Taiji in Performance
Drawing a line from ‘martial’ to ‘art’
There is an element of theatre in the martial arts. From the ritual warrior dances that permeate world culture to modern wrestling and free-fighting spectacles which grace countless television screens, the bond between the martial and the theatrical seems compelling—even inevitable.
In China, martial artists have traditionally accepted this apparent paradox with relative ease and variations on the theme of martial theatre abound. Martial-arts street performance—a kind of kung-fu busking—for example, has borrowed from and contributed to traditional Chinese opera which has, in turn, drawn many of its themes from martial motifs which dominate much of the nation’s historical literature. Indeed the top film and television stars of the Chinese martial-arts genre, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan grew up in Chinese-opera families. Others such as Li Lianji (Jet Li) were raised in an environment of performance-related competition martial arts.
Being a Chinese martial art, and also so dance-like and ritualistic in appearance, one might think it would come as no surprise that taijiquan is sometimes expressed as a performance activity. But for many there is a problem with the notion that the art can be used or expressed in this way. For those inclined toward the self-cultivation aspects of taijiquan for instance, even graceful and virtuosic performances can seem immodest or vulgar, while for those more martially inclined, theatricality seems ridiculous if not egregious.
But is it really so bad? One might think, based on the outbursts of some commentators, that all is about to be lost as the twin travesties of performance and competition irreparably erode tradition. They see this especially as diluting the art for the sake of its exploitation. Of course—and this is self evident—if a practitioner concentrates exclusively on the performance features his or her art, consequent understanding and cultivation of other elements will be commensurately curtailed. And naturally, if all practitioners approach their work from this perspective, the art is likely to suffer in the long run.
But for those self proclaimed ‘traditionalists’ who take almost hostile umbrage with the notion of martial play-acting, we might ask whether their lack of good-natured tolerance isn’t designed to self-promote in some other way. Self-validation through the belittling of other paths doesn’t necessarily produce better martial results and such indignation can become histrionic in it’s own right. After all, performance, even in the guise of competition, requires real skill and, while perhaps not entirely focused on the martially functional, demands something in the way of training and coordination that can be of real value to the serious martial artist. While strength, power, agility and flexibility do not necessarily guarantee reliable martial skill, neither does a wagging, critical tongue. Perhaps putting a few of the the art’s possibilities for expression into some kind of larger context might help the tolerance factor within the taijiquan-as-martial-art community.
Taijiquan forms competitors for example, could be considered as athlete-artists involved in an aesthetic-sport which is, itself, one aspect of a traditional art that embraces a much wider range of concerns. Push-hands (and other forms of sparring) competitors are involved in sport in the better understood sense of: ‘points accumulation through contest.’ The purpose of sport, in this sense, can only be realized by strategic means within a set of procedural expectations.
In order to appreciate taijiquan in its competitive and performance aspects, it might be helpful to look at a range of martial-movement pursuits in relation to other movement activities. In the context of a taijiquan as a martial art, the view can extend to the relationship between art, sport—and sport’s sabre-toothed uncle—war. At the extreme ends of the war-to-art continuum, we see martial-combat and martial-performance respectively.
Martial (武) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Art ( 术)
War, as the most questionable of martial activities (but the one that defines martiality most overtly) differs vastly from sport in its aim. Within most martial-art circles, it is generally agreed that war, conflict, or battle—unless absolutely necessary—are activities to be avoided to whatever extent possible. Scholars of Chinese language argue in fact that the word meaning ‘martial’ (wu 武) is comprised of the character components for a kind of ‘spear’ (ge 戈) and ‘stop’ (zhi 止), referring to either ‘stopping the spear’ or ‘using the spear to stop attack.’ Both concepts having to do with ending violence. ‘Martial arts’ then, are not so much acting in the interest of furthering war but rather in preventing or ending it.
It might be remembered here that many sociologists regard sport as a way of expressing or sublimating violent and warring instincts in a socially acceptable form—or at least one less harmful—which can be of potential value in community and inter-community relations.
The extremes: War and Art
Whereas criteria for evaluation of success are relatively clear in sports such as hockey or even figure skating, ‘winning’ in war is accomplished via highly questionable procedures, and definitions of ‘victory’ can be likewise subjective. In this sense, war is much like ‘art’ which shares highly subjective and/or popular criteria for defining success.
But while defining victory in an overall war might be a subjective exercise, instances of victory in martial-combat are generally easier to recognize. Martial-combat achieves its aims through beating an enemy actually, as compared to the figurative beating of an opponent in a sporting martial-contest. In this sense it is more ‘real’ than sport or aesthetic sport which demonstrate victory or superiority without actual destruction of the adversary (even in relatively violent martial-contest events, opponents are released after submission and this is taken as an admission of defeat).
Martial-performance at the other extreme, involves the depiction of martial activity. It can convey the values, methods, essence or spirit of martial practices to the uninitiated and depict war without inflicting the recklessness and cost upon observers. While martial-performance may in some guises be highly stylized or caricaturish, it can also be brutally and hauntingly accurate. In this sense it can approach through ‘realism’ the extreme nature of war and battle in ways that sport or aesthetic-sport can not. Though choreographic in method, purely artistic depictions of violence can invoke an understanding of the seriousness of mortal combat more so than the renditions offered by martial sport with its trivializing prize-awarding mindset. In this second sense ‘art’ is akin ‘war’ offering up through realism a sense of life’s gravitas.
