Prospective lineage students

Often, the teacher will give good students a difficult time, pushing them to the limit (and perhaps beyond), for the purpose of testing both their character and technique. The teacher has to see whether they are strong enough and skilled enough to bear the strain. Although the demands may seem unreasonable at the time, students must not withdraw, lose faith and retreat. Only through trust and perseverance can one's character and spirit grow stronger.

 (Adam Hsu)

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts are perfect for modern society. I genuinely believe this. No grading. No belts. No commitment. No art. No philosophical underpinning. No uniform. You just walk in off the street and fight for the night. This fits modern attitudes because Yes you do get better, and Yes you can fight, so MMA does deliver as promised. But I have a sad feeling inside; like we've lost something.

(Andrew Clarke)

Form is external

The process of learning form is external.
A student is concerned with the postures and directions, not the internal biomechanics.

A form will remain external unless a student works diligently through the 5 stages and begins the process of internalisation.
This takes time.
Extensive, considered practice is inevitable, along with ongoing corrections and refinement.
There are no shortcuts.

Is it taijiquan?

Longevity is no proof of skill. Years wasted on lousy material will not produce taijiquan ability. Learning countless form sequences means nothing. It is a shallow habit employed by bored students.

Where is the depth?

Look to the practice. Can you employ the taijiquan classics, jing, neigong, chin na, softness, sung etc?

5 stages

The importance of the 5 stages cannot be overstated.
Many tai chi people never get past stage 1 and therefore remain almost entirely external.
Each stage is necessary.
The different levels represent milestones on the journey from external to internal.
Cumulative skills build upon preceding material and understanding, taking the student from beginner to intermediate, to expert and finally; to an advanced level of skill.

Slow down

Tai chi chuan is an antidote to stressful living.

When you take things a little slower, you begin to notice the world.

10,000 hours

Being a tai chi teacher is more than just talent. You need to put in the work.
An instructor's experience should be measured in decades, not just years.

A good instructor should have at least 10,000 hours of practice behind them.
Dr. K. Anders Ericsson found that this was true of any art; whether tai chi, dancing or playing the piano.

Darkness & shadows

A traditional Japanese tea house balanced darkness and light to produce an atmosphere of ease and calm.
Shadows and dimness serve to settle the mind.

In modern houses it is possible to modulate the amount of light allowed into a room.
Voiles and curtains can be adjusted to adjust the mood.

Bright lighting and flickering screens are not relaxing.
Avoid the hypnotic dance of light.
Embrace darkness and shadow.

Foundation

A significant amount of time must be spent practicing the basics:

1. Standing qigong
2. Moving qigong
3. Form
4. Reeling silk exercises
5. Partnered drills

A beginner who trains the fundamentals every day and attends as many lessons as possible will make good progress long-term.
Neglecting the basics means a weak foundation and the tai chi will most likely remain external, and incorrect.

Aptitude test

Grading is all about aptitude.

A new starter could not possibly offer an experienced student good partner practice. 
The new starter's body use is too crude and clumsy and they lack the skills to take a fall or strike without injury.

Belts serve to differentiate the syllabus.
They allow students to progress in a clear, standardised, focussed manner.
At each stage, a specific degree of aptitude is required.

A student may well be keen, but without the competence this amounts to nothing.Grading involves a regular series of aptitude tests, and these serve to chart progress through the curriculum.

Sifu Walker?

Sifu should have been called Walker not Waller. He typically walks between 3-10 miles every day. If he doesn't walk he goes all stir crazy.

Rise early

Monks around the world get up in the early hours of the day and gain clarity from the stillness of the unawakened world.
We share this habit and have risen early for decades now.
Our preference is 4 AM but we typically rise at 5 because it offers a more practical bed time.

When you walk alongside a river or beneath trees at the start of the day, there is a magic in the air.
Such quiet.

Yes, there are birds and the occasional person or car, but the mood is one of tranquillity.
The streets are empty of commerce; the shops shuttered and closed.
There are no consumers, no hustle and bustle, no showmanship and competition.

It is like being backstage. Before the day begins.

Meditation

Many people talk about meditation or claim to do meditation. Yet, meditation is not an activity.
It is presence.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is about being present, being here and now.
This may sound quite simple, but most people are distracted by their thoughts.
They are not present at all.

The value of being present cannot be over-stated. 
Your body resides in the immediate. Your existence takes place in the immediate.
Although your thoughts may wander near and far, you are here.

Presence

There is nothing mystical about 'presence'.

It is simply a condition of awareness whereby you are rooted in the immediate moment rather than absorbed in thought or memory.
In order to do anything wholeheartedly you need to be present, not daydreaming or 'spacing out'.

Peter Southwood's tips #3 Daily training

Daily:

1. Standing qigong
2. Moving qigong
3. Neigong concerns
4. Form(s)
5. Main drills
6. Reading
7. Rest

Stagger the remaining material across the week.

The Tao Speaks: Lao Tzu's Whispers of Wisdom by Chih Chung Tsai

Being mindful

Mindful conduct involves acting appropriately, in accord with what is happening.
This requires a certain degree of flexibility, adaptation, openness and awareness.

Being willing to change in relation to outside stimuli rests at the heart of mindfulness.

Neigong

The 16 treasures are all neigong; habitual skills that transcend consciousness.
But they are very particular skills.

Meditation

The whole point of meditation is not to follow the path laid down by thought to what it considers to be truth, enlightenment or reality. There is no path to truth.
The following of any path leads to what thought has already formulated and, however pleasant or satisfying, it is not truth.
It is a fallacy to think that a system in daily life for a few given moments, or the repetition of it during the day, will bring about clarity or understanding.

(Krishnamurti)

Feedback

I have just returned from hospital and whilst there the physio asked about my tai chi lessons with Sifu Waller, how often I did it etc. He told me there was nothing further he could show me that would be better than the exercises I showed him from class and doesn't want to see me again for two months. He said it was ideal, slow yet dynamic and was happy for me to use it as my only ongoing therapy to finish my recovery. I have asked if he would mention Sifu Waller's class to some of his patients and he has agreed to do so. My point is, how can you possibly put a price on that? You can't. £6.00 per week for improved health, wellbeing and a stronger body. It wouldn't even buy a tub of "magic cure-all" we so often see in Health Food Shops these days.

(Margaret)

Workshop/drop-in/taster sessions

Companies sometimes like to offer a drop-in session or workshop where people can have a short taste of tai chi.
It may be just a 10 minute workshop or an hour session.

We offer a stimulating range of activities:

1. Qigong
2. Balance
3. Connection
4. How to relax
5. Biomechanics
6. Mind/body unity
7. Optimal body use
8. Tai chi form practice
9. Playful partnered games
10. Neigong feats of strength

People are encouraged to join-in and try things out for themselves, rather than just watch.

Regular feedback

Students are evaluated every 12 weeks. Sifu offers advice, corrections, tips and pointers.
If you understand the fundamentals of your grade well enough, you can move up to the next belt.

Your grade represents where you are in the syllabus,

Meditation

The word 'meditation' is widely used to mean a variety of things.

Many people imagine that meditation means sitting in a crossed-legged position and listening to your breath.
Such practices or methods are not meditation. They serve to encourage meditation.

Meditation is not a method or exercise; rather, it is the condition of presence.
It is important not to mistake the menu for the food.

Feedback

Before I came to Sifu Waller three years ago I had spent six years at four different classes trying to learn tai chi chuan. None of them had a syllabus of any kind. Most were offering tuition of the simplified 24 step Yang style tai chi, with no self defence and no regard for the health of knees or back. The classes were for one hour only and cost about the same as ours.

 (John Bell)

Shedding the insincerity

People are not so keen to shed all the rubbish they have accumulated.
The image. The reputation. The opinions. The viewpoint. The politics. The money. The possessions.

However, the very things that we hide behind and cling to so desperately are the very things that blind us from reality.

You don't empty the mind just to lobotomise yourself; it's not mindlessness.

You empty it so that it can be refilled by what you're experiencing. It's empty of the chatter, it's empty of the neurotic anxiety, it's empty of preconceived notions, it's empty of opinions, it's empty of politics, it's empty of social conventions, and if you empty your mind of all that, it's a cleansing process.

Then you can allow it to be filled by the true experience of what you're doing.

 (Paul Gale)

Indoor students

The deeper meaning beneath the superficial is a recurrent theme in traditional Japanese culture. In the art of garden design, it is actually given a name, hiegakure, which means "that hidden from ordinary sight." The average shlub strolls through a Japanese garden gawking at the sights, entirely unaware of the paths beneath his feet. To the connoisseur, however, these same paths offer a lifetime of study and appreciation. Here the paths are smooth, hurrying one along. There, the stones are rough, irregular, or stepped, causing the visitor to slow down, something planned by the garden's designer, who may have wanted visitors to pause at a certain point.
(Dave Lowry)

The Pavement Arena by Geoff Thompson

The Fine Art of Japanese Food Arrangement by Yoshio Tsuchiya

Stop doing

You do not need to look, listen or reach out of yourself to experience the moment.
The information comes to your body unbidden. You see, hear and feel automatically. Involuntarily.
It is not necessary to do anything. Instead you need to stop doing.

Doing is led by the mind, whereas awareness is passive.

This condition of absolute presence will emerge without effort if you allow your mind to stop seeking, forcing and straining.
Just be.
Let your awareness grow. Notice things. Be curious. Be alive. Be alert. Let-go.

Unlearn

The early stages of training are important.
The beginner is building the foundation for their entire art.
What could be more exciting?

A new starter is exposed to all manner of new insights, movement principles, structural and strategic concerns.
They are offered a bewildering range of considerations.

