Tai chi as a supplement | ||
classes qigong tai chi kung fu about us reviews a-z
Blind to the obvious?
Martial artists are often reluctant to drop an
existing system when
they commence tai chi.
They want to cross-train. Yet, if your existing art is 'complete', why are you taking tai chi
lessons in the first place? Your very presence in the class speaks the truth.
Something is missing from your existing system.
The tai chi fighting method
Tai chi encourages freedom of movement. It also trains body habits.
You are learning to use the body in a very
particular way.
If anything you train conflicts with your
tai chi, it will prevent the
art from working correctly.
When you do tai chi, you shouldn't sweat.
Sweating is a sign that energy is being dissipated.
It comes from tension and it's as if you are depleting your bank account.
Doing tai chi, you want to accumulate energy, not spend it.
So, if you sweat, you should stop and rest.
(Cheng Man Ching)
Superficial
understanding
People who work out
forcefully can only
ever attain a superficial grasp of
tai chi chuan (dynamic balancing boxing) because their body usage and
habits of muscular tension hamper the
tai chi immensely.
Tai chi can only be truly understood by someone who is willing to
let go. Cross-training internal and external habits
is a folly.
If you want to gain the
real skills of tai chi, you
may need to drop your
external training altogether.
Different styles
You may be learning more than one style/approach of tai chi, and find that
these conflict.
Students with conflictive training tend to find that one instructor asks
them to practice an exercise one way, whilst their second instructor asks
for it to be done a different way.
This can be confusing - physically and mentally - and can also potentially
lead to injury.
Which 'way' is going to become habit?
Which 'way' is going to emerge in combat?
Combat offers no time for confusion over
style/approaches/methods.
Two instructors?
It can be frustrating for an instructor if you are also training with
another instructor.
Many instructors will not instruct a student unless the student is fully
committed to one class and one class only.
If your eyes are looking in different directions, you will miss what is
right in front of you.
Disrespect
The instructor is focussed upon teaching you a very specific
syllabus.
Behaving like a dojo dilettante, you remain a tourist - on the
outside - never
privy to the real teaching.
Your own arrogance prevents you from listening to the instructor.
And if you are not prepared to listen, or you think you
know best... why attend
lessons in the first place?
Tourist
No instructor will share his secrets with a tourist.
It would be inappropriate and unwise.
This is why visiting instructors seldom teach anything
deep when they offer a
workshop.
Martial arts require commitment, dedication,
practice and loyalty.
Unless a student demonstrates the necessary calibre of character, they alienate
themselves and remain in the shallow end of the syllabus.
No time for two arts
Tai chi is an advanced
martial arts
method.
To become truly skilled at tai chi you must commit to
hours of daily practice
between lessons.
There is no time for another art.
No time for contradictory approaches.
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
(Luke)
One step forward, one step back
Tai chi is seeking to teach a certain approach.
It will
work best when unimpeded.
Practicing contradictory methods means that you will not necessarily make much
progress.
This is especially evident in students who are tense.
Unwilling to drop their existing habits, they flounder from the
onset.
Time
With only so many hours in a given day, there is simply no point in training
tai chi alongside anything else.
The proper practice of tai chi requires a daily
commitment.
There simply is not enough time to fully engage with another
discipline. You are merely short-changing yourself...
Emotional investment
A lot of martial arts instructors are
emotionally invested in what they teach. They are
adamant that their system
is the best. Sifu Waller is not like this.
He sees the tai chi as being the best thing for him.
For Sifu Waller, the art is a vehicle for the exploration of
tai chi and sophisticated
body use.
Versatility
Our syllabus is very versatile.
It offers a wide range of skills, including: kicks,
punches, grapples, floor work,
weaponry, joint manipulation, energy
projection...
There is also a significant fitness component, and
very little risk of injury despite vigorous tai chi
work.
Effort-to-reward ratio
What makes the training appealing is the fact that the applications are simple, direct,
subtle and effective.
There is no struggling, sweating and straining.
No forcing.
If you are using obvious strength, you are doing
something wrong.
In fact, once you possess neigong, the less effort you
use, the greater the effect.
Aging
Conventional martial arts favour the younger, stronger, fitter student.
By contrast; the internal
arts encourage a mature
mind.
Instead of retiring from combat at the age
of 40, a
student can look forward to spending the rest of their
life training the art.
Tai chi is the gentlest of the internal
arts, and works the body in a very safe manner.
Do not do anything useless.
(Miyamoto Musashi)
Page created
23 September 1995
Last updated
16 June 2023
▲