Advice
In order to find the spirit of wabi sabi in gardens, it is again the
perceiver who will need to make the effort to unearth the wealth of
stimulation awaiting discovery.
The gardener sets the scene and provides the potential, but having done
this, he must retire and rely on the sensitivity of the visitor to use the
garden as a springboard to grasping the eternal truths etched throughout.
(Andrew
Juniper)
Giving
advice
It is easy to imagine that your
teacher/instructor/sensei/sifu/master/guru
is all-knowing.
Well, they are not.
A tai chi teacher is as human as the next person and just as fallible.
This is one of the reasons why this website is not offering you any advice.
That's right. We are not telling you what to do, what to think, or how to act.
Or who to be.
You must find those things out all by yourself...
Ambiguous articles/blogs/pages
Some people regard the pages on our website as
being ambiguous. Well, of course they are.
We cannot conceivably teach tai chi via the web.
Our site is for our own students.
The website introduces topics or reminds people of things
we have discussed/explored in class.
Also, the topics are aimed at the tai chi beginner.
Introduction only
Our website offers an introduction to topics that are explored within our
syllabus: tao, zen, tai chi, health, meditation and self defence.
We do not look at anything in-depth on this site. The website is merely a
taster. It offers an overview.
If you want to know more, do some research, dig deeper, or better yet - attend
some lessons.
Bias
Not everyone will agree with what we write. So what? We do not expect you
to.
Every tai chi school has a bias. It is human nature.
Teachers have different priorities, they see some things as being important and
discard others.
This is to be expected.
We make no secret of this and even wrote a page called 'overview' - listing our
bias - just in case you thought we did not have one.
Your own mind
Tai chi is just like everything else in life - there are many differing
points of view and no actual consensus regarding the art.
Every school has its own 'potted' version of the truth.
Ultimately, you must make your own mind up regarding tai chi.
The politics, the differences, the approaches, methods and opinions may vary but
what really matters is what you think, what you want.
What works for you?
Recommendations
People ask us to recommend a tai chi school in their area.
How can we do this? Why should we do this?
We do not know anything about you or about what you want. Our tastes are
probably quite different to yours.
Do not abdicate responsibility by asking for advice. Do not give someone
authority over you.
Find out for yourself.
Page created 12 October 2007