It is the beginning of a different kind of learning.
Much of what you believe to be true will now be challenged.
You must unlearn.
Set aside your expectations, opinions and bad habits.

Attention skills

A student’s ability to attend to incoming information can be observed, broken down into a variety of sub-skills, and improved through properly coordinated training. We train and strengthen the three primary types of attention:

• Sustained Attention: The ability to remain focused and on task, and the amount of time we can focus.
• Selective Attention: The ability to remain focused and on task while being subjected to related and unrelated sensory input (distractions).
• Divided Attention: The ability to remember information while performing a mental operation and attending to two things at once (multi-tasking).

Class members

Taking private lessons and/or training with an instructor for many years does not make you an 'indoor student'.

If a class member wants an indoor relationship with the instructor, the process is quite formal.
The student must become a 'lineage student' and this entails meeting certain criteria and fulfilling specific obligations.

What is condition?

Consider this situation:

You decide that you are unfit and you commit to a 3 mile daily walk every morning.
On the first day when you complete the walk, you are out of breath and your limbs are shaky.
After two weeks you can finish the walk without losing your breath and you feel pleasantly energised.
Eventually the walk feels too easy and you look to try a more challenging route.

Your friend joins you on the walk because they too want to get in shape.
They finish the walk exhausted and marvel at your stamina.

What has changed?

The walk is just as hard. You need to use just as much energy to complete it.
Yet, your body has grown stronger.
More efficient.
You can undertake the hardship of the walk without undue difficulty.

This is what condition means.
Increasing your strength, stamina, endurance and fitness.
Compared to somebody who does not undertake daily training you will be far more capable of sustained exercise.

Chill out

Tai chi is an excellent way to encourage staff to relax and unwind during the busy day.
It reduces stress, improves health and generates a sense of well-being.

The atmosphere is informal, fun, relaxing and calm.
We offer the opportunity to explore the art without pressure or judgement.

Lopsided

Most people in the world who are training tai chi lack most of the skills on the list.
Commonly they possess only 3 areas of skill:

1. Qigong
2. Form
3. Sensitivity exercises

If you lack an understanding of neigong and application, then the form is merely an outline/pattern... akin to dance.

Memory

The ability to store and recall information:

• Long-Term Memory: The ability to recall information that was stored in the past. Long-term memory is critical for spelling, recalling facts on tests, and comprehension. Weak long-term memory skills create symptoms like forgetting names and phone numbers, and doing poorly on unit tests.
• Short-Term / Working Memory: The ability to apprehend and hold information in immediate awareness while simultaneously performing a mental operation. Students with short-term memory problems may need to look several times at something before copying, have problems following multi-step instructions, or need to have information repeated often.

Backpacks - capacity & comfort

When you buy an across-the-shoulder/messenger bag/man bag, the capacity of the bag suggests that the bag can be filled with quite a lot of gear. Indeed, a messenger bag can be filled with a comparative amount of gear to a backpack.

So what? 

A backpack is essentially a mini-rucksack and as we all know, it is not all that difficult to carry quite a heavy rucksack with ease. The key lies with design. The functional, ergonomic design of a rucksack enables the human body to lug a heavy load with no adverse side-effects.

What about messenger bags?

The design suggests that it can do the same job as a rucksack/backpack. After all, a messenger bag has an equivalent capacity... Yet, the design is flawed. If you carry anything more than a threadbare amount of gear, it'll harm your body. The bag is sold on the basis of convenient access. You don't have to remove the bag to get inside.

I have clicky shoulders from years of taekwondo and Sifu is always encouraging me to be careful with how I 'use' my body. I'm very cautious when using an across-the-body bag. If I'm shopping; supermarket or town, or walking anywhere, I use a backpack.

Only an expert should teach

Being a tai chi teacher is more than just talent.
You need to put in the work.
This is why there is an instructor training course for would-be instructors.

An expert must have at least 10,000 hours of practice behind them.
Dr. K. Anders Ericsson found that this was true of any art; whether tai chi, dancing or playing the piano.

You should only seek to become a tai chi or baguazhang instructor when you are an 'expert'.

Gaining strength

Once the obstacle of a new challenge has been surmounted, your body adapts and the exercise feels to be easy.
It becomes familiar and the difficulty fades.

Care must be taken to maintain the quality of the movement.
Considerable ongoing refinement is still necessary - and always will be.
There are no plateaus.

You must continue to challenge your mind and body.
The syllabus will present countless new obstacles.
Each one will cause you to falter, re-think how you are practicing the art, and then work around the problem.

This journey will require considerable tenacity. And humility.

Logic and reasoning

The ability to reason, form concepts, and solve problems using unfamiliar information or novel procedures. Deductive reasoning extends this problem-solving ability to draw conclusions and come up with solutions by analyzing the relationships between given conditions. Students with underdeveloped logic and reasoning skills will generally struggle with word math problems and other abstract learning challenges. Symptoms of skill weaknesses in this area show up as questions like, “I don’t get this”, “I need help…this is so hard”, or “What should I do first?”

