Advice? | ||
classes qigong tai chi kung fu about us reviews a-z
Giving advice
It is easy to imagine that your instructor/sensei/sifu/guru
is all-knowing.
Well, they are not.
A master is as human as the next person and just as
fallible.
No advice
The fallibility of your instructor is one of the reasons why this website
is not offering you any guidance beyond tai chi, Tao
& Zen.
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.
The website introduces topics or reminds people of things we have
discussed/explored in class.
Also, the topics are aimed at the tai chi novice.
Introduction only
Our website offers an introduction to topics that are explored within our
syllabus: Tao, Zen, tai chi,
fitness, meditation and combat.
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 class has a bias. It is human nature.
Instructors have different priorities,
they see some things as being important and
discard others.
This is to be expected. We make no secret of this.
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 class 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?
Challenge
Sifu Waller will challenge how you see things.
He will encourage you to be more scientific, more
martial, more fact based.
His aim is to expand your
consciousness.
This is his job.
To learn tai chi you need to unlearn what you know.
Tai chi advice?
When it comes to teaching tai chi, Sifu Waller is not giving advice.
He is teaching. He is working.
Keep this in mind if you are feeling contentious.
Asking questions are fine, if your motive is
clarification.
If you can debunk Sifu Waller's
tuition, do so. But also be prepared to pay the price.
If you challenge your instructor to prove his worth he will do so. If you
push it too far, he will terminate your membership.
Recommendations
People ask us to recommend a
tai chi class in their area. How can we do this? Why should we do this?
We do not know anything about the person or about what they want. Our tastes are
probably quite different to theirs.
Responsibility
Do not abdicate responsibility by asking for advice. Do not give someone
authority over you. Find out for yourself.
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)
Page created
18 April 1995
Last updated
16 June 2023
▲