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Education
When you begin a University or College course or start driving lessons do you
honestly expect to understand everything (anything?) from the onset?
No, of course not.
Understanding is the outcome of the course of study. It is the entire purpose of
learning. You study in order to learn.
Learning eventually furnishes you with
knowledge.
Contemplating that knowledge leads to
understanding. This seems quite
straightforward and apparent doesn't it?
Tai chi
Most tai chi new starters expect to
understand the training instantly. This is in direct
contradiction of the learning process that applies to any/every field of
knowledge.
For some unfathomable reason the novice imagines that a well
worded explanation will produce immediate
comprehension.
Isn't this a tad naive?
Upon reaching what is perceived as an ideal goal, the artist
discovers something entirely different. The artist is suddenly confronted
with the fact that what was thought of as perfection of technique was merely
the introduction to it.
An entirely new vista has opened. The artist must be prepared to turn his
gaze from the heights that have so recently been gained, and prepare for the
ascent of the peak suddenly found beyond them.
(Dave Lowry)
Impediments
The main impediments facing a tai chi student are their
bodies, their emotions and their
minds. All of which are undisciplined, untrained
and unruly.
Despite possessing very limited control over themselves,
new students are frequently over-confident and
believe themselves more adept than they actually are.
They also fail to grasp the simple truth that
understanding necessitates experience and when
it comes to tai chi they simple don't have any...
Over-thinking
Sifu Waller's approach to tai chi asks that students simply get on with the
training, regardless of whether the exercise makes sense or not. Understanding
is not always immediate.
Sometimes it takes time for the pieces to fall into place.
Context requires hindsight. This means just doing - in contrast with
thinking, interpreting, comparing, assessing, then doing.
Thought is the product of memory and is seldom applicable to tai chi. The
immediacy of the moment robs thought of its value.
Monkey mind
We offer a wide variety of exercises that challenge your ability to think
clearly and act appropriately. Your mind is just too slow. It is filled with
everyday clutter: news, work, TV,
politics, gossip...
It is only when you stop trying to control the situation and just respond to the
physical stimuli, that the exercises begin to make any sense.
We are training your nervous system to act in a
very specific way.
Confusion
When your mind is disoriented and confused, it eventually gives-up and this is
when you start to understand our approach to tai chi. A thinker
dithers, doubts and
hesitates.
Their very thoughts separate them from
reality; from the truth of what is
happening. In self defence this is useless. In
life, this is useless.
Being
At some point in the training, trying ceases and you just be. Your tai chi stops
looking contrived and exaggerated; it almost looks like normal, everyday
movement.
The division between tai chi training and daily activity fades. At this point,
the system feels natural and easy to use; the tai chi becomes your own. Life
changes. You find it easier to get along with people.
Conflict no longer resides in your heart and mind.
Your motivation is high and depression never occurs; you live each day fully.
Unwanted chores no longer upset you -
you just get on with them - or you leave them be.
Trying
Trying is sentimental. Instead of doing, you attempt to make your actions fit an
idea of how it should be. The idea is not the real.
It is like Krishnamurti's example of seeing a
flower and finding it beautiful, or seeing a flower and thinking that you are
supposed to find it beautiful.
The latter is sentimental, the former is real. When you act rather than try,
there is no sentimentality.
In terms of you?
A student who over-thinks the training is effectively trying to understand
the tai chi in terms of their existing
knowledge and experience.
The problem here is obvious: they don't have any
relevant knowledge and experience. You
cannot understand tai chi in terms of yoga or karate or football. It is
completely different.
Stop wasting energy/time
trying to see the training in terms of
yourself. Accept that you don't know and open
yourself up to the new, the unfamiliar.
Increase your knowledge
Tai chi,
Taoism,
biomechanics and martial skill are huge
areas of knowledge.
If you want to build a more comprehensive 'mental
representation' read the books from the
reading list and work through the
syllabus.
The answers will only get closer if you are prepared to climb towards them.
Gain skill
There is only one way to truly gain skill in any endeavour... practice.
The more familiar it is, the less you need to think about the
basics. You can focus upon
corrections,
refinement and improvement.
Improve your mind
If you want to
work on your brain, there are many things you
can do. Your idea of 'thinking' may not be very
evolved...
Try reading
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B Burger & Michael Starbird
or Peak by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool...
Rather than draw upon what other people have said, or
your own conditioning and bias, why not step outside your
comfort zone and work on building a
comprehensive mental representation?
Talkers
Some students take every opportunity to break off the training and
talk. This is bad news. It reflects a highly
distracted, lazy,
undisciplined mind. These people are time
wasters.
Traditionally, the solution was to have students undertake immensely boring
challenges: prolonged standing qigong,
drilling, form
practice. The aim was to bring the mind home. To
the immediate.
But also be taught by each
discord.
The blind, with eyes dark but minds bright, are guided at first by
obstructions.
(Lao Tzu)
Page created
18 April 2005
Last updated
16 June 2023
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