Eskimo hunters are trained to
discriminate between dozens of types of snow, and are always
aware of the direction and speed of the wind.
Traditional Melanesian sailors can be taken blindfolded to any point in the
ocean within a radius of several hundred miles from their island home and,
if allowed to float for a few minutes in the sea, are able to recognise the
spot by the feel of the currents on their bodies.
A musician structures her attention so as to focus on nuances of sound that
ordinary people are not aware of, a stockbroker focuses on tiny changes in
the market that others do not register, a good clinical diagnostician has an
uncanny eye for symptoms - because they have trained their attention to
process signals that otherwise would pass unnoticed.
(Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)
Professional
Sifu Nicholas Waller has been training martial arts for over 30 years. Tai chi
chuan for
the last 20.
His classes are held in the North East of England.
More information:
First
teacher
Sifu's first tai chi chuan teacher was
Peter Southwood.
Peter was a student of
Chu King-hung and others -
following the Yang Sau Chung line.
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Qualified to teach
Sifu holds a post-graduate teaching qualification.
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TCUGB
Sifu joined the
Tai Chi Union for Great Britain as an advanced-level
instructor.
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Empiricist
Empiricism relies upon experience and pragmatism, rather than theory.
Sifu encourages students to adopt a scientific approach to tai chi.
If something works, you can feel it.
It hurts/it compromises you/the muscles are aching/your posture is stronger/your
balance is better.
There is a tangible real-world result.
In class, an atmosphere of investigation and discovery is cultivated.
Science is relevant to tai chi chuan.
The word 'physics' comes from the Latin 'physica'
- which came from the Greek word 'phusika' - meaning
'of nature'.
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Martial arts
Sifu started training in the mid 1970's.
He practiced judo, karate, aikido, ju jitsu, wing chun,
hsing i, bagwa, hwa rang do, iaido and pencat silat.
Then he discovered tai chi chuan and
stopped practicing the other systems.
More?
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Chin na
Sifu's first taste of
chin na came from Yang Jwing-Ming in the
early 1990's.
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Fame & fortune
In this modern world of self-promotion and vanity,
sifu keeps to himself.
He is an obscure instructor teaching in the North East of England, and plans
to keep it that way.
There are no DVD's in the pipeline. No public exhibitions or workshops.
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Influences (tai chi)
Chungliang Al Huang, Bruce
Frantzis, Lam Kam Chuen, Mike Sigman, Michael Gilman and Yang Jwing-Ming.
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Influences
(general)
Tao, zen, Jesus,
Krishnamurti, Chuang Tzu, Lao Tzu, Huanchu Daoren, Kahlil Gibran, Miyamoto
Musashi and Sun Tzu.
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Page created 8 May 2000