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Tai chi fighting method
Learning the tai chi syllabus is not easy. We
are not going to mislead you here.
It takes a lot of time and a lot of
work.
However, you are welcome to work through the material at your own pace...
How long will it take to become skilled?
That
entirely depends upon you. Everyone is different. There
are so many variables.
Concentrated practice in
the early stages of an endeavour dramatically improves the value of future
practice.
(Michael Gelb)
Overconfidence
People who are new to martial arts training begin with an
enthusiastic attitude.
They dream of attaining a high-level skill.
Then the reality sets in.
Hard work, their own level of
commitment,
patience, the volume of material to learn,
the time it takes to become
skilled... these are all key factors.
Only the keenest student gets through even 1% of the overall syllabus.
A sense of perspective
Novices read the syllabus and think that it sounds like a lot to learn.
The lower grades introduce:
Form (section 1)
And
that's it.
Note the word 'introduces'.
The student does not have an in-depth grasp of
the material.
Their understanding is superficial, cursory, a crude outline in need of
considerable refinement.
All in all, about 1% of the entire curriculum. If that...
How can it be 1%?
Oh, that's easy to answer.
Consider Rachel...
By 2012 Rachel had learned the following
skills:
Qigong - to Sifu Waller & insurer's teaching standards
Tai chi for health - to Sifu Waller & insurer's teaching standards
Long Yang form (regular & mirrored)
Sabre form (regular & mirrored)
Walking stick form (regular & mirrored)
Jian form (regular & mirrored)
Bagua palm changes (regular & mirrored)
Reeling silk exercises
Partner work
Martial concepts
Pushing hands
Principles (studying recommended reading daily)
Knife drills
Stick drills (20)
San sau (regular & mirrored)
2-person cane drill (regular & mirrored)
2-person form (partnered) (regular & mirrored)
Small stick drills (3 out of 5)
Self-massage routine (100+ exercises)
Leg stretches (sets 1 & 2)
Psoas work
Floor work (intro)
Pushing peng exercise
Double pushing hands (regular & mirrored)
Da lu (regular & mirrored)
Wallbag drills (4 sets)
Neigong (studying The Book of Neigong daily)
Breath meditation, meditation on emotions, meditation on body sensations
6 direction changes
8 mother palms
9 palaces
Body overturning drill
Circle walking
Crane stepping
The crouch
Figure of 8
The gaze
Lion stepping
Partnered circle walking
8 directions stepping
16 elbows
Chin na applications (sets 1,2 & 3)
Drilling (spiralling forward)
Kicking exercise
Mud stepping
Pressing (splitting)
Rolling (circular coiling)
Plate exercise (bagua version)
Toe in, toe out
Wrapping (embrace)
How much does Rachel's training add up to?
Less than 10% of the
overall syllabus offered by our school.
Maybe only 5%...
Compare it to the lower grades and it is quite easy to see why
students are only
studying 1% of what is on offer.
What is missing from Rachel's tai chi?
Mainly the martial skill component:
Chin na (misplacing the bones, dividing the
muscles, sealing the breath, cavity press, applications, flowing, freeform),
shuai jiao (applications & skills),
form application (every
movement of every form), san da (freeform combat),
striking skills, projections,
jing (whole-body power), evading a knife,
freeform grappling, kicking,
shen, conviction,
composure, neigong
(whole-body strength), reeling silk,
fa jing, throws, how to deal
with multiple opponents/gangs, mutual arising,
yin/yang, te, 6 balanced pairs, folding, mushin (surrender/immersion), opening & closing, wu nien (not preparing),
wu wei (not forcing), zanshin (continuing mind),
conservation of energy, minimal movement, accuracy, balance, rhythm and
timing, 5 animals, 8 powers, 5 centres,
blending, central equilibrium,
close-range combat,
freeform triangle,
groundpath, moving from the centre,
practical applications
of yielding, small circle movement,
strategy & tactics, uniting upper & lower,
using the mind instead of
force, whole-body movement,
breathing methods... and so on.
Rachel lacks a deeper understanding of how
Taoism, Zen,
martial principles, martial skill, meditation and The
Tai Chi Classics all fit together in practice and in
everyday life.
What your body remembers is what is important for you at this particular stage
of development.
What your mind forgets, your body is telling you it couldn't use anyhow at this
time.
(Tsuchihashi)
Page created
7 November 2012
Last updated
10 November 2023