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"How long will it take to learn tai chi?"
A lot of new students ask this question. It sounds reasonable enough but
what exactly are they asking? What do they mean by "learn"?
The tone of the question suggests a conclusion, and end, a point of finality. Like
graduating, being fully healed or passing your driving test.
Such a question is rather simplistic and erroneous.
It is akin to asking how long it will take to play the
piano. The answer surely
depends upon you... What are your
ambitions?
Expectations?
Capabilities? Commitment level?
Our first priority is always on
coordination rather than flexibility. Those who are not dancers and gymnasts
require only a modest degree of flexibility to comfortably engage in everyday
activities, but the ability
to coordinate appropriately is highly beneficial for our comfort, wellbeing and
health.
(David Moore)
How good do you want to get?
The level of skill you
reach in tai chi is going to depend upon a wide range of considerations
e.g.
How healthy are you to begin with?
Is it your intention to practice every day at home? If so, for how long?
Are you good at remembering things?
Can you concentrate?
Are you coordinated?
Do you approach new activities with an open mind?
Are you able to pay attention?
Do you tend to over-think things or just follow instructions?
Whether or not you fulfil your ambitions is
going to depend largely upon how healthy you are and what sort of person you
are.
Humpty Dumpty?
Physiotherapists and Doctors often
encourage people with medical problems to
study tai chi. This is fine. It may well help. However, many new students
are expecting a miracle. This is naive.
The reason why the individual is being asked to do tai chi is simple. Tai
chi has been used in medical trials by people with
arthritis (and other conditions) and there have been tangible health
benefits.
Also, the training is not strenuous or
physically exertive, which means that
- within reason - most people can do tai chi.
Tai chi
is not going to fix a broken/damaged body.
How could it?
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
couldn’t put Humpty together again.
(Nursery rhyme)
Adulthood
By the time people reach adulthood there are often a number of
bad
physical habits present. Slouching, stooping,
leaning, hunched shoulders, inflexible
legs, tight elbows. Many
adults cannot even squat.
These actively impede natural,
free movement. Essentially many of the
joints are incapable of accomplishing a
healthy range of movement.
This is further restricted by residual muscle tension
throughout the body.
Tai chi involves
motor learning
Motor learning is about the process of using the body, rather than simply
exercising the body e.g.
agility,
mobility, relaxed
spontaneous movement, balance,
structure, alignment, biomechanics, efficiency,
ambidextrous body use, joint
health, coordination,
skill,
emotional wellbeing or
psychological flexibility.
Qigong - an easy start
Qigong is a
great starting place for new students. It offers an interesting way to
exercise the body.
There is no sweating, straining or panting for
breath.
When performed correctly, qigong feels to be so mild that it is hard to believe that anything is really
happening. Students focus upon cultivating good
alignment, balance,
coordination and relaxation.
Tai chi for health - increasing the benefits
Tai chi for health is a
simplified,
slow motion exercise designed to improve health and
wellbeing through
frequent, regular
practice using low effort.
There are no physically demanding movements, no
sweating, no hardship. Students who become adept at qigong find tai chi for
health to be an agreeable challenge.
Partner work provides necessary biofeedback;
enabling the student to discover whether or not they
are actually using their body in a relaxed,
natural, comfortable, whole-body manner.
Once people have lost their everyday underlying coordination, they have also
lost their ability to kinesthetically sense what they are doing with their
body with any accuracy. Anyone with unreliable
sensory appreciation will invariably
interpret the instructions using his or her
kinesthetic sensations as a guide.
(David Moore)
Tai chi - an
advanced martial art
Tai chi follows a different
path to most martial arts.
It teaches all the skills associated with the
external arts (albeit
performed differently) and also a large number of
unorthodox considerations.
Internal skills are not easy to acquire.
They are subtle, hard
to learn and require a high degree of
awareness. Many insights are seen as being
counter-intuitive.
The art is based on the
yin/yang concept.
Force is not blocked. There
is no bracing. No
aggression. Every movement and every potential
application must be
produced by a whole-body
action.
Our aim should not be just flexibility, but a proper balance between flexibility
and strength, which we can develop through proper coordination.
(David Moore)
Mindful
practice
The best way to get the hang of the basics is to do them every day.
The more time you commit during the early stages of
practice, the more
progress will be made long-term.
Do the
movements a number of times: patiently,
slowly,
mindfully and carefully.
This way, they become comfortable, familiar and
habitual. Easier to remember.
Lazy dog?
Almost every problem facing a tai chi
beginner can be whittled down to laziness.
In a transparent attempt to save face, a
beginner
will manufacture almost any excuse to hide their
indolence.
The solution is practice.
It is the answer to virtually every question.
Hard or easy?
Whether or not you consider an activity to be hard or easy is simply a
matter of perspective... Often linked to pleasure/enjoyment/gratification.
If you enjoy the tai chi training, have a good
time and feel that the practice is worthwhile, you won't find it hard
work. If you are expecting some sort of 'therapy',
you may be disappointed.
Take it easy
A final consideration is the fact that tai chi encourages people
not to get stressed out. Instead of punishing your
body and becoming anxious, just
relax. Things take
time.
Your body is not a car, a machine. You cannot swap out a shoulder as though
it were a tyre. Your body is biological.
It needs time to grow, to change.
So does your mind.
Trying to force a result is
pointless. Just take it easy... Let it
happen.
Gradually easing the body out of overcontraction with
intelligent practice will bring more ease and comfort to everyday movement and
release built-up tension.
(David Moore)
Page created
18 April 2005
Last updated
16 June 2023
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