Indoor student of taijiquan | ||
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Good intentions
Most people start tai chi lessons with lofty
ambitions, only to falter almost immediately and quit.
Or settle into a rut; remaining a beginner.
Often they are keen and friendly but hardly
dedicated.
Why learn
tai chi?
You pay for driving lessons so that you can drive a car. You attend Spanish
classes so that you can speak Spanish. You
learn French cuisine so that you
can cook better.
Why do you learn tai chi?
You learn tai chi in class so that you can
practice and use the principles and
combat skills of
tai chi in your everyday life.
You want tangible, concrete results.
If you can't
do it, you don't know it.
(Mike Sigman)
Active learning
The teacher cannot help anyone. Their job
is to offer the material and provide lessons. It is the
student's job to actually do the work.
To quote the proverb: You can lead a horse to water, but you can't
make it drink.
Real progress
In modern terms, an 'indoor student' is somebody who is genuinely
committed to getting through the
syllabus. Whether
fast-track or
at their own pace.
Indoor tuition is aimed at people who are wanting to put their 'money where
their mouth is'. They are not content to be a talker...
These students don't want to be in a rut. They don't want to remain
beginners indefinitely. They want to learn
the real art.
They train daily,
progress
consistently and learn the
art more thoroughly
than other class members.
Fast-track
The 'inner school' offers serious depth and is not for the half-hearted
student. Indoor tuition is aimed at people who want fast-track
progress through the tai chi syllabus.
Indoor students are people who train
very closely with the
instructor.
They have a chance to really
feel the art.
Inner school
An inner school is also known as a 'closed school'.
Traditionally, lessons
were taught at the teacher's home.
An inner school focuses upon the real substance of the art.
Every form
nuance, every neigong, every martial application.
Great emphasis is placed on the small details. A minor change can produce a
significant effect.
At the heart of the inner teaching is neigong (whole-body strength), jing
(internal power) and combat skills.
Why bother?
You get the 'good oil'. Sooner, better, faster. You will no longer be part
of the outer (public) school.
VIP Membership?
No. We don't offer that. Taoism loathes self-importance, as it runs contrary
to reality.
Just do the work
Unlike lineage, nothing is expected of the indoor student except steady
progress and enthusiasm.
Indoor sessions
An 'indoor session' is akin to boot camp but way, way more martial and
detailed. Same price, duration etc but different style of session. More
focussed. Like a very long workshop...
e.g. for a lower grade student, indoor would mean carte blanche access
to every topic in the coloured belts - with
as much detail as you can handle.
Vastly more in-depth than Monday night or workshops. An indoor student
essentially picks and chooses what they want to explore.
Time & cost of
indoor sessions
Indoor sessions take place on a Saturday morning, start at 6:00 AM, last for
120 minutes and cost £25 per person.
The topics on offer are typically ones that have yet to be fully addressed
in class.
Payment procedure
Please note that if you pencil in an indoor session, please transfer
payment within 48 hours.
Good value for money
A 2 hour indoor session is good value for money. The student is essentially
enjoying a shared private lesson for
£12.50 an hour. That is £7.50 cheaper than a regular shared private
lesson.
Better than a workshop
Think of how much more detailed a workshop is compared to a Monday night
class? In terms of detail, an indoor session is a step up from a
workshop.
At a workshop, you have to take 'pot luck' with who
you're partnered with and the quality of
your training will be affected by this.
At an indoor session there won't be anyone there who isn't like minded,
sincere, committed. Plus, the lesson will be geared towards your progress
rather than the lowest common denominator.
Of all the people who begin the discipline of tai chi, only a handful will
continue past a year or so. Humility, compassion, lack of ambition,
non-aggression, spontaneity and silence are not qualities that our societies
value. There is no more difficult journey than the journey to the self.
(John Lash)
Areas of interest
An indoor student is not required to learn every single thing that the instructor
knows.
They may choose to only focus on a given subject such as
qigong,
weaponry, martial sets,
chin na or
form.
This is ideal when the individual wants to pursue a
specific field of interest.
Common misconception
If you read Sifu Waller's journey, it can sound
very intimidating. But remember that he was a 'lineage
student'...
A lineage student is vastly more serious than an indoor student. An indoor
student is simply accelerating their progress
and gaining some perspective on just how
amazing the art
can be.
