Tai chi & piano lessons
One cannot listen to different pieces of music at the same time, a real comprehension of the beautiful being possible only through concentration upon some central motive.
(Kakuzo Okakura)
Tai chi for health
As with most things in life, you get out of tai chi what you put into it.
A mediocre commitment will produce a mild return.
For many people, learning tai chi for
health is quite a casual undertaking.
Students often attend intermittently and do little or no practice at home.
Although this approach may work for health-only training, it will fail you in a
martial class.
Tai chi as a martial art
Training tai chi as a
martial art is altogether different to learning tai chi
for health.
The depth of knowledge and skill is significantly deeper and more thorough.
A casual approach will not work when learning the complete syllabus.
Body, mind and emotions need to be conditioned and honed through sustained,
regular practice.
Practice
If a student wants to learn tai chi as a martial art, it is necessary to accept
that a lot of training is required.
The practice needs to be regular, sustained and ongoing.
Tuition and daily home practice must be combined in order to produce the most
effective outcome.
Martial arts practice is far more sophisticated than health-only training.
There are many partnered drills and group scenarios that require a lot of class
work.
A considerable amount of solo training is also imperative.
The real deal
Learning tai chi as a martial art requires commitment.
The student must invest time, money, attention and patience.
They must
suffer set-backs, frustration and quite a few bumps & bruises.
The journey will be anything but easy.
As well as gaining valuable martial skills, you must learn how to strengthen the
body, protect yourself from injury and become seasoned to
combat.
Tai chi self defence is not a mild endeavour.
If you imagine that it simply entails qigong, form and pushing hands, you are
mistaken.
Black belt
A student is awarded their 1st dan black belt (in whatever martial art)
when they have completed the fundamentals, the basics.
The student has yet to train any advanced-level material.
They are not an expert.
Nor are they ready to open a school or teach a class.
The general public seem to regard the black belt as being some sort of martial
arts graduation.
This is a misconception.
The Japanese word for black belt is shodan which means 'first step' or 'certified beginner'.
(Michael Gelb)
Gaining a black belt signifies the beginning of a much more
serious journey.
The student has climbed up out of the valley but is a very long distance from
the peak.
Not many people have the wherewithal to go all the way.
In our school,
70% of the syllabus is at the black belt level. Obtaining a black belt is the
beginning, not the end.
Passion
Some people have a real passion for their chosen hobby, interest or art.
They invest a tremendous amount of time, money and effort in their given
pursuit.
Typically, they would rather practice than talk about it.
But these people are rare.
Not many students have a hunger for knowledge, skill and understanding.
Most people are content with a superficial degree of skill.
Piano & tai chi?
If you want to learn any skill thoroughly and convincingly, you
need to put in an awful lot of time.
Whether you are seeking to learn Spanish, cook like a gourmet chef or play the
guitar, it is just the same.
Practice, practice, practice.
There are no shortcuts...
More...
Page created 6 March 2003