"Three is the Magic Number"

I was reminded of the School House Rock song the other day and wanted to share a simple concept you can use to help remember and organize the principles you are learning. I was taught this technique by one of my teachers and it is closely related to how we also apply the Tai Ji tree method.

Simply put, we use numerical organization to remember, categorize and organize material. When done correctly it can significantly improve how we interact with and understand our practices. It is a very simple and universal system that can be interacted with in individual ways. Here’s how we do it.

First we have our most fundamental aspects represented by

0- Wu Ji/Song This is also the seed and root of the tai ji tree.

1-Tai Ji / Zheng This is like the trunk of our tree that supports the whole.

2-Liang Yi/Yin Yang Liang Yi means “paired or double intention’ which is basically like saying Yin Yang.

This is almost like binary and can act as a complete system. The core of Tai Ji comes from these concepts. When we move past these then we can add in other core principles and methods as well as supporting concepts.

Here is an example.

3-Three Treasures of qi, jing & Shen

4- Four Directions

5-Five Elements

6 - Six Harmonies

7-Seven Stars

8-8 Facets

9-9 Palaces

Some of the above refer to specific principles while others are more general areas of study. For example, the 4 directions is a specific principle, the 5 Elements is a system of study.

The numbering can also be used to ‘collect’ and ‘organize’ principles for further study. Getting back to the “Three is a Magic Number” theme here are some different principles and concepts that can be placed under that umbrella.

Three Treasures of qi, jing, & shen

The Three Bows of the body

The Three Powers of Li, Gong & Jin

The Three Methods of Qi Gong (posture, breath, mind)

The Three States( San Ti in Chinese, also translated as three body, or diamond body)

How is this helpful? It makes it really easy to remember and organize all the different concepts. It also helps us remember the proper flow of intention. It is no problem to place our intention and study all over the tai ji landscape, but it important to understand the logical and simple elegance of returning back to the simple construct of song & zheng as an integrating tool.

It is also important to remember that all of the concepts represent a study, one both personal and shared. I like to say that we want a practice that cultivates really good questions and gives us a method to look and evaluate the answers we come up with, not necessarily a practice that gives us everything cut and dry.

One way I use this as a study is to take a concept off the shelf, such as the three bows and ask myself first, “What do I know about the three bows?” I know that they are the lower bow of the legs and pelvis, the middle bow of the spine, and upper bow of the arms and upper back. From there I might connect it to another concept like the Three Harmonies so that when I practice I can actively look for the bow shapes of my body, how they work in harmony with one another, how they ‘draw’ open and close and how they add to my overall sense of my movement.

If that seems like a lot I will leave you with two final things that should help you ‘relax’ into the method. Our practice is about cultivating relaxed & natural movement, therefore the goal for all practitioners whether beginner or advanced is to use concepts as sparingly and simply as possible, always returning to the core concept of song. The more complex concepts come into play over longterm practice either as needed or as interest or study directs. The memorization of a certain amount of concepts is not a determinant of personal skill or understanding of these arts.

While a certain amount of knowledge is both necessary and beneficial it is important to remember the last thing I want to mention, which is something one of my first teachers shared with me, the analogy of the fish trap which comes from the teachings of Zhuang Zi. It states that much like the fish trap used to catch a fish, we don’t want to confuse the conveyance of something for the meaning. Once the trap has caught the fish we focus on the fish, we don’t eat the trap. Concepts work much the same, they are there to help us catch the meaning and feeling of our practice, but we look for a mind clear of clutter.

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