Grades explained | ||
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Grades
Most tai chi classes do not
have grades or belts or even a
syllabus. How come?
Who knows?
Even modern China has implemented some sort of
grading/belt structure inspired by the Japanese
model.
Cycling & gears
Have you ever seen people cycling down the
road? Quite often the cyclist is pedalling frantically but not really getting anywhere.
How come?
Many cyclists don't know how to use the gears...
The seeker wants another level of
mind
and strives for it without distraction
like a grandmother shopping at market.
(Loy Ching-Yuen)
Gears
The idea behind gears is to enable the cyclist to rotate the pedals at a
comfortable walking pace: regardless of terrain.
By adjusting the gear, the easy,
comfortable rotation is maintained.
When a cyclist pedals frantically and goes no faster, they are obviously using
the wrong gear. To solve the problem they simply need to
increase the gear...
Grades are like gears
Tai chi skill cannot be cheated, bullied or
forced.
Steady, even sustained work is necessary.
The student should be working at a measured,
comfortable pace at all times.
Forward progress is inevitable unless the
student stops pedalling altogether.
Changing gear
If the tai chi material seems too easy, then the
student should go up a gear.
This is accomplished by working through
every item on the syllabus associated with that grade.
Including assignments.
There are many similarities
between the hard and
soft fighting systems; both use animal
movements and forms, for example,
and both incorporate the five elements, but because of the
Taoist influence, the
soft arts exhibit a stronger and
deeper relationship with the natural
world.
Since the Taoist concepts are rooted in the most
distant past with the most
ancient beliefs of the
Chinese, it is difficult for the
Western mind to
understand them. Therefore, before you can investigate the
internal martial arts, you must first
back to the very origins of thought in ancient
China.
(Howard Reid)
Right
gear
A student may think that they are
worth a higher grade and
should be training in a higher grade.
Prove it.
If you have not completed every item for your grade, you are exactly
where you need to be.
Cherry-picking indicates
arrogance and naivety. It is also
dishonest.
Hard terrain
If you are finding assignments tough
to complete, then this is great news.
You have found your weakness.
Remedy it.
There is now an opportunity to turn your
weakest area of skill (the mind) into your
strongest skill: embrace the challenge.
Failure to address the weakness simply serves to validate
and confirm that the weakness was correctly identified by the
syllabus.
A higher gear
When used correctly, cycle gears enable the cyclist to move faster and
cover more terrain without actually pedalling
any harder.
This is in fact the purpose of the gears.
Grades are the same.
A student will find each new grade just challenging enough but not
overwhelming.
Personal challenges
For students who want to increase gears more frequently there are personal
challenges that you can set yourself:
Full circle qigong
Qigong development
There is no pressure to undertake these challenges - we will not seek to
persuade you either way - nor offer counsel.
Ultimately the challenge is for you, so you must decide for
yourself.
Wrong gear
Should the student be trying really hard but getting nowhere, clearly they
are in the wrong grade entirely.
This is like pedalling like crazy.
It is pointless and frustrating.
Sifu Waller will move the student to the appropriate grade for their
ability level.
Gears understood
When you get the hang of gears, cycling becomes far less
strenuous.
The syllabus and the grades are just the same.
e.g. a student works on 'form
applications' because they have the necessary
stamina, strength,
aptitude with
form,
hours of practice, experience and
theoretical understanding to handle
that topic without having to try too hard.
Page
created 18 August 2002
Last updated
16 June 2023
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