Measurement of quality

Quality is commonly measured in 3 stages:

1. Beginner
2. Intermediate
3. Advanced

Sifu Waller does not agree with this format. He regards it as being limited and inaccurate.

Does a student suddenly leap from intermediate-level to advanced?

The divide between these two levels of standard seems huge.

Surely there must be a period of development in-between these two levels?
A time to become seasoned, practiced, familiar?

Quality

Arrogant students may seek to jump ahead and bypass certain stages of learning.
This is the outcome of naivety.
Lacking an understanding of what is to come, how can they conceivably gauge what is important, and what is not?

In order to advance through the syllabus, some degree of quality must be demonstrated.

Stages

It is necessary to gain a certain standard of ability in one topic before attempting to work on what comes next.
Learning is broken down into steps, or stages.

This enables the student to focus on a particular level of skill, and take the time to gain confidence before addressing something new.
Familiarity encourages relaxation, and the student is not under pressure.

Back to Beginnings

Progress

The gifted student needs to practice in order to remember what they are learning.
The less able student should really train harder, because they are struggling and need to put in the practice.

How much you train is up to you, not us.

In this way, the syllabus is self-differentiating.
Students are welcome to progress at whatever pace best suits their level of commitment, and competence.
You only get out of taijiquan what you put into it.

There are no secrets

Were an advanced-level taijiquan instructor to share their deepest, most profound insights with a student, it would be a waste of breath.
Understanding requires context.

Lacking the necessary foundation, a student would dismiss the insight as irrelevant.
Why?
Because it means nothing to that person at their current level of progress.

Usually, a student has no real idea what is important in the greater context of their taijiquan study.
They pick and choose based upon their own opinions, expectations and limited experience.
Pearls before swine?

Less effort, more effect

Every tai chi student must work to reduce the size of their circle.
It is martially imperative for your movements to be small.

You must move without alerting the attacker's nervous system.
Like a shadow. Like a thought.

Small circle

By balancing frame size, relationship with the opponent and intent, a student can ensure that they employ the optimal framework.
Every movement produces a more significant effect.

The external movement decreases as the internal work increases.
Neigong and intent enable greater effect with markedly less effort.

Instead of sweeping arcs, the student uses twisting, coiling, spiralling action to generate internal pressure in the soft tissues of the body.
These are movements-within-movements.
Smooth, fluid, small, hidden, unnoticed.

Improved frame

With practice, a student learns how to shape their body into the optimal framework required.
This framework enables the student to express groundpath without effort.
It is a medium for the delivery of kinetic energy.

As the student's skill improves, the physicality of the taijiquan diminishes.
The frame serves to supplement the mind.
A more subtle physical expression is now possible.

Michael Garofalo: generous blogger

Michael Garofalo has shared on-line tai chi information for many years via his blog and his other extensive on-line resources.

http://mpgtaijiquan.blogspot.com/

Peng & groundpath

Every tai chi pattern of movement must contain peng at all times.
It is important to consider every single form movement and partner drill to ensure that the optimal peng framework is maintained.

Once peng is present, the student can consider the pathway of force.

Unless the framework has peng, groundpath cannot be transmitted using the wave-like undulation of the spine, waist turn and weight shift.

External impediments

External martial arts often emphasise habits that are not conducive to internal development.
Tension is encouraged.
Over-stretching.
Forcing.
Disconnected body movement.

In order to cultivate peng, you must discard anything that impedes neigong.

Crumple

When a student makes their framework too small and does not possess peng, their structure will collapse when pressure is applied to it.
This is a failing on two counts:

1. Structure
   - elbows are not kept open and the 90° angle is lost
   - the kwa are closed too far
   - framework is not rounded
   
2. Yielding
   - never allow the opponent to apply more than 4 ounces of pressure to your body
   - never employ more than 4 ounces of pressure
   - to accomplish this requirement, yielding is necessary
   - when a student fails to yield to force, tension occurs and it becomes a battle of strength

Feedback

Learned more from Sifu Waller in 6 months than I did in almost 2 years with my previous school.

(Mick)

Beginners connection

The beginner needs to cultivate connection within the body.
This is accomplished by:

1. Alignment
2. Stretching slightly
3. Keeping the muscles as relaxed as possible

A large, rounded framework is established in order to create a network of connected body parts.

Unfortunately, a beginner has no idea what relaxation means and will use an unnecessary degree of tension.
There is also potentially a likelihood of postural exaggeration; which may limit joint movement and again produce tension.

