Horse riding squats

Take three deep breaths.

Begin by placing your feet as wide apart as you can comfortably balance. Relax your neck and shoulders.

Place your hands on your waist and slowly bend your knees to drop into a 'horse riding' stance. Aim for squatting as close to the ground as you can. Hold the squat for 1-2 seconds then slowly return to standing straight.

Repeat the squat 20-30 times, or as your strength will allow. It is better and more challenging the more slowly you do this exercise.

Eventually you will build up leg muscles and increase your stamina to the point where you can hold the squat position for ten seconds or more.

Tai chi chuan instructors

A tai chi chuan instructor needs at least 10 years of experience and a serious commitment to home practice.
Martial instructors must show clear evidence of ability in all 8 areas of skill.

An expert has 20 years study and 10,000 hours of practice.

A master should have 30-40 years martial arts experience, with at least 30,000 hours of tai chi practice.
They are capable of teaching other instructors.

A grandmaster must have taught an extensive number of high-level instructors.
They would be in a position of significant responsibility within a school and have influence within the wider tai chi/martial arts community.

Adapt, change & improvise

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.

Sport?

Self defence is not a sport.

In a sport, losing is unfortunate. In real life, losing may mean dying.

Baguazhang

Is it really vegetarian?

A lot of food that may appear suitable for vegetarians actually contains meat or was produced using animal products.
It is necessary to read the label carefully.
Unless the items explicitly says "suitable for vegetarians" or carries a V symbol, avoid it.

Internal attitude

The aim is to train every day.
There is no need push yourself, strain your body or perform high repetitions.
Train gently.

What is needed is presence and mindfulness.
Have your mind on what you are doing and train slowly and carefully.

The Unquestionable Truth

David Fincher directed three excellent films in the 1990's: Seven, The Game and Fight Club. They all questioned the way in which we live and our relationship with those around us. Only a person lacking in compassion could leave the cinema feeling comfortable with their lives.

The films had a significant influence on many people. Limp Bizkit referred to Fight Club in the last two CD's. Their latest release "The Unquestionable Truth" shows a maturing of the sensibilities provoked by Fincher.

http://www.limpbizkit.com

What are boundaries?

Boundaries are limits. How far you can go. What is acceptable. What is not acceptable.

Society is filled with boundaries.
Some are formal and clear, others are informal and unspoken.

Although laws and rules may seem restrictive, studies have found that people like boundaries.
It helps them to know where they stand.
Once the rules have been established, you are free to relax.

Learn from everything

There is a time in the study of all great systems and theories when the student understands the ideas, but experiences them as external to herself; and then there is a time when one internalises the ideas and principles.

They become absorbed into the psyche, a part of one's everyday understanding. When this happens the system begins to grow and expand, as the student applies it to other areas of life.

(Glen Park)

Jeet kune do

Why did Bruce Lee develop jeet kune do?

Bruce Lee had studied wing chun and felt that wing chun did not fully address certain aspects of combat such as grappling, kicking and floor work.
To resolve this, Bruce Lee sought to develop his own martial arts system.

Many modern martial arts focus on certain aspects of combat and neglect other considerations.
Typically, an art is concerned with grappling or striking/kicking.
Broadly speaking, judo, ju jitsu and aikido are grappling arts... whilst karate, wing chun and tae kwon do are striking arts.

Sifu swords

Contrast the colour of Sifu's jian scabbard with the handle?
The rayskin has gone white from years of use.

 

Learning any skill

Learning to drive a car, speak a foreign language or play a musical instrument involves time, patience, practice and expense.
A night school college course requires commitment.
Joining a gym often involves becoming a member.

Gregg

Sorrow

Questioner: My mother has been dead for some years. