Boot camp

A tai chi school

• Professional instruction from a qualified instructor
• Fully-differentiated syllabus • 13 areas of study
• Address individual health concerns & training requirements, tips & pointers, refinement & corrections, one-to-one assessment/feedback/guidance
• New material every week• Access to on-line resources and school DVDs, workshops, boot camp and class social events
• Complete biomechanical understanding of form, along with exploration and application of The Tai Chi Classics
• Opportunity to study multiple taijiquan forms, chin na (seizing), shuai jiao (take downs), self defence, form applications, weapons training, neigong (whole-body strength), jing (whole-body power), Taoism& Zen, martial theory & practical application, taijiquan principles, meditation, brain work (meditation, awareness, metacognition)
This level of study is not going to happen via a drop-in class...

Tai chi class or tai chi school?

Most people never think to ask whether or not they want to attend a tai chi class or a tai chi school. The two are not the same.

It is worth considering the differences... 

The paradox of simplicity is that making things simpler is hard work.
 
 (Bill Jensen)
  

Balancing the whole body...

I realised why Sifu won't offer guidance on medical conditions:

1) We're not doctors or physiotherapists

2) We're already teaching exercises that could potentially fix up many conditions

3) We cannot make a student do the work at home

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink?

Rachel

Posterior pelvic tilt

At boot camp I noticed that some students still have a 'posterior pelvic tilt' (the bottom of the pelvis tilts forward when sitting on the floor). 

This is a medical problem and as such we don't offer a fix. However, out of curiosity I researched the condition...
 
Many of the recommended exercises for fixing posterior pelvic tilt look similar to the ones in the syllabus. In fact, we work significantly more muscles than the recommended 'fix'.

But the exercises have to be practiced with regularity... and the individual needs to sit a lot less.

The source...

Most people's arms are extremely tense and they don't even realise it. Why? Why are people's arms tense?

Your hand is the primary tool employed by the mind for the exploration of reality. You touch, you hold, you press, you pull, you manipulate most things using your hands.

Jacob Bronowski wrote "The hand is the cutting edge of the mind." There's your answer. A tense arm is the by-product of a mind that is not in any way relaxed and at ease.

Psychological barriers

The biggest real impediment to losing fat is psychological. People want to keep on eating the things they like eating and yet shed the fat. This is a fantasy. A delusion.

Shedding the fat also means shedding the food that made you fat in the first place.

I really enjoyed my first workshop; it was informative and fun. Sifu Waller is captivating and held my attention throughout. It was truly enlightening to be in his presence. I left with a thirst for more tea and a hunger for more workshops!

With appreciation,

(Steven)

Reality check

Let's say that you're 5 feet 10 inches tall and 13 stone 8 pounds in weight... This is a weight you've grown accustomed to and it may not seem so heavy relative to many people around you.

Try putting your height and weight into the NHS BMI calculator. You're overweight.

Now try inputting different weights until you reach exactly halfway in the healthy range... It will be around 10 stone 8 pounds. The conclusion - you're 3 stone overweight.

 We get used to being a certain weight and even though BMI isn't perfect, it is a useful guide. Unless you're a body builder (or very short) it's worth using.

Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams...

The chapter called Lengthen Your Line is very important. The author is failing to make headway when fighting against more skilled opponents in class. His solution is to be an 'arse'.
The instructor (Ed Parker) asks to speak with him after the lesson.

Ed draws a short line on a piece of paper and asks Joe how to make the line shorter. The author provides a few suggestions.
Ed draws a longer line alongside the first line. Now, the first line looks shorter.

The instructor explains "It is always better to improve and strengthen your own line or knowledge than to try and cut your opponent's line".
 
Joe realised that in many different areas of his life he was investing a lot of effort attacking other people and trying to make life difficult for them rather than seeking to improve his own skill.

If we take the principle from this story and expand it... 

Consider that your current skill level can be represented by a 2 inch long line. During a lesson Sifu gives you the opportunity to extend that line another inch or two. But do you?
The student who goes home and thinks about the lesson, practices the skills and then applies them will come to the next lesson with a 3 inch line. 
By contrast, others will still have a 2 inch line. 

Which type of student are you?

Rachel Waller , aged 40

A rut

Most people have fairly routine lives. They stay safely within their defined 'comfort zone'. Nothing really challenges the status quo and there is no real reason to change and grow.

Often, gratifying illusions provide the impression of higher level mental activity:

1. The news

2. Politics

3. The internet

4. Technological toys

But these don't actually require any change. When somebody watches TV or regurgitates political opinions/commentaries, they are not using any higher brain functions at all.