Jing

Jing is the means by which we affect the opponent.
Read about jing, play with it in class and ultimately manifest it.

How do you know if its jing?

Simple: it works. It feels easy. There is absolutely no adverse feedback because all of your energy is outward; affecting the opponent.

3-D

Using a smaller frame means that you must rely to a greater degree upon the three dimensions.
You will find it easier to make space.

4 ounces

If you try to force a result, you are invoking Newton's 3rd law and actually making the opponent stronger.
This is not tai chi chuan.

4 ounces is just what is necessary.
Not too much and not too little.

This cannot be verbalised. It must be felt, practiced and understood.

No more MEA House

Sifu Waller is no longer teaching at MEA House.

Waist turn

Look at every form movement and partnered exercise... they all feature distinct waist turns.
45° to the left or to the right.
Unless you tai chi is led by the legs and torso - not the arms - it simply will not work, and you will rely once again upon arms for power (or lack of).

Most students are not skilled enough for subtlety. Make the turn 45°, and coordinate it with the weight shift.

Slow down

The most obvious error present in literally everybody's practice was rushing.
By rushing, you fail to feel.

An exercise like monkey paws is so utterly simplistic, yet watching the class, I saw it devolve into something worthless.

Instead of maintaining range/proximity, staying sticky, turning the waist distinctly left or right, rolling the arms... it becomes an arm rotating exercise, featuring token waist joggles.
Monkey paws can teach you how to effortlessly evade close contact strikes, chin na and grapples.
But only if you slow down and observe the features of the drill.

Apply these insights to every drill you practice.

Faults

Common mistakes that are stopping your peng from working:

- reliance on tension/muscular contraction
- force on force
- rushing
- disconnecting shoulders & elbows
- panic
- stances too large
- irregular foot placement: too long, too wide
- knees too deeply bent
- slouching

New venue, Newcastle starting 7th March 2011

Monday 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Community Hall, St Andrew's Church, Station Road, Benton, NE12 8AW

http://www.newcastletaichi.co.uk/Newcastletaichi.htm

Tai chi without tao

If your tai chi does not contain the insights and lessons of Tao Te Ching, you possess an empty shell.
Your teacher may be skilled enough to provide you with a working system, however, the deeper understanding is absent.

The principles and insights of taoism are essential to tai chi.
The art was built with these in mind; it was intended to accord your body with 'the way' in order to borrow 'its power'.

The power

If 'the way' is difficult to comprehend, 'the power' may prove even more challenging for you.
Te refers to a power that can be used but not kept.

By according yourself with the way, you find that things flow.
You gain use of power.

Putting this into practice involves a combination of biomechanics, sensitivity, structure, perception and balance, rhythm and timing.
The effect is often quite astounding.
It may even look 'magical', but it is not magic at all. It is the direct application of Tao Te Ching.

If you are successful in according yourself with tao, then your application of tai chi will be graceful.
There will be no exerting or forcing.
Ease, gentleness, appropriateness... these are the hallmarks of skill.

Peter Southwood's tips #15 Meditate

Zen is really about sitting still and doing nothing.
Being present.

If sitting does not suit you, lie down, but do not fall asleep.
Stay here and now.

Esoteric

Solving the mysteries of Tao Te Ching is an important part of learning tai chi.
There is more to the art than physical exercise.
This is a journey of discovery.

Unless you undertake the journey with genuine curiosity and wonder, you will not get very far.
Enthusiasm, tenacity and endurance are necessary.
You must penetrate the mysteries of the art.

The Way To Love

Science

Tao Te Ching is not a fanciful book.
Read it scientifically.

You will notice many insights that can be directly incorporated into your tai chi practice.
The insights are tangible, concrete.
And they work.

The way

Tao Te Ching is not a religious or philosophical book. It is an attempt to explain something that eludes explanation.
This may sound absurd.

However, imagine trying to explain 'love' to somebody...
It is not that easy.
Love is not a thought. It is not a word. It is a feeling.

Now, try to explain 'wind'...
Wind exists but can we feel it?
Do we feel wind itself or the air and dust particles moved by wind?

'The way' must be felt without intellectualisation. It must be seen through its effects.

Feedback

I first became interested in tai chi about 6/7 years ago following some amazingly successful acupuncture treatment for a back and elbow injury.