Lose

Give things up. Do less. Go to bed earlier. Apply less strength in your daily life. Stop pushing. Stop taking stimulants.

In a film called ‘The Game’ a man has everything he believes to be important taken from him. Finally stripped of everything, he gives in. He quits.

Only then does he realise the freedom of it.

Know your stuff

In order to instruct, you need something to teach.
You require subject knowledge.

Begin as a new starter and work your way through the syllabus.

Auditory processing

The ability to analyze, blend, and segment sounds. Auditory processing is a crucial underlying skill for reading and spelling success, and is the number one skill needed for learning to read. Weakness in any of the auditory processing skills will greatly hinder learning to read, reading fluency, and comprehension. Students with auditory processing weakness also typically lose motivation to read.

Good use

Operating with good use could be described as doing everything with the minimum possible muscular effort. We want just enough tension in the muscles for them to do what is required at any given moment, no more and no less. 'Maximum output from minimum muscular effort' would be one definition of the most efficient use of the body.

(Glen Park)

Keeping it real

Every jing is the product of the way in which you move your body.
By turning the hips, flexing the spine, shifting the weight and adjusting the limbs - you produce an outcome.
There is nothing spectacular about this.

Students should be wary of talking about 'qi'.
Can you prove that qi produced the outcome?
Perhaps there is a more simple, straightforward reason?

Visual processing

The ability to perceive, analyze, and think in visual images. This includes visualization, which is the ability to create a picture in your mind of words or concepts. Students who have problems with visual processing may have difficulty following instructions, reading maps, doing word math problems, and comprehending.

Indoor, but not lineage

Family members are always offered the inner teachings.
This makes them an 'indoor student' but not necessarily a 'lineage student'.
To become a lineage student they must undergo the bai shi ceremony and make the formal pledges.

Learn how to teach

There are 3 instructor grades in our school:

1. Level 1
   - training takes place during the 3rd dan syllabus
   
2. Level 2
   - training takes place during the 6th dan syllabus
   - 10,000 hours of practice required
    
3. Level 3
   - training takes place during the 7th dan syllabus
   

Having completed each level of instructor training, the student is given a certificate qualifying them to teach our syllabus.

Dave

Bear Arms

http://www.oriental-weaponry.co.uk

Bear Arms offer a Price promise, whereby they'll match the price of any bona fide competitor.
Well, they are true to their word, so we recommend them for swords.

Processing speed

The ability to perform simple or complex cognitive tasks quickly. This skill also measures the ability of the brain to work quickly and accurately while ignoring distracting stimuli. Slow processing speed makes every task more difficult. Very often, slow processing is one root of ADHD-type behaviors. Symptoms of weaknesses here include homework taking a long time, always being the last one to get his or her shoes on, or being slow at completing even simple tasks.

Media

The media depict martial arts in an unrealistic way; either as entertainment in movies and TV shows, or as sport.
Now and again tai chi is lauded as being wonderful for the health.

Somewhere along the way, people become convinced that it is easy to learn a martial art.

Nothing could be further from the truth.
It does not matter whether you plan to learn tai chi, baguazhang, wing chun, ju jitsu or the countless other styles and systems available to you.
Martial arts are not easy to learn.

The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba

T'ai Chi Chuan: The Internal Tradition

Natural range

In tai chi you must always remain within your natural range of movement.
Any stretching is done subtly and never forced; the body is allowed to open by itself, rather than be forced.
By encouraging the joints to be free, mobility increases radically and the body can move more comfortably.
Tai chi should never strain or hurt the body.

Some movements may feel uncomfortable if you have bad postural habits and this is to be expected - your body is already used to set patterns of movement and poise - and the tai chi is gently changing these.

Beyond knowledge

A person may know a lot of information and be academically clever, but neuroplasticity is not about knowledge.
It is about functionality.
Application.

How flexible is your mind?
How easily and skilfully can you adapt, change and improvise?
Can you learn from everything you encounter?

Is it really taijiquan ?

If your school promises to make you an instructor in 2 years, they are deceiving you. After 2 years, you have a vague sense of taijiquan - nothing more. You should be capable of self defence and possess the ability to deliver raw jing, but your skills are fledgling.

Taijiquan is a martial art. You cannot learn any martial art in a brief span of time.

If you think you're an instructor after 2 years, go try your skills out in a real martial arts class. Go see what happens.

If your school is teaching bona fide taijiquan, then you are gaining hard-earned physical skills that require patience, correction and a thorough understanding of what you are learning.

If you are learning 'taiji-style exercise', you are gaining only a fraction of the health benefits and your practice will be bereft of martial competence.

Wang Shujin

Poked and prodded

Peter Southwood once asked Sifu if he'd be willing to submit to a battery of NLP tests, designed to investigate and catalogue Sifu's unusual cognitive talents. Sifu did not care for the idea and Peter never brought it up again.

