I’ve been teaching myself the left side of the Solo Form because my teacher’s teacher believes that it’s a good way to bolster the knowledge of the right side of the form. I should have done this years ago, but I’ve been dragging my heels. Why? Because even after all these years, I still don’t like the Solo Form very much. It’s not something I like to admit, but I find it boring for the most part. The more applications of the postures I learn, however, the better I like the form. I’ve made a dedicated effort to practice the Solo Form during my daily routine, and I’ve gotten better at it, even if it’s still not my favorite thing to do.
As I’ve said several times before, the minute I picked up the sword, I was hooked. It was my jam, and it was completely intuitive for me*. I zipped through it like nobody’s business, feeling confident the whole time. It’s still my favorite form, and I practice it every day. About a year ago, I decided to teach myself the left side of the Sword Form before I knew the whole left side of the Solo Form. We did the first section of the left side of the Solo Form often enough in class so that I felt I knew it fairly well, but when we did the second section, I was completely lost. I don’t have a problem knowing my right from my left, but I do have a problem with directions. In fact, my brother and I used to argue when he gave me directions to some place new. He would tell me east, west, north, and south, and I would tell him that was meaningless to me. I needed right and left, and he said, “What if you miss the exit and have to turn around?” I retorted, “Then I’ll flip left to right and right to left in my brain!”
Why is this pertinent? Because in the Solo Form, when I’m doing the right side, I’m comfortable enough that I can pretty much do it in cruise control (though I shouldn’t. Part of the benefit of taiji is teaching mindfulness). It’s a road I’ve traveled a million times before, so I don’t need to really think about in which direction am I going. When I switch over to the left side, my brain starts short-circuiting, and any postures I’m not completely confident about on the right side, I get confused over on the left side. It’s one of the reasons teaching yourself the left side is a good thing–it shows you your weaknesses on the right side. I find that if I’m struggling with a posture on the left side, it’s one of a few things. Either it’s a posture I consider easy on the right side and I haven’t really learned it, or it’s a posture I’ve been fudging and pretending I actually know what I’m doing when I don’t.
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