I did attend a different tai chi class in Durham. I signed up for a terms evening class at a local comprehensive with my daughter who is a language teacher. After the first lesson my daughter confirmed my thoughts that this guy is hopeless. He was everything that Sifu Waller is not. He was late for class every week, there was no weekly agenda let alone syllabus and at the end of term he gave us a certificate indicating some proficiency in tai chi. Unfortunately it has coloured my daughters judgement of tai chi forever and although she lives out of the area now is not interested in joining any local tai chi class as she says her memories of the last class are enough. However I did find some of the science/physics most interesting and was determined to keep looking.

By chance I came across Sifu Waller’s class. So imagine my surprise and bewilderment when I walked into the hall on the first night to see people standing shaking, fighting with knives and newspapers, trying seemingly to beat each other with sticks, and performing these quite complicated movements quite easily. I thought that I could never do that but quickly realised that these people must have been like me and come into class cold at some time. I was quite fascinated and have remained so ever since.

(Ray)

In conclusion...

There is no conclusion to your tai chi training as such; simply an ongoing exploration of existence, relationship, mind, body, balance, movement...
Nothing will be mastered.
You simply keep on training. Continue studying.

The passing of the years will bring you good health, martial skills (that require very little physical effort), calmness, insight, clarity, humour and humility.
You know that there is so much that you do not know.
You have the wisdom to see that the world is vast, and we are all so very small.

In quietude and obscurity you find an ample measure of peace, and realise that the journey was worth the effort.
You have gained extraordinary insights and enjoyed the mystery of it all.

The challenges and the obstacles were not impediments at all. They helped you to grow. They kept things interesting.

Hall rental in Durham

We are currently seeking a new hall in Durham with a view to opening a class...

Valentines Day?

What is Valentine's Day?

If you want to show your love and appreciation for husband, wife or partner, do so every day.
Your daily treatment of your partner demonstrates your love.

Words, tokens and promises are worthless.
Make your actions count.

If you behave like an ass all year round and then think that chocolates, flowers and a card (written by somebody else) somehow demonstrates your true nature, think again...

Nobody is that stupid. Or that easy.
You cannot buy somebody off with flowers. Or placate them with a card.
Not unless they have no self-respect. No dignity.

You don't need Valentine's Day.
Respect your husband, wife or partner... and don't insult them with token symbols.

The effort

And what price did you pay for all that training?
How did it affect your life?
You missed a little TV. You spent time training rather than idling.

So what?

Melee: escapes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar-TApY4VoU

Coping with doubt

After an initial spurt of enthusiasm, even the most ardent student may suffer from doubt.
The mere promise of self defence skills, good health, flexibility and martial prowess are no longer as meaningful.
There must be something else.

Other interests and commitments may begin to encroach.
It becomes easy to miss lessons. To stop training. And to consider the possibility of quitting.

No instructor can guide you through this period of doubt.
You will either come to see the art as being something you want to persevere with, or you will simply quit.

You may see that the art is more than the sum of its parts.
That it has changed you in ways that you may not be able to explain.

Students who choose to stay often recognise that they have lost faith and become half-hearted.
They train harder, attend more training opportunities and quietly make space in their lives for the art to flourish.

The folly of teaching other students

Be patient.
And be wary of asking the blind to lead the blind...

There is an Indian folk tale about six blind men inspecting an elephant:

The first man encounters the side of the animal and believes it to be a wall.
The second man imagines the tusk to be a spear.
The third man thinks that the trunk is a snake.
The fourth man considers the leg to be a tree.
The fifth man feels an ear and believes it to be a fan.
The sixth man finds the tail and is certain it is a rope.

You do not understand the syllabus.
You are the blind man and the syllabus is the elephant.
You see what you want to see.
What you are capable of seeing.

Be patient.

Self defence (advanced level)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpgQQ58PIw

Sensitivity training

Learn to see with your hands, not just your eyes...

Yang Cheng Fu form (section 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-6z_kBWKNo

Beginners level

Marc, Kelly, (new girl) & Sifu

Kitten

Chocolate fudge cake

Highly-strung waiter

Yu-chun

Udon noodles

Kitten

Kelly

Marc

Yu-chun

The role of qigong in the internal martial arts

Taijiquan, baguazhang and xingyiquan use forms to practice combat movements, build strength and gain agility.
The forms are highly intricate, with many different levels of skill.

Yiquan (mind fist)/dachengquan (the great accomplishment) - an offshoot of xingyiquan - does not use forms.
Instead, it uses static standing qigong postures in lieu of form.

Xingyiquan uses form(s) for power development.Dachengquan uses standing qigong.
See the difference?
What should a tai chi school do?The answer is somewhat self evident, isn't it?
Taijiquan is not dachengquan.
It uses forms, not standing qigong postures.
Read The Tai Chi Classics... There is no mention of standing qigong but a whole lot of information about movement.

