Our next induction course is Monday 6th July.

New starters are welcome!

Concessions?

Even if we wanted to be charitable with students, what could you expect from us? 

We cannot carry you through the form movements. We cannot download skills into your brain. We cannot cure laziness or apathy. We cannot make you brave. 

We cannot make you tall, small, rich or happy.

Fit for combat?

In martial arts, if you attend the lesson, the assumption is that you are fit enough to train. If there's anything preventing you from training properly that night, a kung fu lesson is not suitable for you.

Traditional kung fu does not offer concessions or tailored lessons. Nor does it offer age, gender or weight-specific concessions/classes. Everyone trains together. The only differentiation is ability.

How healthy do I need to be to do tai chi?

You don't need to be fit to start tai chi classes. But you do need to be able to stand up, walk and step without the aid of a stick. The qigong & tai chi classes are designed to cultivate a greater degree of fitness: stamina, balance, endurance, flexibility, mobility and coordination. 

In some respects the exercises will be just as challenging as yoga, but not exertive. Please bear in mind that you will be on your feet and moving around for approximately 90 minutes.

Fighting

Sifu Waller's approach to taijiquan has no interest whatsoever in fighting - there will never be competitions or full-contact bouts.

Fa jing, shuai jiao, striking and chin na are not toys to be treated carelessly. No sensible person would allow you to snap their joint just to prove that it can be done.

You must be far smarter than that if you want to learn taijiquan.

 Most of us experience a sense of being 'on edge' or jumpy. This is really a habitual over-reaction to our environment. One way of deepening your understanding of this is to experiment with habitual patterns of reacting to a familiar stimulus, such as a door-bell or a telephone ringing.

(Michael Gelb)

Yang style has something of the feeling of 'killer energy' about it; it is more martial in appearance.

A spectator can see the applications of the movements when they watch the form.

(Master Xu Shu Song)

Unselfconscious

Adults forget the advantage of play. Once you remove the barriers of right and wrong, approval and disapproval - you can totally relax. If you make a mistake, so what? It is only play.

When you can relax and just be yourself, your mind will open to new possibilities. You can see the wonder of things and laugh. You may start to play in other areas of your life...

Martial science

Our taijiquan cannot be learned by copying somebody else. You need a profound understanding of what you are doing and how it works. The imagination must be engaged.

Without play and exploration, you will have taijiquan classes filled with students who possess absolutely no grasp of what they are practicing.

Children at play

When a child plays, they seldom behave in the manner described. A child at play is usually engrossed in whatever they are doing; their minds are in the here and now.

It can be quite difficult to distract a child who is playing.

Find out for yourself

The beauty of play is that you do not have to believe anything. You can find out for yourself. If something works, examine the physics behind the success. Why did it work? Can it be improved upon?

If something fails, figure out why it failed...

Exploration

When a child discovers their universe, they do so through play. A playful mind is not tense or uptight. In taijiquan we learn in the same way.

Students are encouraged to explore every neigong, application and jing in partnership with other people. This approach is cooperative and experiential.

By practicing with others we can find out what works and what does not. Other students can offer assistance and obstruction - both of which require you to adapt, change and progress.

What play means to you

Can you see the danger here? If you think that play refers to an opportunity to behave an irresponsible, carefree, childish manner... then you have got the wrong idea about taijiquan.

Play is about immersion in the event itself. Beginners who want to talk rather than train (or dance around and act foolishly) are not in earnest. They are not focused at all.

An inexperienced student cannot talk and train competently at the same time. If they are talking, then they are talking. They are not training taijiquan.

The necessary balance

A student needs to concentrate in some respects, and be unselfconscious in other regards. Both facets of this requirement are addressed through the act of playfulness. 

Their aim was to discover the essential nature or real constitution of things,

which they called 'physis'.

The term 'physics' is derived from this Greek word and meant therefore,

originally the endeavour of seeing the essential nature of things.

(Fritjof Capra)

Playing taijiquan?

It is common for students to say that they are "playing" taijiquan... This notion of 'play' must be considered carefully. Most adults perceive play as tooling around - insincere, light-hearted and carefree.

But is this play at all?

Syllabus

Our syllabus was developed as the result of our own tai chi practice and teaching experience. The post-graduate professional teaching skills/qualification have proven invaluable in creating a syllabus.

Your part

Tai chi is easy in principle, yet difficult in execution. The problem lies with your own body and mind. After all, it is you that make the tai chi exist. Without your body, the system cannot become manifest - the tai chi can only be as good as you personally make it.

Focus

Do not look outside yourself for answers. The solution lies in this very moment, in the very process of doing. Your tai chi will improve relative to your ability to produce it.

Standing without getting tired

When stood in tai chi, the feet are beneath the body so the legs are not fatigued. Your everyday stance should emulate this as closely as possible as often as possible.

Gentle

The trick with tai chi is to keep your training mild. It is not a gym workout. You are not meant to be sweating and straining. Go easy on yourself. Little and often is the key.