Opinions are the result of memories, thoughts, ideas, the past.

By contrast, challenge lies with the unknown, the unfamiliar, the uncertain...

Body control

An authentic tai chi form re-trains the body to move naturally and freely. As a student moves through the syllabus, they are challenged with increasingly sophisticated stepping patterns.

  The cat-like grace of tai chi encourages agile, strong movement, excellent poise, high energy levels and a feeling of vigour. Learn how to move with the easy, relaxed balance of a dancer or a large cat.

Toxic habits...

Alcohol, drugs, sugar etc hinder mindfulness. e.g. alcohol dulls the senses.
The original meaning of intoxication is "a poisoning". The euphoria people experience from alcohol isn't the outcome of being healthy and present. It is the consequence of poisoning the brain.

You cannot be mindful if your brain is dulled. Drinking alcohol is the polar opposite of mindfulness.

I don't have time to practice...

Marcus Aurelius (2000+ years ago) said that "not having time" was one of the most pathetic excuses a person can give. It was considered lame back when the Roman Empire was at its peak.

We all have the same amount of time. What we do with it... this is the issue.

If conciseness was an Art Form then a fine example of it being practiced would be a page from Sifu Waller's website.

 So much wisdom distilled into one page. Truly zen like.
 
 (Peter)

Learn from nature

Imagine watching a fully-grown cat move... It is typically smooth, comfortable and lithe. There are no tensed muscles, no pumped up arms, raised 'gym shoulders'. The animal does not get out of breath.

 A cat can go from complete passivity to combat readiness instantaneously. It does not tense muscles and prepare. It just moves. There is a sense of ease.

 No struggling, grunting or groaning, no pain in the back or the knees. The body responds instantly to the dictates of the mind. A cat is spontaneous and free. 

Young people are the same... Learn from this?

Compromise to please others is not as good as integrity that annoys others. Rather than be praised without being good, it is better to be slandered without being bad.

(Huanchu Daoren)

Why do you move badly?

The average adult has spent a lifetime using their body in a haphazard, careless way. Sitting too much, leaning, slouching, favouring one arm over the other.

When they exercise, they do so sloppily.

At no point have they actually undertaken any sort of deliberate training designed to improve 'body use'.

How do you move?

Most adults imagine that they move pretty well... Then they enter a tai chi training hall and discover that their coordination, balance, gait, sensitivity, awareness and body control is actually poor.

Their steps are often very heavy and their legs are locked and immobile. There is a sense of clumsiness. People frequently walk in an agitated manner; over-striding and erratic.

 The lower back is inflexible, the sacroiliac does not move correctly. The back is stooped, the neck stiff, shoulders raised, muscles tense and the hands are tight. They are jerky and uncoordinated.

Pain is the sensation our body uses to influence our judgement. 

Pain tells us that something is not right - this is the most important aspect of pain.

Resisting pain, such as masking it with painkillers, can make things worse.

The earliest symptoms of pain should be heeded.

(Philip Maffetone)

Going too far

It is quite understandable that after a challenging day at work many people just want to sit down, eat a nice meal and watch TV. There isn't anything intrinsically wrong with this.

 Providing it's in moderation.

 The problem lies with the fact that people sit for hours in front of the TV/computer. Eating junk food. Drinking alcohol. At some point this becomes very unhealthy.

The root of ignorance itself is our mind’s habitual tendency to distraction.

 (Sogyal Rinpoche)

A martial artist needs to be smart. Asking playground questions such as - "Which martial art would win: MMA or taijiquan?" - indicates a notable lack of intelligence. Surely, the answer is obvious?

 The Art itself does nothing. It is the individual who makes manifest the skills and the strategies. This is what determines the outcome.

Not changing is fine if your circumstances are constant. But are they ever constant? Our bodies slowly deteriorate day-by-day. We could lose our job. Our partners could leave us. We might get ill.

Change is inevitable. Even if you stand still, life won't.

 Yin/yang is about exchange. To get something, you have to give something. You have to do something.

The origin of laziness?

It is believed that laziness is a biological trait. A survival tool. In itself laziness is not necessarily a bad thing. People often see/hear the word 'lazy' as being a stigma and get defensive.

Imagine that you're a primitive human living in a valley 10000 years ago... The valley has all that you need. It is safe. It is free of hostile predators or rival tribes.

 There would be no sense in going elsewhere. This is laziness. A desire to maintain the status quo. Not to change.

90 minutes a day...

Dr Michael Greger (author of How Not To Die) recommends 90 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every day.

The three doctors who wrote The Okinawa Program maintain that tai chi - with its ancient origins and incredible health benefits - is the ideal form of exercise for modern people.