(Shaun Ullah)

Weight

Working with a heavy weapon can be pretty taxing.
Stick work involves a rattan stick or staff for everyday practice and an oak staff for strength-building.
Practice swords are very lightweight, but a real sword is extremely heavy.

January Sales: kicking you when you're down...

January Sales are very cynical.

People overspend approaching Christmas and then they are usually broke until the end of January.
Then, early January the Sales begin...

You get to see items discounted that you paid full price for a few weeks earlier...

You are goaded into sending more and more and more...

On what? And why?
What is it that can't wait? What is so important? So immediate? So necessary?

January Sales are designed to get rid of excess stock and take even more money from the consumer.
You will be encouraged to over-stretch. To over-spend. To go into debt.

It is quite easy to say no.
Why not spend January doing quiet things at home or outside?
Avoid the shops.
Avoid online shopping too.

You'll barely even be aware that the January Sales exist...

Broadsword

Students practice broadsword drills and the sabre form.
This heavy weapon offers a notable workout.

It develops upper body strength, whole body movement and wrist flexibility. Students learn how to extend their energy through the blade.

Peter Southwood's tips #2 Prioritise the fundamentals

By regularly training the fundamentals every day, the student lays the necessary foundation quickly and can constantly ensure that they remain stable and strong.
Neglecting the basic material leads to weakness throughout the practice.

Bushido - the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe

What about tradition?

If you are a Christian, give to the poor.

If you are not, why let marketing and commerce bully you into feeling guilty for not buying presents? People are just trying to make money out of you. They want you in debt.
They want you spending more than you can afford. Your greed finances their greed.

If you recall the Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol you may remember that celebrating Christmas traditionally entailed giving gifts to the poor.
This is seldom the case these days...

There is nothing miserly about rejecting consumerism.

5 stages

There are 5 stages to learning any form:

1. The pattern
2. Internal strength
3. Application
4. Shen
5. Natural

With the advent of tai chi sport forms emanating from modern China, many modern practitioners never proceed past stage 1.
Indeed, few people even realise that there is more to form than the outward show.

The sad part about this is that the pattern is essentially incorrect unless augmented by the other 4 stages.

Feedback

Sifu Waller presents a non-macho, common sense approach to tai chi and self defence that is quite surprising in its clarity. His site is well written, sincere and open. Somehow he manages to share his thoughts without getting on a soapbox or selling himself or his own (unique) school. Also, he's offering this invaluable on-line resource for free! He seems to be entirely free of the tai chi politics commonly encountered these days and that is a refreshing change...
 
 (Andrew)

Stork spreads wings

Fast-track teachers

Beware fast-track taijiquan teachers.

A friend of mine got a Lee Family pamphlet through the post inviting her to qualify as an instructor. According to the leaflet she could become an instructor in less than two years with only one lesson per month commitment.

I was convinced that she was joking. What are these people teaching? How than they call it taijiquan?

In our syllabus it takes most people two years to complete the beginners syllabus, let alone teach the class!

Two years. It has to be a wind-up. Doesn't it? Doesn't it?

Sabre

The second form is actually a sword form using movements derived from the Yang Cheng Fu form.
This heavy weapon offers a notable workout.
It develops upper body strength, whole body movement and wrist flexibility. Students learn how to extend their energy through the blade.
The sabre was designed for use against multiple opponents.

We do not teach the sabre as a self defence tool.

Motto

Our school motto is simple: Adapt, change & improvise.
It captures the essence of (applied) tai chi and baguazhang, and encourages an open, flexible attitude to life.

Non-Christian Christmas?

If you are not a Christian, what exactly are you celebrating over Christmas?
Why are you wrapping up all those presents, sitting through family meals and over-indulging?
For what? In aid of what? Tradition? For the sake of it? Why? It is far less expensive not to bother.

If you are having Christmas in order to over-eat, get drunk and indulge yourself, what does that say about your character?

Progression

Your self defence skills are explored through a series of stages:

1. Chin na leverage principles


2. Escapes


3. Basic grappling drills
   - monkey paws
   - pushing hands
   - pushing legs
   - yielding exercise
   - yielding basic skills
   - central equilibrium
   - floor work


4. Shuai jiao (take down)


5. Small san sau


6. Dying ground


7. Silk arms


8. Yielding/chin na


9. Countering punches, kicks and grapples


10. Penetrating defences


11. Being hit


12. Gravity striking


13. Yielding/chin na & countering


14. Countering a knife


15. Escapes/knife


16. Freeform


17. Misplacing the bones


18. Projections


19. Disarming


20. Form application


21. Pao chui


22. Cavity press


23. Dividing the muscle


24. Sealing the breath


25. Gangs/multiple opponents

Individual meaning

'Meaning' is something attributed to phenomena; it is our way of making sense of life.
When considering any aspect of life, we examine the components and extrapolate a meaning.

