Body building and weight lifting are fashionable activities today. The emphasis is upon developing external muscles which creates an armouring effect that can eventually distort the bony structure. It is the over developed musculature that actually torque's the bones and discourages them from bearing additional weight. The body attempts to compensate and problems arise.

Running does not necessarily in and of itself improve posture that is already poor and constricted. It often exaggerates problems due to the substitution of inappropriate muscles. The repetitive inappropriate development of the musculature (as in body building or weight lifting) often leads to diminished sensitivity. Stress occurs in the knees and lower back, encouraging injury.
Swimming is an activity that can either create structural problems or release them depending upon the way it is taught and practiced. Professional swimmers are known to develop shoulder tendonitis and kyphosis. Overriding head/neck righting reflexes (as occurs when the head is repeatedly turned but the body does not follow) eventually result in overdeveloping shoulder muscles, pinching nerves and distorting the rib cage.
Various sport activities emphasize strength, endurance and speed. Development of muscle control rather than skeletal balance takes precedence. Gaining speed at the expense of mounting tension, is too often the goal.
(Liz Koch)

Tear & repair mentality

The drawback of sport and mainstream exercise is that the emphasis is not upon good body use, optimal alignment, emotional, physical and psychological wellbeing.
The onus is upon the outcome rather than the process involved.
There is the pressure to win, to succeed, to perform, to be the best. Or to look good; muscular, trim or sexy.
People push themselves and the body can suffer.

Seeking to repair the body afterwards is not as smart as avoiding injury in the first place.

A tonic

Taijiquan 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.
A tonic is a medicine taken daily in order to maintain and invigorate the body.It may significantly improve your health.
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 health benefits go away

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

Stay calm

If you lack composure, you will not see what is right in front of you.
Being calm is utterly essential.
You need to remain detached, emotionally aware and at ease.

This is the real reason why beginners practice 'escapes'.

Classes resume Monday 20th October

A young boy travelled across Japan to the school of a famous martial artist.
When he arrived at the dojo he was given an audience by the sensei.

"What do you wish from me?" the master asked.

"I wish to be your student and become the finest karateka in the land," the boy replied.
"How long must I study?"

"Ten years at least," the master answered.

"Ten years is a long time," said the boy.
"What if I studied twice as hard as all your other students?"

"Twenty years," replied the master.

"Twenty years! What if I practice day and night with all my effort?"

"Thirty years," was the master's reply.

"How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer?" the boy asked.

"The answer is clear. When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the way."

(Joe Hyams)

Partner work

There are three rules in partner work:

1. Stay calm
2. Do not rush
3. Do not use tension

If you ignore these, your taijiquan simply will not work. Try as you might, nothing will be successful.
Internal taijiquan only works if you follow these basic guidelines without deviation.

Biofeedback

Taijiquan encourages the student to exercise with intelligence, to 'listen' to what the body is telling you.

If something feels too heavy, too hard, too taxing... then it is a warning.
If a joint feels sore, then do not ignore it.
If the same injury occurs again and again, you risk long term damage that will eventually affect your quality of life.

Pain is not something to be fought or ignored.
It is something you must listen to and learn from. It is something you want to avoid experiencing altogether.

Taijiquan skills

Combat sets require the student to apply kung fu skills effectively.
You cannot simply use force and expect success.

The sets are ruthless in their ability to expose faults in your practice.
Only by adhering to their lessons and requirements can the student apply kung fu correctly in combat.

Gaps and deficiencies

It can be quite a shock for a student to find out that their form is actually a mess.
The form may look aesthetically pleasing, yet under pressure it falls apart.

Taoism advocates eating the fruit, not the flower.
The form must be functional, effective and comfortable.
If your structure and movements fail in combat, what exactly are you training when you practice your form?

Sets

Sets are derived from the form.
They use movements from the form against an attacker.
Therefore, they also serve to test your skill with form. If your form is imprecise and sloppy, your application will not work.

A combat set provides an opportunity for a student to really tidy-up their form and gain insight into how the form can be used.
Errors that may seem unimportant in solo practice may prove disastrous in partner work.

Be here, right now

If you enter a busy gym, there is usually very loud music designed to 'numb-out' the mind whilst exercising.
This is not wise.

Whenever the body is being used, the mind must be present, aware and alert.
Spacing-out is dangerous.
It can result in poor alignment, exertion and injury.

Drills

The partnered exercises in the syllabus are about using the form.

Many of the skills acquired from pushing hands (and the associated exercises) are quite subtle and require significant ongoing practice.
Sensitivity, awareness, stickiness and peng are cultivated patiently.
Such drills are not directly martial.
You could not apply the drills in combat, but you would use the skills taught by the drills.

The Master always walks on the other side of the road

http://www.embracethemoon.com/perspectives/the_master.htm

http://rachelwallertaichi.wordpress.com/

The 70% rule

The 100% capacity approach is the 'no pain, no gain' attitude to exercise.
It opens you up for strain and injury because you are fully committed (and often forcing) at all times.
Most people exceed their natural range of safe movement frequently throughout the day without realising it.
If you remain well within your limits at all times there is less risk of injury.

Hungry ghosts

The deeper into the lineage training the student progresses, the harder it is for them to return to lessons as a regular student.

Having reneged on promises and failed to live up to expectations (ours and their own), the student is typically tortured by their own demons.
Vanity, ego and pride lead to defensiveness and arrogance.
The student ultimately grows to resent Master Waller and eventually quits the school.

Apply with care...

Little & often

Instead of pushing your body hard and putting it under duress, just do a little exercise.
Keep it mild.
Encourage things to move, to stretch, to flex.

Regular, mindful exercise has been found to be more healthy than sustained bursts of hard activity.

Rachel gains 'advanced' instructor membership

Rachel has a black belt in taekwondo, a purple belt in kung fu and now an instructor rank in taijiquan.
Please join me in congratulating Rachel!

This morning Rachel received confirmation from the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain to say that they have awarded her an 'advanced' instructor membership.
Their decision is subject to final approval/ratification at the next general meeting.

Qualifying criteria:

- 5 years as assistant instructor
- taijiquan slow form (regular & mirrored)
- sabre form (regular & mirrored)
- 2-person stick form (regular & mirrored)
- staff form (regular & mirrored)
- walking stick form (regular & mirrored)
- jian form (regular & mirrored)
- qigong (various)
- pushing hands (various)
- meditation (various)
- theory & philosophy
- neigong (various)
- stick drills (20)
- broadsword drills (15)
- self defence
- small san sau, silk arms, penetrating defences
- shuai jiao applications
- chin na applications
- form applications
- baguazhang palm changes (form), circle walking, mother palms, 9 palaces etc
- women's self defence (including syllabus design)
- bag work
- floor work
- self-massage (100)
- tao yin
- psoas exercises
- blog
- creating webpages
- administrating class
- registering new starters
- inducting new starters
- preparing the hall for class
- organising social events
- hosting social events

Rachel is currently working to improve her form, neigong, martial skill (kung fu), along with theory & philosophy.

The TCUGB membership means that Rachel can acquire her own insurance if she wanted to teach students/classes independently.

It also means that our students now have the benefit of 2 qualified instructors in the one training hall.

Celebrating the Start of Training Year with moon cake