” YOU CAN’T SAY RELAX ! INSTEAD SAY CALM , LOOSE “
BP Chan was aware of the fact that the English translation of the word Song was Relax . Mr. Chan felt that the word relax was not relaxing . The technical definition did not match the actual feeling , not only did it not match , but it had the reverse effect. Even though Mr. Chan was from another country , he sought out English words that had sounds that not only matched the feeling that he was seeking , but triggered the correct feeling . The words that he chose were ” Calm and Loose ” . These are soothing in both sound and meaning and these were his advise regarding what qualities he sought in his Standing Training .
David Saltman’s comment follows:
He did not like the word “relax” because it had two syllables. You would start to relax on the “re-” but tense up on “-lax.” All Chinese words have only one syllable. “Loose” he used to relax body tension; “calm” was for the tense, chattering mind. The technique is to put your mind (attention) to the point of tension, then tell it: “Loose!” If it’s the mind that is tense, put your attention to the mind (!) and tell it: “Calm!”