The danger with this is that we can imbue anything with meaning, even when it no longer has any bearing on the original purpose.

Now consider 'Christmas'...

http://www.buynothingchristmas.org

In a Japanese Garden by Charmaine Aserappa

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura

Dance

Tai chi works in a way that is completely opposite from many forms of dance, specifically ballet. It seems that more and more people interested in dance and movement are turning to Eastern forms of movement as they search for a richer and more supple expression.

 (Liz Koch)

Baguazhang

Baguazhang addresses the experience of combat in a different way to tai chi.
The student avoids direct confrontation by circling around the opponent or by encouraging the attacker to circle around them.

Momentum and flow are used to overcome strength. The aim is to draw the attacker out of their centre and off-balance.

Self defence?

When most people think of taijiquan they don't think of self defence at all.

Some people have sentimental visions of large groups of people engaged in harmonious dance and expect to learn those same skills in the first lesson. Others want you to take their problems away; perfect health and a trouble-free life.

It would be so much easier if the public perception of taijiquan reflected the true nature of the art. Studying taijiquan without neigong and self defence is like buying a car that has no engine.

Feedback

What I really like about the class is it’s friendly atmosphere with excellent teaching and a clear syllabus that means everyone makes progress. It’s challenging but accessible. Everything is explained to the level you want and obviously Sifu Waller really demonstrates what is possible in the art.

(Tim)

San da: what can you do?

Students are welcome to use tai chi, baguazhang, chin na, shuai jiao or any applications from our syllabus.

Skipping around, fearfulness, an unwillingness to commit or external tactics will all be considered redundant and pointless.

This is an exercise in initiative, in feinting, luring, provoking commitment, evasion and countering.

The long haul

The study of the internal arts is the work of a lifetime.
 

And so he sets off on a path to mysterious destinations. He does so in spite of observations by others that such a way is naïve, outmoded or idealistic. He goes because he knows others have gone before, because the unchanging direction of the way attracts and calls to him.

He goes because he is compelled. He sets out on a journey of a lifetime because he senses that this way is the one to lead him to a place very much worth the going.

(Dave Lowry)

Nei Jia Chuan: Internal Martial Arts Teachers of Tai Ji Chuan, Xing Yi Chuan, and Ba Gua Zhang by Jess O'Brien

 

This book asserts that internal and external are pretty much the same... an odd determination.

Conditioning the body

We can address balance and connection once the muscles soften, the joints relax and the body opens.
The psoas muscle needs to lengthen naturally; this will aid in strengthening the body without tension, as well as providing stability.

Qigong and neigong serve to internally work and support the body as you perform tai chi.
From this foundation, you learn how to move in a tai chi way.
The form and self defence training exercises explore this unique way of moving.

Each new exercise offers an opportunity for you to increase your physical awareness.
It is an inward journey of subtlety and relationship.
The conditioning and awareness training encourages your mind to soften and your body to grow in new ways.

8th dan

Partner work
Qigong
Challenge – full circle qigong (30 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - Attitude & etiquette

Long Yang form (section 1)
Stick drills (intro)Yielding basic skills
Challenge - form challenge (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - Attitude & etiquette
Assignment #3 - The Sword Polisher's Record: The Way of Kung Fu
Leg stretches (set 1)
Monkey paws
Psoas exercises
Pushing legs
Single pushing hands 
Challenge – standing qigong (4 postures) (20 minutes x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - Attitude & etiquette
Assignment #3 - There Are No Secrets
Cat-stepping
Knife drills (intro)
Leg stretches (set 2)
Tao yin/Taoist Yoga
Challenge - knife drilling (30 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - Attitude & etiquette
Assignment #3 - The Essence of Tai Chi Chuan - The Literary Tradition
Chin na applications
Form applications
High circle qigong
Horse stanceLong Yang form (section 2)
Long Yang form (section 3)Martial concepts (intro)
Monkey paws (stepping)
Qigong development 
Single pushing hands (stepping)  
Challenge - chin na applications (60 mins x 12 weeks)
Challenge - form applications (60 mins x 12 weeks)
Challenge - form challenge (section 2) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - form challenge (section 3) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - horse stance qigong (5 mins x 12 weeks)
Challenge - qigong development (40 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
Assignment #3 - The Book of Five Rings
3-D
4 directions with a partner (no contact)
70/30 stance
Broadsword drillsCountering/pushing peng
Double pushing hands 
Form posture qigong (70/30)
Penetrating defences 
Pushing peng exercise
Pushing peng (partnered)
Pushing peng (striking)
Qigong on one leg
Silk arms
Small san sauStanding post with arms
Stick drills (3 sets)
Stretches & joint work
Challenge - broadsword drills (30 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - double pushing hands (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - mirrored form (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - penetrating defences (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - silk arms (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge – small san sau (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - stick drills (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - The Way of Chuang Tzu 
Assignment #3 - The Art of War

