I've noticed an increasing emphasis in the TC press recently on trying to feel what we are feeling 'emotionally' rather than concentrating on a physical understanding of the art.
This cult of the self in TC is very attractive to many due to the quiet distance it gives you from your worries, the harsh realities of life and a possible martial encounter.
But that's the problem, it dulls your senses down to the level of a warm duvet and deceives you to the realities of physical contact and achieving robust health.
Life needs to be faced and grasped hold of, not hidden from.
We think, for example by trying to feel so called internal 'energetic' processes in the body or focusing on the minute position of a fingertip in the belief that it has a connected relationship with certain organs, we can improve our health or martial ability by thought alone.
Nice idea but sadly this type of training is very subjective to a students actual or desired cultural beliefs, which if we are talking about TC are based on pre-scientific ideas and folk lore, not on tangible modern training methods.
Your training should equip you with the mental and physical skills to be able to mix it up against noncompliant opponents who don't believe in juju magic and make you noticeable fitter, stronger and healthier so you can enjoy your life to the full.
If you only train with the 'right' sort of people that believe the same as you, there is a danger that you will all start to wear the emperor's new clothes. Hoping that if enough of you feel or believe a thing then it will become true, regardless of whether it is a real truth or just wishful thinking.
Performing TC with no real regard to what the opponent is actually doing leads to them becoming almost invisible, more of an abstract thought, a distraction to the warm and fuzzy navel gazing that your TC will eventually become.
Its very easy to become deluded that you are on some special journey, searching for esoteric training methods or a guru to aid your 'spiritual' advancement. Try not to search for extraordinary explanations in the ordinary, TC should be simple to understand.
When physically connecting and blending with an opponent, its important to forget our ego, our daily problems, shortcomings etc and concentrate only on what is actually happening in the external world at that moment.
We need a calm and uncluttered mind to be able to evade, divert, discharge and escape successfully.
This ability comes from constantly working on correct breathing, position of the feet, legs, centreline, arms and hands.
And correct timing regarding when do we sink/rise, coil/uncoil, open/close and expand/contract within our solo or partnered TC practice.
The internal can take care of its self without your conscious mind annoying it and getting in the way. Stop thinking too deeply about your emotional feelings as it will just slow you down and create confusion. Be in the moment and just react to what your opponent is doing, they are much more important than you.