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Martial art
Tai chi was designed to be an
advanced fighting method.
Advanced?
People read the word 'advanced' and really don't think it through. The word
advanced literally means far ahead, more difficult, more challenging. It
signifies a higher stage of development.
Martial
arts training
Learning any martial art is hard work. It involves years of arduous
training, and most people quit at the onset. Very few students who start
martial arts lessons even gain a black belt.
Fewer still progress beyond their first dan.
Hard work
Hard work alone is not enough, though. Simply working hard will not
necessarily lead to progress.
It needs to be deliberate, focused improvement designed to improve your
practice by developing key skills outlined by your instructor.
The student must implement corrections, study the recommended books,
undertake assignments and challenge their comfort zone.
Traditional
In China, a student would focus on gaining competence with an external
martial art method. This process would entail a great deal of hard work.
There would be years of drilling, punishing practice, sweat and aching
muscles.
Retire or climb higher?
Time takes its toll... Harsh training methods, power, speed and flexibility
favour the younger person. The traditional martial arts practitioner often
chose to set aside the external training and retire.
Or they sought something more advanced.
Seeking a teacher
In traditional China it was not easy to find a martial arts instructor
willing to offer tuition. The onus was upon the student to prove themselves.
An instructor was leery to waste time and effort with a lazy student.
Finding an advanced martial arts instructor was even harder still...
Too easy
Nowadays, people can start training an advanced martial art from the onset.
They can literally contact an instructor and request a lesson. This
is problematic.
Modern
The modern student lacks an adequate foundation with an external martial art
method. They are normally unprepared for the hard work that lies ahead.
They dismiss the word 'advanced', not realising that it signifies a
training regime far more
challenging than anything offered by an external
method.
A martial athlete?
Combat is not easy and there is a risk of injury if the student is unfit.
This is true of any martial art. To reach a high level of skill, the student
needs to take a lesson from sport.
They must become a lot fitter, but not necessarily a martial
athlete.
Martial fitness
All martial arts require the student to be fit for combat.
Tai chi students train: massage, leg stretches, qigong, neigong, form, partnered work, martial sets & drills,
combat and weapons.
The training is done carefully, gently - in a controlled manner - without exertion or
strain.
What makes
tai chi advanced?
Tai chi follows a different path to most martial arts. It teaches all the
skills associated with the external arts (albeit performed differently) and
also a large number of unorthodox considerations.
Unconventional skills
Internal skills are not easy to acquire. They are subtle, hard to learn and
require a high degree of awareness. Many insights are seen as being
counter-intuitive.
Gain external skills first
A tai chi student learns all these external skills but employs them in an
internal way:
• Kicks, punches, palm strikes, finger strikes, elbows, knees
• Grappling whilst standing and on the floor
• Throws
• Weapons
• Joint locks
• Trapping
• Escape from holds
• Self defence
• Close-range combat
An advanced martial art exceeds external martial arts skill.
Higher skills
Tai chi employs additional skills: mutual arising, wu wei (not
forcing), folding, filing, wrapping, blending, listening, interrupting,
leading, borrowing, adhere & stick, sinking & rooting, sung, substantial &
insubstantial, projections, change, misplacing the bones, dividing the
muscles, sealing the breath, cavity press, shuai jiao (applications &
skills), form application (every movement of every form), jing (whole-body
power), neigong (whole-body strength), reeling silk, fa jing, yin/yang, te,
6 balanced pairs, mushin (surrender/immersion), opening & closing, wu nien
(not preparing), zanshin (continuing mind), conservation of energy, minimal
movement, 5 animals, 8 powers, 5 centres, central equilibrium, freeform
triangle, groundpath, moving from the centre, practical applications of
yielding, small circle movement, uniting upper & lower, using the mind
instead of force, whole-body movement,cold jing, inch
jing, uprooting, following, connection, double weightedness (avoidance
of)... and so on.
More...
Page created
21 May 1998
Last updated
10 November 2023