tai chi

From my parking space opposite the Co-op entrance, I could see a young mom dealing with her toddler who was refusing to move.

When her mom tried to pick her up, the little girl’s body arched and stiffened, and  at precisely the right moment became like water, flowing limply through her mother’s hands. 

I thought of Tai Chi: Rooted yet flowing, presenting no target that the opponent can grasp. It generally takes years to reach that level, but I felt certain that no adult could uproot this three year old.

The mom backed off. The little girl started to walk on her knees in some strange sort of a way which I am convinced would have made it impossible to grab and move her by force. I got out of my car, and as I passed them on my way into the Co-op, I heard the mother say:

“I understand that you are very angry.”

The little girl raised her voice in protest, but I could tell that her mom was not getting hooked into a conflict.

Five minutes or so later, I left the Co-op, and saw that the little girl and her mom were sitting together, verbally engaging. They were clearly enjoying being together, even as the argument continued. The feeling was warm, even though the little girl continued to argue with her mom. Between mildly angry outburst, the girl would smile, and look up at her mom, happily. It reminded me of push hands, a sort of sparring in Tai Chi in which the opponents give and receive energy, each trying to keep their balance.

What had started as a typical parent-child oppositional situation of a type which often goes off the rails, had become a flow of positive energy between two people.