Countering punches, kicks & grapples
Dying ground
Everybody falls
Floor work 
Massage
Melee
Qigong revision
Shuai jiao applications - subject to fitnessYielding/chin na
Yielding/countering
Yielding/shuai jiao - subject to fitnessChallenge - floor work endurance (10 mins)
Challenge - shuai jiao applications (60 mins x 12 weeks) - subject to fitness
Challenge - yielding/chin na endurance (10 mins)
Challenge - yielding/countering endurance (10 mins)
Challenge - yielding/shuai jiao endurance (10 mins) - subject to fitness
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - The New Lao Tzu
Assignment #3 - Tao of Being

3-tier wallbag
13 energies
Being hit
Breath meditation
Da lu
Finishing-off
Form applications (section 1)
Freeform triangle
Gravity striking
Loose striking
Melee:
– yielding/shuai jiao
– yielding/chin na
– yielding/counteringNeigong (1-10)
Sabre form (regular & mirrored)
Silk arms (peng)
Small san sau (peng)
Speed striking
Challenge - 13 energies (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - da lu (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - sabre form (regular & mirrored) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - section 1 form applications (120 mins x 24 weeks)
Challenge - silk arms (peng) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - small san sau (peng) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - The Book of Life
Assignment #3 - The Inner Way
Assignment #4 - Sword & Brush

2 person cane form/drill (regular & mirrored)
4 ounces exercise
5 bows
5 elements stepping
8 powers striking
Countering a knife
Escapes/knife
Floor work (control)
Form applications (section 2)
Improvised weaponry/knife
Long Yang form (round version)
Meditation on emotions
Neigong (11-20)Obvious power (ming jing)
Pushing hands development
Reverse breathing
Yielding/knife
Challenge - 2 person cane form (regular & mirrored) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - improvised weaponry (5 minutes) 
Challenge - section 2 form applications (120 mins x 24 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - The Little Zen Companion
Assignment #3 - Moving Zen
Assignment #4 - Tai Chi Secrets of the Ancient Masters

5 animals
5 centres
Crude fa jing
Elbow
Folding
Form applications (section 3)
Groundpath
Holding down the pillow
Jing
Kicking
Meditation on body sensations
Moving with kwa
Neigong (extras)
Newton’s Laws of Motion
San da stage 1: freeform application
Silk arms (jing)
Small san sau (jing)
Spiral body
Staff form (regular & mirrored)
Yin
Challenge - 10 minute freeform application endurance challenge
Challenge - sections 1, 2 & 3 form applications (120 mins x 48 weeks) 
Challenge - silk arms (jing) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - small san sau (jing) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - staff form (regular & mirrored) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - 36 Strategies
Assignment #3 - Steal My Art
Assignment #4 - Zen in the Art of Archery

5 challenges
5 elements striking (part 1)
6 balanced pairs
Freeform grappling
Full syllabus revision
Leverage principles (misplacing the bones)
Projections (set 1)
Shuai jiao: footwork
Shuai jiao: elbow & bump
Shuai jiao: mutual arising
Shuai jiao: use of legs
Shuai jiao: throws
Silk arms (combat)
Small san sau (combat)
Walking stick form (regular & mirrored)
The way of the bear
The way of the bird
The way of the monkey
The way of the snake
The way of the tiger
Challenge - 5 challenges
Challenge - projections (set 1) (30 mins x 12 weeks)
Challenge - silk arms (combat) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - small san sau (combat) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - walking stick form (regular & mirrored) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - The Art of War (Cleary/Shambhala)
Assignment #3 - The Complete Taiji Dao
Assignment #4 - The Tai Chi Journey
Assignment #5 - Blink
Assignment #6 - Commentaries on Living volume 2
Assignment #7 - Curious

5 elements striking (part 2)
60/40 stance
Balance, rhythm, timing
Cold jing
Entry methods
Fa jing
Flowing chin na applications (misplacing the bones)
Flowing shuai jiao applications
Full syllabus revision
Heavy bag
Jing/leverage principles (misplacing the bones)
Projections (set 2)
Reflex drills
Shen
Small san sau against a knife
Small stick drills
Small stick flexibility drills
Straight sword form (regular & mirrored)
Wu nien
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Challenge - knife attackers (5 minutes) 
Challenge - reflex drills (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - projections (set 2) (30 mins x 12 weeks)
Challenge - small stick drills (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Challenge - straight sword form (regular & mirrored) (60 mins x 4 weeks)
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Assignment #3 - Free Yourself From Back Pain
Assignment #4 - How to Win Friends and Influence People
Assignment #5 - Tao Te Ching (various translations)
Assignment #6 - The Way To Love
Assignment #7 - The Willpower Instinct

