Yin
and yang are not in competition or conflict with each other
but are complements of each other.
Balance is not a state but a process.
The tao is a process, a dynamic condition of balanced moving.
(Ray
Grigg)
Novelty
Tai chi classes can seem quite boring initially to people seeking
novelty and wonder.
After the acrobatic kung fu seen in the movies, a quiet tai chi class is
otherworldly in its lack of excitement.
Our school 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.
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 beginner builds the foundation, the edge of the picture.
Intermediate and experienced students fill in the middle and advanced students 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.
As you work through the self defence 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, 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 tai chi.
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 21 May 2000