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Advanced martial art?
Many people do a little research concerning
tai chi and decide to learn the martial art. But they are not really
thinking it through... Learning any
martial art involves a lot of
work.
Learning an advanced system must surely require even more?
Sadly, 'tai chi' is often confused
with tai chi for health and students
falsely imagine a mild, perhaps
casual course of study.
Think about it...
If a normal martial art typically expects students
to attend classes 2-3 times a week, how much training is necessary for an
advanced system? The answer is more.
In many martial arts schools the practice was carried out in secrecy and the
school's very existence was frequently concealed from the authorities. For
example, tai chi is based on body of principles known to be around 2000 years old
yet it was not revealed until 1750.
When a master of
tai chi faces an opponent he brings to the confrontation thousands of years of
philosophical, martial and practical thought. He has lived most of his life
according to the principles established centuries ago and in the process, he has
strengthened his body and probably earned a long and healthy life.
(Howard Reid)
Ancient origins
Nobody really knows how old tai chi is. Mainly because it was
taught in secret for a long time and only taught to
family members.
What we do know is that the principles
and Taoist insights underpinning the art are
truly ancient. They go right back to the dawn of
Chinese civilisation.
Principles
Tai chi employs theories and principles that utilise
Taoism, biomechanics,
physics, martial insights,
neigong and qigong.
In order to perform tai chi with any skill at all, a student must
discover what these insights are and endeavour to
understand (and utilise) them convincingly.
Taoist mind?
To truly have a sense of what you are studying it is necessary to read the
ancient texts and to study them thoroughly e.g. Confucius
spent his entire lifetime exploring Tao Te Ching
and I Ching.
If you want to use
tai chi properly, you must
think like a Taoist.
By definition, this is most likely NOT
how you are currently
operating...
The surrounding context gives meaning
to the otherwise meaningless, discrete words... If you want
to learn a subject, instead of
memorising rules and facts, concentrate on truly understanding the
fundamentals deeply. If you want to think of new ideas, don't sit and wait
for inspiration. Instead, apply strategies of transformative thinking such
as making mistakes, asking questions, and following the flow of ideas.
(Edward B. Burger & Michael Starbird)
Reading texts
Adults assume that reading a book is
the same as studying a
book. It is not.
According to Rip It Up and The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, a student
must interact with the text in order to truly
learn.
This means answering questions about the book,
exploring the principles and
insights in your tai chi practice and your everyday life.
Monday night classes
Our tai chi students attend weekly lessons for 90 minutes.
The first 30 minutes is dedicated to basic qigong exercises (because not
many people train at home, don't know the
exercises well enough and need to warm-up).
The second half hour is pushing hands. This
exercise must be drilled until
competition, machismo,
tensing-up and distraction are gone, and in their
place there is sensitivity,
stickiness and
awareness.
Next is form practice, corrections,
refinement and revision.
Monday night is for...
The role of Monday night classes is to enable students to interact with
one another in a safe, friendly environment, practice their skills with
other people, learn new things and ask questions.
The insights gained on a Monday night need to be taken home and practiced
thoroughly.
Most people have never attained a
level of performance in any field that is sufficient to show them the true
power of mental representations to plan, execute and evaluate their
performance
in the way that experts do. And
thus they never really understand what it takes to reach this level - not
just the time it takes, but the high-quality practice.
(Anders Ericsson)
Workshops
We offer workshops most weeks. The role of a workshop is to look at very
specific topics in greater detail than we can on
a Monday night e.g. 'connection'.
Even if you are an expert in tai chi,
there always something new to learn...
A student should attend as many workshops as they can because the material
is vital to their tai chi progress and needs to be explored frequently
in order for the insights to take hold.
Omitting workshops means that the training remains
shallow and the student makes no real progress.
This is why 12 per year is
mandatory for
lower grade tai chi students.
Obstacles promote
growth
Obstacles are vital. For example: the syllabus requires the individual to
mirror section 1 of the
Long Yang form. This is
not a great task. But it is challenging enough.
In order to mirror the form, the student must train at home between classes.
Otherwise, they cannot remember the movements accurately.
Asian culture sees this as being akin to a tripwire fastened just above the
ground... A small step is required to avoid tripping up. The student must
lift their leg. Make an effort. Climb.
Neo: "I know
kung fu."
Morpheus: "Show me."
(The Matrix)
The Matrix (1999)
In The Matrix movie martial
arts knowledge is downloaded into Neo's brain, enabling him to
fight in the virtual reality simulation known as 'the matrix'.
So, the real question here is: Does Neo actually
know kung fu?
The answer is no, he does not. Neo's mind contains the
information and he can play a video game but
his body cannot do kung fu at all...
Motor learning
Motor skills are about moving your body
skilfully.
'Gross' motor skills are things like walking and running.
'Fine' motor skills are more complex e.g. writing, typing, tying a shoe lace.
The goal with motor skills is accuracy, precision and control.
Put simply: you want your body to perform the required task efficiently,
confidently and comfortably.
You can't download motor skills
Motor skills are the outcome of practice and
experience.
Motor learning is about the process of using the body, rather than simply
exercising the body.
Martial skills include:
agility,
mobility, relaxed
spontaneous movement, balance,
structure, alignment, biomechanics, efficiency,
ambidextrous body use, joint
health, coordination,
skill,
emotional wellbeing or
psychological flexibility.
Tai chi
requires an exponent to possess a range of fine motor skills that far
exceed those of mainstream martial arts e.g. peng,
chin na, jing,
sung...
Consider this:
Most people live lives that are
not particularly physically challenging. They sit
at a desk, or if they move around, it's not a lot. They aren't performing
manoeuvres that require tremendous
balance and
coordination. Thus they settle into a low level of physical
capabilities - enough for day-to-day activities or
maybe even hiking or biking or
playing golf or tennis on the weekends, but far from the level of
physical capabilities that a highly
trained athlete possesses.
The reason that most people don't possess
extraordinary physical capabilities isn't because they don't have the
capacity for them, but rather because they're satisfied to live in the
comfortable rut of homeostasis and never do the work
that is required to get out of it.
The same thing is true for all the
mental activities we engage in. We learn enough
to get by but once we reach that point we seldom push to go beyond.
(Anders Ericsson)
Physical skill
To become adept at any physical skill (e.g.
playing the piano) you need to
practice. Daily.
In a conventional martial arts class the instructors
push students to the brink so that they
exert and compete and sweat, 2-3 times a week.
Tai chi offers a far milder training regime.
However, in lieu of strenuous practice it requires moderate daily training.
Nothing massive but certainly adequate.
Training
Physical skills cannot be acquired without physical
training. Solo training is essential. Partnered training also; which is why
we offer workshops and
boot camp.
The ideal situation is to make friends with other students and practice
together outside of class.
Getting your own way
Taoism encourages people to follow their
own path, find their own way, experience their own
journey. Consequently, we don't hassle or pressure students to make
progress.
Ultimately, progress is your responsibility. You
can fast-track through the
syllabus if you want to, plod along or stay
where you are. We don't mind. It's your choice.
Just keep in mind that if you knew what you
were doing and knew how to learn tai chi correctly,
wouldn't you be the instructor,
rather than the student?
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)
Sifu Waller's method
If you desire progress, please keep in mind that
Sifu Waller wrote the syllabus and
knows the
path to skill. If you want those same skills, why not follow his
guidance?
After all, isn't that what you are attending lessons for?
Page created
18 April 2013
Last updated
16 June 2023
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