If the training is gentle but works your muscles nicely, then it is easy to sustain and your energy levels will stay high.

Not exercising

Conversely, people who do not exercise are also likely to become fatigued. How come? Their muscles are weak and we need muscular strength to move our bodies around.

By avoiding exercise, the problem of fatigue will not go away. It will not get easier. If you are lazy now, expect difficulties ahead of you. Your fitness level will not improve by ignoring it.

Your aim should be to grow stronger, fitter and far more capable. But it will not happen by itself.

Tired when exercising?

If you are tired and struggle to focus, you are either unfit or using 'local limb' strength. Or both. Using this type of strength will drain you quite rapidly. You give out and nothing comes back.

The longer it lasts, the more worn out you will get. The more exertive your exercise, the quicker you will tire.

Bad exercise

Many forms of exercise can actively develop bad posture. They often cause serious fatigue and adverse wear and tear on the body. The tension in the body uses energy and tires you out.

Poor sleep

Sleep problems occur as a consequence of stress, diet, noise pollution and physical apathy. 

Many people feel drained each night, but their bodies are not actually tired.

The fatigue stems from chemical imbalances within the body. Additives, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol combine with overeating to make the body restless and unsettled.

Bad habits

Many health problems are caused by the way in which we stand, walk, sit and use our bodies during everyday activities.

Headache, fatigue, stiff neck, bad knees, back problems are usually caused by our own bad habits.

Incorrect muscle use, imbalance, poor physical awareness, work and many forms of exercise only serve to perpetuate poor fitness and muscle tension.

Tiring the mind...

Fatiguing the body can be addressed through careful, safe practice. By contrast, fatiguing the mind is far more insidious and difficult to detect.

Politics, news, gossip, media, TV, opinions, fashions, negative emotions, competitiveness - all put the mind under duress. They create frustration, anxiety and a feeling of helplessness.

Continuously thinking about something that has no immediate bearing on your life right now uses energy and tires you out.

Take it easy

Instead of hammering and punishing your body, you treat it with respect and care. 

Your body must last you a lifetime.

Stretching is vital

'Stretching' covers a wide range of approaches. A good tai chi class should offer a varied and versatile selection of stretching methods.

Home practice

Most people are not used to training at home. The key to home training is to work into it gently. Try doing a small amount every day. Nothing ambitious.

Tai chi is like a tonic

A tonic is a medicine taken daily in order to maintain and invigorate the body. It may significantly improve your fitness. 
However, you should take note of the small print, the conditions of use:

1. It must be administered every day

2. When you stop taking it, the benefits go away

This is something to really think about. Re-read the paragraph if you need to.

A tonic

Tai chi is not going to fix you up. It was never intended (or designed) to be something employed for repair. At best, it may be seen as a tonic.

It helps to keep you fit, healthy and vital. It is a preventative measure, not a fix.

 Metabolism slows down 90 percent after 30 minutes of sitting. The enzymes that move the bad fat from your arteries to your muscles, where it can get burned off, slow down. The muscles in your lower body are turned off. And after two hours, good cholesterol drops 20 percent. Just getting up for five minutes is going to get things going again. These things are so simple they’re almost stupid.

(Gavin Bradley)

Fitness

Fitness is different to health. Being fit entails a wider range of concerns e.g. increased flexibility, suppleness, strength, cardiovascular health/fitness, agility...

These considerations are addressed at length in the tai chi syllabus.

   Our next induction course is Monday 6th July.

New starters are welcome!

 Immaturity is the craving for greater and wider experience.

(Krishnamurti)

Know thyself

A trend for Western retirees is global travelling. In contrast with this, Taoism advocates seeing what is right in front of you. Rather than do more and more, begin to see.

It will serve to keep the brain healthy. Having genuine wisdom is better than boasting/bragging/self-promotion. Insight is worth more than commodities/experiences.

Understand rather than accumulate

A Taoist approach adopted by The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking is to look deeper into things. This runs contrary to the attitude of acquisition.

Understanding ensures interest. It encourages curiosity and can be the wellspring for new ideas and unknown directions.

Nervous system

The nervous system is responsible for gauging how much strength needs to be applied.

As you exert pressure upon an object, your body experiences resistance and there is biofeedback which tells you how much strength is necessary.

Tensing-up

People fail to release a contracted muscle after it has moved the bone, or they over-use one muscle group at the expense of another.

'Tensing-up' is the habitual over-contraction of a muscle, such that it impedes joint movement and distorts the skeleton. This causes imbalance, weakness and postural tension.

Tai chi

Tai chi is concerned with re-training the body for optimal functioning. To use the body skilfully, you must dynamically balance muscles within the body and use the bone structure in a healthy way.

We teach people to become incredibly aware of their own bodies.

Ease

A healthy nervous system is not simply a physical matter. The smoothness and grace of the tai chi movements must be complimented and enhanced by your composure.

A psychologically tense person will be incapable of skilled body movement. Neurologists maintain that the mind affects the physical nervous system, and the nervous system affects the mind.

Calm mind and body are connected.