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Novelty
Tai chi classes can seem
quite boring initially to people seeking novelty and wonder. After the acrobatic
martial arts seen in the movies, a real-life class is otherworldly in its lack
of excitement.
Our class follows a Zen path and encourages the student to find wonder in the
ordinary, not in novelty. Simplicity and awareness are the key.
Grounded
We keep our students grounded in the real. Beginners
are shown beginners skills, and then taught how to perform the same thing
themselves.
The science of the exercise is explained carefully, and then re-considered later
from a different perspective. The syllabus is self-reinforcing, with the
material spiralling around.
Learn then revise
A topic is introduced and explored, then a different topic is covered.
Eventually, you return to the initial topic and see it now with different eyes -
wiser and more informed.
Students learn how to follow their natural inclinations, understand things for
themselves and find the simplest route.
Syllabus
The syllabus is like a jigsaw. The lower grades build the foundation, the edge
of the picture.
The more experienced students fill in the middle and the advanced people work to
understand the composite product and its potential. This process takes a lot of
time, with years of practice necessary.
Amazing
There are amazing skills to be found in tai chi... but you must persevere if
you hope to be taught them. Do not expect anything showy. The abilities are
small and subtle, innocuous and unexpected.
Tai chi skill does produce incredible striking power (with and without fa jing),
along with the capacity to escape and counter in ways that differ radically from
the mainstream martial arts.
It also makes you feel good: relaxed, dreamy, happy and strong. Your body moves
comfortably and easily.
Development
As you work through the martial syllabus you find that you can do more using
less effort, move less without losing power, be softer and feel harder.
These apparent contradictions pile up, and you either stop resisting them and
accept, or you quit in frustration because reality does not fit your ideas.
Once you stop fighting with yourself, the conflict dissipates and you move in
accord with the material - and your skills grow rapidly.
You can perform powerful strikes and improbable escapes without effort and the
apparently amazing becomes commonplace.
Literally doing it
Lao Tzu commented that his words were easy to read and understand, but nobody
would put them into practice.
This is one barrier facing you in tai chi: you must apply the principles in
reality if you want them to work. 'Having a go' is not enough - you cannot
merely try - you must lose yourself entirely in the doing.
Can you set aside preconceptions and previous experience in the martial arts? Is
it possible to remain composed? Will you earnestly yield? Are you prepared to be
soft at all times and never tense up?
Unless you earnestly start doing the tai chi - every movement and every
response imbued with the principles - you will remain a beginner indefinitely.
Laughter
When a student 'gets it', they usually laugh out loud in wonder. They are privy
to some inexplicable insight that cannot easily be articulated. Student remarks:
"It all seems so obvious."
"I can see you do it but I just can't believe it."
"The simplicity!"
"I never would have thought of it, yet how else could it be done?"
"It is counter-intuitive, but somehow utterly logical."
"This is so easy and so natural."
"It is a kind of physics, isn't it?"
"But I felt like I'd done nothing."
"My opponent has to be faking it."
"You don't look to be doing anything."
The student is astounded
by the art. After months of regular practice, the misconceptions and
stubbornness have begun to fall away - and they start to see.
It is a moment of awakening - the first of many - and they see the syllabus in a
whole new way. Exercises and drills that once seemed pointless are now laden
with meaning and potential.
They see the wonder of it all.
Page created 2 March 1995
Last updated
04 May 2023
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