip a coin (reserving veto rights if I reconsider or get new information). I suppose I should have known the I Ching would point me in an unexpected direction.

Grateful for any insight - thanks in advance!
 

rosada

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I see 12.3 as a comment on your feeling you want to make yourself strong and get into The Flow with tai chi, but doubting your choice even perhaps cynically feeling that if you feel drawn to Wudang style then of course that couldn't be right!
12.4 and 12.5 Encourage you to take the class you feel drawn to.
39. Obstruction. There may actually be some obstruction when you first move towards taking the class but remember you are coming from 12. Stagnation so there may be a need to focus, to put some energy into getting past habits of procrastination that have collected into a blob of obstruction and so now it's a bit of a challenge to get this project launched.
It may also be a reassurance that if you enroll in the class you first felt attracted to and subsequently find it's inappropriate, no worries, you can always change.
The main thing is that you are being trained to be guided by your inner feelings here and so you should proceed slowly and be willing to make adjustments but persevere in following your intuition.
 

rosada

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It occurs to me that 39.Obstruction also refers to hard and isolating work. May be advising that no matter what school you train with you still have to do the work yourself...
 

kb9wfq

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Thanks for the reply! Here's a bit more background.

I've studied tai chi chuan (empty-hand) on-and-off since the 90s. In addition, within the last year, I've taken up various other arts - quarterstaff, short-staff, sabre - which I felt were complimentary to it.
It's only been within the last few months that I decided to learn to use the straight sword. Both forms - the sedate Yang tai chi and the livelier Wudang style - are similar enough to Yang tai chi that they could be said to "draw from the same well;" that is, I don't have to unlearn anything. Chinese martial arts are convenient like that. As neither sword style is taught in my area, I'm self-learning, building on what I already know (this corresponds with your comment about having to do my own work).
The questions I'd had regarding my choice of style to start with are along these lines:
o Will learning either style inhibit me in the long run? (No to both)
o Will learning either style complement what I already know? (Yes to both)
o Which of the two styles is more comprehensive? (Roughly equal)
o Which of the two styles will "age" better as I age? (Tai chi, which is actually an argument for learning the other style first, while I still have some spring in my step)
o Which of the two styles is easier to pick up? (Roughly equal - Wudang is simpler, but tai chi borrows much from the empty-hand style)

You can see how I have a nearly equal balance-sheet, comparing the two. When you mentioned which one I feel drawn to, it struck me that my own impression is that of the donkey placed between two feed troughs, immobile due to his inability to choose one or the other.

Hope I didn't bore you with the minutiae of my thinking, but I reckoned sharing it might inform the interpretation.

As to the reading, for my part I'm beginning to entertain the possibility that the I Ching might be pointing me in a different direction entirely, e.g.
o "Forget about Tai Chi/Wudang - work on different style (e.g. Shaolin)"
o "Forget about sword - work on something else (e.g. staff/sabre/rifle/empty-hand/etc.)"
o "Forget about martial arts - work on a different area of your life"

Thanks again for the discussion! :)
 
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kb9wfq

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Many thanks to rosada for your input - it really did help me see things in their proper perspective!

I've decided to follow my inclination and study the Wudang form - if you're interested, this is a pretty good video of the form:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH5SOZCue3Y

It's quite a bit livelier than the calm and sedate Yang style of tai chi.

More important is how I came to this decision, and why I'm sure it's the correct one.

After we'd had our discussion, I gave the reading a rest for a few days and then re-read it yesterday, taking into account everything you had said as well as my own thoughts on the matter. In addition, I went back into the notebook where I keep all my questions, readings and thoughts on them, and discovered that several months ago, I'd asked a different question related to my martial arts generally. In it, I'd resolved to take up Wudang, but in the meantime I had forgot the reading altogether.

It seems obvious now that this present reading was in fact reminding me of my previous inquiry and resolve, taking note of my indecision and hesitance, and encouraging me to do what I'd set out to do in the first place.

How very awesome and mysterious!

It's taught me, in future, that whenever I decide to put a question to the I Ching, it pays to spend a few minutes going through my notebook and seeing whether or not I've already consulted it on a similar or related question...because it's paying attention.
 

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