‘Invest in loss?’

When I first read this Chinese quote years ago it didn’t make any sense.

How can you invest in loss?

But several years later in my Tai Chi training I finally understood what this quote really meant.

And when I made that realisation I looked at every opportunity to ‘invest in loss.’

The losses are essentially my mistakes and the investment is in learning and applying the correct technique.

Here are some examples how I invested in loss.

Push Hands
–  thrown head over heels – sink the chi

Form
– too rigid in my movements – relax, let go but maintain the correct structure of the posture

Self Defence
– sparring and getting hit on the nose – maintain seven stars posture

There is a lot of wisdom in Chinese quotes and it is only through practice, awareness and examination can one really understand a quote such as ‘invest in loss.’