A beginner forever... | ||
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Starting block
In tai chi is quite common for a student to reach a rudimentary
level of skill and simply remain there.
They may learn many new forms and
exercises.
But everything is performed in a simplistic manner.
Simplistic
The problem with training long-term at a
simplistic level is that
the training is intrinsically incorrect.
Provably so.
Tai chi is a refined, subtle, complex, sophisticated
art.
If your progress halted at white belt and there are
13 belts; this is hardly impressive.
Crude
When a beginner learns a tai chi form they cannot conceivably start
with an advanced rendition of the form.
They learn a crude, introductory version:
the slow form, the square form.
This is the version usually shown to the public.
Nothing can substitute for serious practice. Practice seriously,
correctly and patiently. Use your brain, not just your body. Don't hide
weaknesses in your training. Don't lie to yourself. If you cheat, you only
cheat yourself.
(Adam Hsu)
Quantity
Learning more and more material is pointless when it is all practiced in
a very basic manner.
It would be wiser to learn less and focus on depth.
If you are acquisitive - yet unskilled - then the more you know, the less you
actually understand.
Plateau
Imagine doing 15 minutes of qigong every day...
You want to get better so you do 20 minutes a day.
There may well be an improvement in qigong
skill at first and then you will plateau once again.
In terms of your overall tai chi skill
there will not be much change at all. More of the same does not lead to progress.
Pie chart
A tai chi syllabus is akin to a pie chart.
All 13 areas of study fit together to form the
whole.
Deficiency in any area would leave the overall understanding
incomplete.
As your practice develops you focus on different things, so the emphasis alters.
This cannot happen if you remain at a lower grade.
Beginner
Imagine that you're a tai chi beginner...
What do train?
Your training may entail:
Long Yang form (section 1) (regular)
4 directions with a partner
Ba duan jin (8 exercises)
Central equilibrium – maintain the centre
Eyes-closed walking
Form posture qigong
Full circle qigong
Monkey paws
Moving qigong (8 exercises)
Palm at 3 distances
Peripheral vision - mugger scenario
Posture testing
Psoas exercises
Pushing legs
Reeling silk exercises (5 exercises)
Single pushing hands
Standing post
Standing qigong/3 circle qigong
Stepping drills (6)
Yielding basic skills
Yielding exercise
These topics
provide the adequate, necessary foundation for later practice.
Form collecting
Now let's imagine that a beginner acquired many new forms... which is quite common
in tai chi schools. Can you see the problem?
The student is not training anything deep. Their
knowledge and experience is
primarily fitness and health oriented. Not
martial. Tai chi is a martial art.
Everything they see, do and understand is
from the standpoint of a beginner, not an
internal martial artist.
New starters
New starters are taught how to move their body in a very 'li' way - large,
obvious, crude movements of the joints.
This is necessary.
Fine motor skills are lacking so the hips are
emphasised and leg strength is
cultivated.
Li?
Li refers to the use of bones + muscles; usually muscle tension.
It applies to the reliance upon force rather than a
springy, pliable frame.
e.g. scapula pulled too far forward, elbows locked,
knees straightened or bent deeply, pelvis forced under, stretching
beyond 70%...
From hard to soft
Short-term, training that emphasises large hip and waist action is valuable
since it teaches the student to think more about the lower body and the
larger muscle groups.
Long-term, it isn't good because the skeleton is being
over-used. The soft tissue needs to do more and the joints less.
Going nowhere fast
The real problem with being a long-term beginner is that everything is
performed in a crude way and is not strictly speaking tai chi or even 'internal'.
This issue cannot be resolved by the instructor because it is the student
themselves who determines what is
appropriate.
If a student hasn't passed the beginners syllabus
then they are exactly where they belong and sadly this means they remain
external.
Lower grades
onwards
In contrast with a beginner, a lower grade student is concerned with attaining a comprehensive
introduction to martial practice. The emphasis is
very different to that of a beginner.
There is a lot less in the tai chi
syllabus suited to a tai chi for health
student or a dilettante. The training is more martial.
What makes the student martial is not a different coloured T-shirt, a
belt or any other outward symbol. It is the nature of their commitment.
Daily practice. Weekly lessons. Frequent workshops.
Coupled with the increased physical
demands, the martial student must also
expand their capacity to understand
the art. This involves reading,
study and assignments
designed to deepen insight.
The aim is to break free of the
familiar and make significant
progress through the syllabus.
The technically learnable part of
it must be practiced to the point of repletion.
(Eugen Herrigel)
Having and using
It is not enough to learn skills... you must also know
what to do with them.
And then apply those skills in combat.
A beginner doesn't have a clue.
By definition, a beginner knows nothing. If they did, they wouldn't be a
beginner.
Stagnation
Remaining a beginner forever is pointless.
No matter how much you learn it is still at the first level of skill. Years
of practice don't mean anything if you're still a beginner.
There's been no progress.
Your beginner's misconceptions
remain.
At best, your practice is merely crude and inept.
At worst, it is potentially injurous.
In theory?
Beginners often have all manner of notions
concerning tai chi but not much in the way of actual practical skill.
This may be fine in casual conversation (with friends) but falls short in a
martial arts class.
Martial arts are physical.
They require tangible concrete proof of skill.
Talking is just not enough.
The essence of tai chi
If your martial expression of tai chi does not
look like tai chi, it is probably not tai chi.
The student needs to really examine, contemplate and research the
design elements that led to the creation of tai chi.
Understanding these factors enables the student to
recognise the differences in tai chi styles, systems and approaches; why certain schools emphasise
particular qualities which others discard.
This will aid you in making your tai chi combat look like tai chi rather than
karate. No beginner can do this.
Kung Yi-tsu was famous for his strength.
King Hsuan of Chou went to call on him with full ceremony,
but when he got there, he found that Kung was a weakling.
The king asked, "How strong are you?"
Kung replied, "I can break the waist of a spring insect,
I can bear the wing of an autumn cicada."
The king flushed and said,
"I'm strong enough to tear apart rhinoceros hide and drag nine oxen by the
tail
- yet I still lament my weakness.
How can it be that you are so famous for strength?"
Kung replied, "My fame is not for having such strength,
it is for being able to use such strength."
(Zen story/David Schiller)
Page created
21 May 2001
Last updated
18 January 2003
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