Memories were meant to fade.
They were designed that way for a reason.
(Strange Days)
A lot to learn?
Although tai chi is not so hard on the body, it does require
concentration and
some degree of memory.
Qigong exercises, forms, partner drills and all the unusual terminology can
amount to an overwhelming mass of information for a
new starter.
It is important for new starters to allow for
age,
experience in
learning and
commitment to home practice - and choose their
class appropriately.
If you are only planning to attend class once a week, it may be unwise to attend
a class that expects you to remember every little detail.
Emphasis
Our school is
interested in the substance
of tai chi.
Beginners of all ages learn very simple exercises and partner drills designed to
train
habit patterns in the body.
Slowly, the body remembers and begins to act by itself.
Meanwhile, you grow
stronger, more flexible and
you feel more
composed.
Beginners are only offered section 1 of the
form to start with and only taught one movement
per lesson.
Sometimes, no new movements are taught.
Every lesson involves revision and refinement.
Simplicity
If you want to remember something and make it habitual, you need to simplify.
Narrow your field of study.
Look at a limited range of topics and look at them thoroughly.
When there are fewer variables, it is easier to
concentrate and easier to remember.
Understanding
When you explore things
through and through, they make sense
and you remember them better.
If your understanding is superficial, you remain distanced from the material:
a tourist.
Tai chi is subtle, with layer upon layer of learning and comprehension.
Journey into the syllabus, spiral around
the
material, approach it from different
angles, new perspectives - challenge your grasp of the
substance and test its resilience.
Essence
If you are taught a fixed
technique, requiring a specific set of circumstances
to occur, then that technique is limited in application.
By contrast, if you are taught an underlying principle that works in all manner
of situations, then you are free to apply it in many different ways.
At the root of every tai chi form, movement, exercise or posture is a principle.
Our school teaches principles, not techniques.
A technique can easily fail, but a principle can be adapted to suit the varying
change in circumstance.
Substance
The root of tai chi is not form.
Form is just a way to practice and remember a whole variety of principles
simultaneously.
If you do not explore those principles, what is the form for?
What are you practicing?
And why?
The root principle is the way in which the body is used in tai chi.
Everything stems from this.
That is why classes must place the greatest emphasis upon neigong.
Form, partner work and numerous exercises all assume this tai chi
way of using the body
to be present.
Your study must start with neigong and develop it throughout the syllabus.
Memory-friendly
We offer a memory-friendly syllabus because you will only work on the
essentials.
The syllabus is lean, with a tight range of topics that integrate naturally.
(i) Age Concern
Age Concern
classes focus on
strength-building,
mobility, balance and
awareness.
Form is a secondary concern.
What use is form when a person can barely balance?
By repeatedly exploring a range of qigong, neigong and partnered exercises, the
student becomes familiar and confident. And strong.
Form represents a challenge; a medium by which these very same skills can be
employed in a more diverse framework.
(ii) Health & self defence
Health &
self defence classes start
off in just the same way as the Age Concern ones, because the seed is the same
and the root must be firm - no matter what the final application.
These classes will take the seeds of neigong and explore the possibilities to
the fullest extent.
Page created 17 December 2004