Leg stretches

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5yJrag0N3U

Feedback

I feel extremely lucky to have found a martial arts school where integrity and being a nice person matters, this is missing from every school I have ever attended.

(Dave G)

Outdoor form training

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AJppOxr3zo

Butterfly

Making progress

Column 3 is not taught.
You arrive there through long years of daily home practice.
If you can practice the simple qigong/neigong exercises at this level, you can make any movement this way.

Column 3 training takes place at the experienced-level.

Until then, you just need to work on moving in an accurate, connected, consistent way.
Adhere strictly to the tai chi principles.

Flowing or flawed?

Some beginners make the mistake of trying to make their form flow.
This is absurd.
It always (without exception) leads to disconnected movement.

Starting form

Beginners focus upon the pattern, the outline of form.
This is hard enough to learn.
Where to face, how and where to put the feet, what the hands are doing...

But this is not really form. It is a vague, sketchy shell.

Finding out for yourself

Figuring things out for yourself is an important component in learning.
An intelligent mind does not have to be 'told'.

You should have the capacity to make connections and associations, have insights and discover things for yourself.

The Way of Chuang Tzu

Girls don't lose out

External martial arts such as karate, ju jitsu, wing chun or kickboxing are all about strength and speed.
Strength is pitched against strength and the stronger, faster person usually wins.
This means that women often lose out.

Tai chi was designed to be a soft martial art. Strength is circumvented. They rely upon sensitivity and gravity rather than brute force.

Our classes ensure that you know what 'self defence' means and how to use your body effectively in difficult situations featuring multiple opponents (and ultimately armed attackers).

We will not patronise women in our school.
If you are not pulling your tai chi together, we will tell you.

Misplacing the bones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTMyE05N0z4

Self defence

Our school aims to address self defence without resorting to undue violence.
Violence against violence can lead to further escalation.
We simply desire to evade conflict and escape unharmed.

There is no ego involved, no desire to win or claim a trophy.
We learn how to incapacitate the attacker smoothly and easily. Then we walk away.

Stronger

Neigong (internal power) will make your body strong without the need to exert yourself.
Mild, regular exercise is what we advocate.
Little and often.

With commitment and patience you will find that your fitness level improves massively and you learn how to use your body in a more powerful way.

More harm than good?

It is widely-known that martial arts schools can have a positive effect upon the lives of young people.
However, some martial arts practice can lead to long-term injuries.

Sifu Waller's wife Rachel studied tae kwon do as a child and gained her black belt in her early teens.
She now has clicking joints.

Training involving locked joints, weights and high impact can be harmful to a young body.

Ocean

Incapacitation

The self defence approach taught by Sifu Waller aims to incapacitate the attacker.
We are not interested in 'beating' anyone up or winning contests.
Self defence is all about escaping injury, not causing it.

If you can escape without inflicting pain, that is good. You have nothing to prove to anyone.
Self defence is not about payback or vengeance.

Over 40?

When training in the martial arts, you need to take your age into account.
It is a major factor.
If you are 40, it is unwise to undertake a system that relies upon strength, speed and fitness.

Tai chi favours the older student.
The subtle skills of the art require a mature, disciplined, patient mind.
You focus upon physics, the application of pressure, sensitivity, rhythm, timing, balance and intention.

Instead of wearing yourself out, you feel energised, relaxed and confident.
You have a low risk of injury in tai chi, although bumps and bruises will occur in a self defence class.

My tai chi class isn't that expensive...

Most tai chi classes are not combat-oriented.
They offer what is essentially a keep-fit session.

Martial arts practice is not the same as tai chi for health & fitness exercises.

Balance

Beyond the high-minded values of bygone days there is a simplicity at the root of respectability.
It is called the 'golden mean'.

The Greeks are credited with the articulation of the golden mean; although taoism, Buddhism and Christianity teach this too.
It was the middle way between the extremes of deficiency and excess.

The rule is simple: if you want to be respectable, treat others with respect.

Conduct

Respectability has nothing to do with wealth.
It is about the quality of your interaction with those around you.
Treating other people with courtesy and consideration; being well-mannered and even-tempered are all indications of respectability - providing you are genuine.

Integrity and fairness, generosity and modesty; these are more respectable than having a well-paid job and a large car.

