Friday, March 12, 2010

Wu Wei

There is a concept found in Chinese philosophy called Wu Wei or doing-not doing or effortless action. If you have ever played push hands with me you will have a small taste of what wu wei is. Effortless action is where you do only what is required to perform the action and then stop. This is a powerful counterpoint to the idea of "Going the extra mile."

My students often comment in pushing hands practice that the harder they try, the more they get thrown backward or up into the air. This is correct. This idea this counterpoint to going above and beyond and putting in the effort to do something may seem like an invitation to laziness. Putting extra effort into doing a thing is pointless. The only work that is required is that required to perform the action. This however is not the only thing going on in the action.

When you see a Kung Fu master throw someone effortlessly, or you see a chef prepare a wonderful meal, or a writer produce an outstanding piece of work you are not seeing their efforts. The throw, the cooking, the piece of writing are in essence effortless. Does this mean that no work was involved? Not at all!

The Kung Fu master has put his or her effort into the practice and honing of the craft. The effort is expended not in the action we see but in the roots of the action. In the thousands of hours of learning movements, practicing stances, analyzing the movements of more experienced practitioners. The same goes for the chef and the writer. Thousands of hours of work and practice go into the meal or the writing.

What is the difference between this effort and the effort invested in performing the action? Simple... the effort of practice is a sustained, daily. It is spread over time and this means its results are more profound and far reaching. The amateur, the one who only puts forth effort when he or she is performing the action, can never hope to match that kind of effort.

I suppose the essence of Wu Wei lies in this: Small sustained efforts create actions of great power. Large, sporadic efforts create actions of little meaning and great strain.

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