The capacity to portray war may be one of the most powerful cautionary tools humans have at their disposal when it comes to warning us away from the trumpeting overtures of those who would profit by idealizing war as a noble endeavour. There is of course, a mixed potential in offering up such representations. Glamourized depictions may enamour some toward the activity but even in these cases the potential for sublimation of violence away from its actual expression can be of potential value. For those truly interested in excelling as martial-performance artists, it may even be worth deepening involvement and understanding of related theatrical aspects, considering performance from the perspective of author-composer-choreographer, director, performer, stage manager and audience.
The middle ground: Sport and Aesthetic-sport
The value of sport (martial-contest) varies, both based on approach to the activity and attitude of the individual. For those involved in competitive, point-based sports—in the case of taijiquan push-hands competitions—there is a possibility, within a limited set of parameters, to evaluate some aspects of one’s abilities against a skilled opponent. While it is generally acknowledged that there are limitations to this in terms of realistic progress evaluation, it is generally conceded that such competitions do rouse improvement in competitors, even with respect to traditional martial-arts practices. With the right attitude, one may use such competitions as a means to deepening understanding of the art, testing one’s mettle and better understanding the nature of competition.
Aesthetic-sport or ‘martial portrayal’—and in the case of taijiquan, ‘forms competition’—fulfills somewhat different functions. The purpose of an ‘aesthetic-sport’ can only be realized in reference to the aesthetic manner of achieving it, thus a clear understanding of the spirit, aesthetic, and power of the art must be exhibited by the participant. ‘Martial portrayal’ means here: the activity of representing the martial art and its salient features with finesse in an expressive fashion. In this regard, the martial ‘athlete-artist’ shares a great deal with what we have been calling the martial ‘performance-artist’. The difference, however, lays in the strictness of the competition parameters which confine the depiction to traditional, or at least, guideline approved, forms of expression. Martial aesthetic-sport activities suffer similar limitations to their martial-sport counterparts in that they can, at best, suggest only aspects of the art they depict. Mastery can be fostered within these limitations, however, as athlete/athlete artists must seriously develop important fundamentals to participate in a viable way.
Additionally, with respect to martial-portrayal via forms competitions, much maturing can take place within the individual in terms of the development of self-control, poise, and capacity for expression through the art. It is very common, in fact, to find athlete-artists make their way from the competition arena into the performance environment in some capacity. Many individuals involved in various aspects of theatre, film, and television in some way connected with martial arts, have traversed the path from competition carpet to stage and set. At a more basic level, even ‘in-school’ performances for the benefit of students, friends, or exhibitions made to interest the public require some minor degree of theatricality and it is difficult to find a taijiquan club anywhere in which some form of demonstration is not injected somehow into the proceedings. Participating in form competitions can be helpful in strengthening community spirit and encouraging some individuals to move beyond personal limitations in a safe environment.
Advice for sages
The chart and discussion above do not directly reflect the ‘spiritual’ and ‘self-cultivation’ aspects of taijiquan and participants focused in these areas might say that the topics addressed in this discussion constitute yet another batch of variations reflecting the limitations of the human ego. While there may be truth to this notion, it could also be argued that participation in the art in its performance, portrayal, and competitive modes can provide real tests of one’s ability to express the art in situations where one’s ego attachments become vivid. It is one thing to experience egoless taijiquan in one’s back yard and quite another to be free of ego in the final match of a push-hands competition. There is no reason why participating in such activities cannot contribute to such cultivation.
While there are those that eschew the footlights in favour of no-nonsense, ‘real’ martial arts, it might be wise to remember that, short of war or life threatening combat, all martial-arts practices are, at best, simulations of ‘the real thing.’ Although most serious martial training in taijiquan is directed toward the idea of real fighting situations with one or a few opponents, such training still tends to find itself somewhere between the cracks of martial-contest and martial-combat. The more ‘real’ things get—and here’s where diehard taijiquan ‘martialists’ might take note—the more the rules tend to fly out the window, making less relevant much formal martial arts training. It is precisely when situations become most martially realistic that flexibility of mind and attitude become strategically critical; it is exactly here that the more artistically creative mind might triumph.
In any event, it is no truer to say that taijiquan can only be represented genuinely by mastery of its martial-application aspects than to say that it can only be expressed by its performance permutations. At the very least, there is no reason why these activities should not be considered valid, albeit limited, forms of taijiquan practice from the standpoint of historical tradition, martial training or self-cultivation.
This previously unpublished piece was written on June 13, 2006 in Berlin, Germany
The ‘Martial - - - - Art’ diagram above appears as ‘Masich’s Continuum’ in Daniel Mroz’s 2011 work The Dancing Word: An Embodied Approach to the Preparation of Performers and the Composition of Performances which links martial arts and theatre studies.
Great article - and I love the phrase "kung-fu busking"! Someone should really make a film with that title in which Kwai Chang Caine is magically transported to modern New York and has to make a living playing his flute on the subway.