Tai chi chuan exponents

You may encounter many different people in a tai chi school.
The martial path has 6 tiers:

1. Student
2. Lineage disciple
3. Instructor
4. Expert
5. Master
6. Grandmaster

Every practitioner begins at the first level.
Levels 2-6 require a much deeper degree of commitment and practice, and will not suit most people's lifestyle.
It may be useful to determine what level an instructor has reached.

Feedback

I have trained with many instructors including yourself where I know that I want what they have (Peter Young, Chris Chappel, Master Ma, Mikhail Ryabyko, Wai Lum Choi, Alex Kozma, etc).

However, you have a training method that works and have students with real abilities.
This is very rare in the internal arts.
Thanks again.

(Tim)

Life

Life presents us with countless situations that test our mettle.
We have the opportunity to behave in a variety of different ways and make a whole range of choices.
How and what we do stem from who we are.

Our actions reflect what sort of person we are.

Seeing the now

Imagine measuring the length of the UK coastline...

We use a mile-long ruler. The initial measurement is 7000 miles approximately.
However, the length of the ruler meant that a lot of the detail was missed.
So, we decide to use a smaller one.

We use a foot-long ruler. Now the coast is 7760 miles long.
By including the details, the in-between bits, the measurement has increased.

Clearly, if we used an inch-long ruler, the length would increase still further.

Can you see the point? The closer you look, the more detail you find.
Lao Tzu said that you can know the whole world without ever leaving your room.
If you want to truly come to terms with your tai chi, cease form collecting, cease striving and competing.
Searching far for what what you already have is futile.

Look at what is right in front of you. But do not force it. Be passive. Let the information come to you. See it.

Becoming a teacher #7

Teaching experience...

Students in our school who are seeking to be a teacher have trained with me for many years and have loads of notes, handouts, insights and perceptions. They've helped out in class for so long that taking the next step is not so daunting. But it is still harder than you may imagine.

As a helper, you can always fall back on the teacher for assistance. As the teacher, you have no one to fall back on.

There is more to teaching than delivering material. You must find ways of interacting with people, of being comfortable with people. Students who help out in class over many years cultiavte rapport.

If a non-helper asked to suddenly become an instructor, I'd question their motives. What drives them?

Helpers are eager to assist, to guide. They learn by helping, it changes their tai chi and alters their perceptions.

The present

If we allow the mind to return to the here and now, we can find clarity.
The chattering of our ambitions, greed, anxieties, insecurities and pain will cease.
We can simply be here. Present. Alert. Aware.

There is so much around us in every given moment, but we just do not notice it.
We are too busy chasing our own tails.

There is no box

In our tai chi school we encourage people to avoid fixity.

There are no techniques, no preset responses. We can do things in any number of ways.
Some methods work better than others. And all have ramifications and consequences.
There is not one fixed way at the exclusion of all others.

Students learn to appreciate that they are thinking within a box. Instead of 'thinking outside the box' they realise that there is no box.

Our conditioning limits us.

Transcend it.
Let your mind open and your consciousness expand. Embrace what is.

Santa Claus

Santa Claus was not always a mythical Hollywood character.

St Nicholas was born in Patara on the southern coast of Turkey. He was raised as a Christian and used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.

No reindeers. No North Pole. No elves. No present lists. No Christmas cards, tinsels, trees, cakes, holly, mistletoe or carol singing.

Deviate from the essence and all is lost.

Re-discover Christmas #2

In the 1970's Peter McNally (the local Scout leader) used to take large gangs of children and adults around the village on Christmas morning.
He'd found out which old people were alone and had no family. He'd filled shoe boxes with presents and asked people to sign cards.

Then he took everyone to visit each and every lonely old person. We would all stand and sing outside their houses.
The expressions on the faces of the old people said it all.

Decorations

If you think that's tacky, come and have a look around where we live...

One house has that Santa you described, plus Blackpool illuminations, plus new addition - 7 foot mock snow-globe with Santa scene.

That's just one house, I think they're aiming to be seen from space.

(Up My Street)

Striking

Learning to strike somebody and learning how to take a strike are essential.
Being hit can really mess you up.
Clever self defence tactics and techniques may fall to pieces when you are actually taking hits.
It is imperative that you know how to relax and roll with the punch.

Developing your own striking ability is critical. Without it, you cannot hope to defend yourself.
You need to make each blow count.
Range, timing, distance, accuracy and penetration must be practiced relentlessly.
A bag or focus mitt is not the same as a person. You need to strike real people.
Do not pull your punches. Let them land. Feel whether or not you are receiving adverse feedback.
Learn to control your power, your commitment and your intent.