5 pre-emptive methods
Becoming the centre
Being in the back
Combining chin na, shuai jiao & jing
Dividing the muscle
First hand/second hand
Full syllabus revision
Hidden power (an jing)
Large rhythm, small rhythm
Latent movements
Neigong (21-30)
Penetrating defences against a knife
Projections (set 3)
Rolling
San da stage 2: freeform combat
Shih (martial advantage)
Shuai jiao against a knife
Silk arms against a knife
Sparing yourself
Tools
Travelling
Yielding/chin na against a knife
Challenge - projections (set 3) (30 mins x 12 weeks)
Challenge - shuai jiao relay (5 minutes) 
Assignment #1 - Q & A
Assignment #2 - Who Moved My Cheese?
Assignment #3 - The Pavement Arena
Assignment #4 - In the Dojo
Assignment #5 - Mindwise
Assignment #6 - Outliers
Assignment #7 - The Road Less Travelled
Assignment #8 - Your Erroneous Zones

5 elements striking (part 3)
Bone marrow washing
Cultivating sung
Disarming
Disintegration
Dying ground (expert) 
Energy drainage
Fa jing (variations) 
Form application (power) 
Form in self defence
Full syllabus revision 
Internalising 
Kinetic pathway
Large san sau
Monkey
Neigong
- 20 qualities
- incorporation 
Open & close
Overwhelming attacks 
Pao chui form
Pre-natal breathing
Reeling silk 
Rhythm
Sealing the breath
Small circle
Sung 
Tortoise breathing
Unite upper & lower
Waving
Yin body
Yin/yang
Challenge – large san sau (120 mins x 24 weeks)
Challenge - mass attack (5 minutes) 
Challenge - non-cooperative relay (5 mins) 
Challenge – pao chui form
Assignment #1 - interpret a koan
Assignment #2 - write a poem
Assignment #3 - The Art of Chinese Swordsmanship: Manual of Taiji Jian
Assignment #4 - The Book of Tea
Assignment #5 - Keep it Simple
Assignment #6 - The Power of Internal Martial Arts
Assignment #7 - Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain: The Essence of Tai Ji
Assignment #8 - Back to Beginnings
Assignment #9 - Chuang Tzu in a Nutshell
Assignment #10 - Tai Chi Theory & Martial Power

2 person cane form/drill dismantled
Adapt, change & improvise Biomechanics
Broadsword drills dismantled
Consciousness
Consolidation
Dim-mak (dim-su/incapacitation)
Eastern philosophy
Form
Form application (cane)
Form application (pao chui)
Form application (sabre)
Form application (staff)
Form application (straight sword)
Form application (walking stick)
Freeform
Kinaesthetic awareness
Knife drills dismantled
Large san sau dismantled
Long Yang form dismantled
Martial theory & practice
Meditation Neigong dismantled 
Pao chui form dismantled
Partner work dismantled
Penetrating defences dismantled
Power generation
Proprioception
Pushing hands (all variations) dismantledQigong dismantled 
Sabre form dismantled 
Silk arms dismantled
Small san sau dismantled
Small stick drills dismantled
Spiritual inquiryStaff form dismantled
Stick drills dismantled
Straight sword form dismantled
Striking methods
Syllabus design
Taijiquan principles
Teaching methods
Walking stick form dismantled
Whole-body movement
Masterwork/masterpiece

Baguazhang

Scientific analysis

The opposite of exploring 'natural responses' to attack is when you respond in a contrived manner. You deliberately limit yourself to a certain drill or movement and practice that.

Your partner attacks with a variety of strikes and grapples, whilst you carefully think your way through each response. Be slow and thoughtful; contemplate what you are doing and why. Do not rush this. Do not lose your whole-body response at any point.

Be aware of where you are leading your opponent and what the effect of each counter-strike will be.

This type of work helps you to practice form applications and drills against a wider range of attacks, and the results should feed into the natural responses training.

Remember that scientific analysis, form applications and partner drills are all contrived. Natural responses training is what you will use in self defence: it is the proof of where you are. What comes out, comes out.

If you are faced with a legitimate threat and take time to think, you will fail. The tendency to do this can be removed through melee training, in which the thinking time is removed by the immediacy and variety of the threat.

Mild stretches

Taoist Yoga is a gentle way to exercise the body:

• Simple to perform
• Easy to learn
• Improves balance
• Stress-relief
• Meditation exercise
• Encourages a calm mind and composed emotions
• Energises
• Does not strain the body
• Strength-building
• Emphasis is placed upon allowing rather than forcing
• Improves skeletal alignment and poise
• Low-impact
• No exotic/strenuous postures
• Can be practiced by most people

Small san sau - 2 ways

Small san sau is taught in two ways initially:

1. Sequence
2. Combat concerns

The 'sequence' is just the pattern of movements: the framework.
It must be performed quite well.
Small san sau is introduced in green belt and students complete the basic sequence during the blue belt syllabus.

The second learning stage takes place at purple belt.
Students learn how to use the set in actual combat.
Subtle changes and corrections enhance the set, making it much more versatile and functional in combat.