The philosophy and methodology of Taijiquan

The philosophy and methodology of Taijiquan are often misunderstood and misinterpreted. A very important reason for this is because the basic behaviour of Taijiquan is a violation of our innate human instinct and is contrary to normal thinking. It requires the application of 'reverse thinking' in order to fully understand its concept. If we are able and willing to alter our innate human instinct beyond the 'normal' mode of thinking, then the difficulty of taijiquan is li...ke the Chinese saying "breaking through paper window". The ease of eliminating the barrier to learning depends on the amount of time and the willingness to engage in changing your thinking processes. Until then Taijiquan is complex and difficult and even impossible to learn. So what is the most difficult aspect of Taijiquan? The best answer is in Lao Zi's Daodejing Chapter 41- that explains that "contradiction is the dynamic expression of the law of nature". Taijiquan is a typical example of contradictory dialectics: its fundamental principles exist in contradictions and paradoxes and if they are not viewed as a dialectical unity - if you insist that a circle is a circle, a straight line is a straight line, that what are opposites can never be reconciled or that they cannot complement each other - then the theory of Taijiquan will not become clear. Based on that Taijiquan can be easy to learn and at the same time most difficult to learn.