Punching thin air may train the body mechanics behind a strike but tells you nothing about your ability.

Re-discover Christmas

Do not get caught up in the sickening sentimentality of carol singing and Christmas decorations.
Give.
Go to the Salvation Army over Christmas or donate money to the thousands of charities out there.

Take nothing for yourself. Ask for nothing. Make it a season of giving. A time for caring.

Master Waller's YouTube page

http://www.youtube.com/user/SifuWaller

Christmas - the media spectacle

Christmas is a marketing triumph.

The inane catchy jingles played constantly, the lights and the decorations, the kitsch, the sentimentality and nostalgia, the peer pressure, the overindulgence...

People willingly spend money they do not have on things they do not need.
They do this for no reason whatsoever.

Charity & judgement

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you should see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

(Kahlil Gibran)

Substance

Many marriages break up after a few years and this is not surprising.
If a wedding symbolises truth, commitment, honour, fidelity and love - why is it treated like a circus?
Where is the integrity, the honesty, the genuine earnest warmth, love and feeling?
Novelty, noise, excess, costumes, scripted promises and money seem a poor way to begin a sincere pact between two people.

Only when you pare away the clutter can you see the real. And also what is lacking...

Peter Southwood's tips #14 Mind

The mind leads the body.
Neglecting the mind makes for a witless martial artist.

Mind games, puzzles and other gimmicks are worthless.
Study, koan and quietude will expand your consciousness, and encourage clarity.

It is what you make it

If we continue the theme of 'marriage':

The idea of 'getting married is only a concept.
What you choose to do with the idea is the important part: you make it what it is; you imbue the idea with meaning.

The truth is in the doing of things, so if you get married and have the entire lavish affair - that is your wedding.
Every part of the experience is the truth of it, the reality of it: the 'good' and the 'bad', the pleasure and the excess, greed and waste.
This is the actual substance of the event.

The original meaning is lost and whatever you have made of 'wedding' is the reality of the event.
If your wedding is a gaudy, vulgar spectacle then it is a gaudy, vulgar spectacle.
That is the truth of it; surface glitz and glamour smeared across the relationship in the hope of what?

Baguazhang

http://www.youtube.com/user/SifuWaller#grid/user/8AC1B136379587F3

Shuai jiao (YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/user/SifuWaller#grid/user/8EC64F239FE05EB7

Simplicity

Taoism values the essence of things. It seeks to find the heart, the centre. The unique quality.
Invariably, this leads to simplicity, to elegance, to a paring away of the non-essentials.

Tai chi should reflect this approach.

Not so Christian Christmas

If Christmas is intended to celebrate the birth of Christ, how come its a commercial holiday?

Jesus said, "Take everything you have and give it to the poor."

The modern Christmas is not very Christian.

Appropriateness

In self defence, you must do whatever feels appropriate.

Some of your responses will have gaping holes in them, but others will not.
The more skilled you become, the more effective your responses will be.

Gauge the appropriateness relative to the effect:

1. Did it work?
2. Are you compromising yourself? Over-committing?
3. Was there any adverse feedback?
4. Did you allow for multiple attackers?
5. What did it do to your opponent?
6. Were they rooted when you struck/manipulated them?
7. Was it easy to perform?
8. Smooth or jarring?
9. Was it hurried and quick?
10. Were you calm and composed?

Be honest with yourself and work on any weaknesses in your composure, body use and application.

Classes

A short course in self defence may provide a measure of self confidence.
But can you really protect yourself when you need it?
For self defence to work you need ongoing training.
Your body must develop the ability to respond reflexively to all manner of attack without conscious effort.
To learn self defence, you need a longer-term commitment.

Fed-up with Christmas?

Then don't participate. No one is forcing you.

Responsibility

When a person becomes a lineage student, everybody knows who that individual is and what their relationship with the instructor is.
Should the instructor move away or die, people will look to the lineage student to continue the teaching in the instructor's name.
This is the responsibility of the lineage student.

For example, when Peter Southwood died, several total strangers contacted Sifu Waller to advise that Peter Southwood was dead.
Even though they had never trained with Sifu Waller, they knew that he was Peter's indoor/lineage student.
Peter had made no secret of the fact.

Having 'presence'

Presence can be seen in a different way...
Some people seem to have 'presence'. They exude a notable air of security and calm.

These people quietly walk through life in a comfortable, natural way.
They are unaffected and genuine.
There is no conflict or aggression in their manner. Just gentle humour and grace.