A core aspect of Taiji, as I understand it, is that movement is what I'd term Intention Driven. That is, the primary focus of the mind is on the Intended Outcome, rather than on how to accomplish that outcome. In this article, I use the (capitalised) word Realise to mean how a particular Intention is brought about, or 'made real'. There are many concepts that go by the name 'realisation', and I don't mean any of the other ones.
Using A Pointer On A Computer
Consider how we use the mouse pointer on a computer. This, to me, is a good example of how Intended Outcome is primary, and how that Outcome is realised once we've learned a means of moving the pointer.
Now there are multiple means of controlling a pointer:
- A mouse;
- A trackball;
- A trackpad;
- A nipple (like the Trackpoint on a Thinkpad) or joystick;
- Cursor keys (very inefficient and awkward, but possible);
- Touch on a touchscreen;
Now in terms of the abstraction of the pointer, these things do the same thing: move the pointer and click on objects on screen. But, crucially, the physical mechanics of how we move that pointer, such as by moving our hand while gripping the mouse, or touching a touchscreen, is separated from the result: to the user, they are just clicking on a button, and how the pointer gets to that button and clicks on it is something that we do without much thought. The Intention encompasses what objects we want to click on, and the Realisation encompasses the nervous signals our brain sends to our body in order to accomplish the Intended Outcome.
Separation of Intention and Realisation
This is the subtle, but important concept I'm trying to get across is the separation between what we want to accomplish and how we accomplish it. Typically, one's notion of what we want to accomplish will prescribe, to a greater or lesser degree, what are the permitted means of going about it. Ideas such as Lateral Thinking were developed precisely to get oneself out of a box of 'prescribed methods' so as to see the whole space of possibilities as to how to solve a problem. In separating Intention and Realisation, we give our brain the greatest scope from which to choose how it Realises an Intention.