Lineage students are obligated to keep the art alive. Indoor students are
not. They are not under any obligation at all. Mainly, they have a priority
shift; focussing more upon combat than anything else.
Being an indoor student is about personal progress, not
lineage.
Realistic expectations
People might imagine that we expect them to leap from 'student' status to
being someone like Sifu Waller. This is
implausible.
Indoor status is mainly self-serving. Lineage is
not.
Not many people are cut out for lineage but most keen people are
capable of indoor status and would benefit from
that extra martial grit.
Apprentice
An indoor student is akin to an old-fashioned apprentice.
They commit themselves to earnest study under
a skilled craftsman in order to learn the art for themselves.
Their aim is to 'steal the art', to acquire the abilities.
The apprenticeship is lengthy,
difficult, and will entail a lot of
hard work along the way.
Eligibility
Any kung fu student may ask to become an indoor student, but there are
conditions.
Small print
Unlike a lineage student, there is no
contract, no tea ceremony, no bai shi.
The indoor student relationship is simple:
If the indoor student trains hard, they reap the rewards.
If they find that indoor tuition isn't working
for them or they can't commit the time, they return to 'normal'
student status.
There's no pressure or hassle involved. Students proceed at their own
pace, in their own time, in their own way.
Inside the
door
An
indoor student is paying for an unparalleled
opportunity - a chance to learn more than anyone else in class,
faster and more comprehensively than the average
student.
It is also the first step on the
path to lineage.
While the
teachings of a martial tradition may be
recorded in scrolls or expressed verbally, those
outside the tradition who gain access to this
information have little chance of learning much of practical value. Such
instructions invariably consist of vague
references or riddle-like aphorisms. These
cryptic axioms suffice for the conveying of deep secrets because the martial
artist who receives them properly has spent an enormous
amount of time apprenticing under his master. They
have in common, teacher and student, the specialized
vocabulary of their tradition, as
well as similar experience in the physical
actions demanded in learning it. The teachings, however, opaque they may
appear to the outsider, have meaning to the
initiate and his master because the two
have endured the long process of
training together.
(Dave Lowry)
Become a thief
The indoor student of tai chi
gets a privileged level of tuition,
insight and attention
from their instructor:
Opportunity to
book additional weekend sessions
- akin to boot camp
- martial training exclusively
Longer private lessons (at no extra cost)
Pursue specific fields of interest
Access to The Book of Neigong
Accelerated
tuition:
- san sau
- chin na (misplacing the bones)
applications
- shuai jiao applications
- form applications
- stick drills
- sword drills
- wallbag drills
- form(s)
More comprehensive biomechanical insight
Opportunity to complete more book assignments
Faster progress through the grades
Harder
combat training with a view to an earlier
emergence of fighting skill
Indoor tuition is more traditional
It's how people get to really understand
what needs working on and why. Sifu Waller can't
offer that on a Monday night.
Indoor student status isn't like lineage. It's more akin to 'tailored
learning' but in a good way. The student
gets to focus on areas of interest. The training develops in many
directions.
Traditionalist?
Traditionally, in China a martial arts instructor was very reluctant to take on
new students. How come? If the student's skills were inadequate it
would directly reflect on the teacher.
On a mild level, this made the teacher look incompetent and affected their
reputation. More seriously, it could mean that the teacher would be put to
death for failing in their responsibility.
Consequently, traditional tuition tended to be harsh and severe. The
teacher hammered the student and adhered strictly to Confucian terseness.
Sifu Waller's teacher (Peter Southwood) followed this method.
How much time must I
commit?
Please note that by definition an indoor student seeks more tuition than
your average students, so this means attending ALL available
training/learning opportunities.
If this is not a viable expectation, then don't seek to do indoor.
What if things change?
The main point of indoor tuition is to get the most out of class and out
of Sifu Waller.
Life is full of changes. Surprises. Aim to do
as well as you can for as long as you can. At some point it will end.
But it ends in fullness rather than
indifference and apathy.
John Garrett: Let me be
clear... Going with me will be the hardest thing you've ever done. But, on
the other hand, no one will ever screw with you again...
(Agents of Shield)
Worth reading
•
Fast-track
•
Indoor student
•
Indoor
student conditions
•
Indoor
student expectations
•
Inner school
•
Inner teachings
•
Steal my art
•
Direct transmission
Page created 2 March 1995
Last updated
15 May 1997
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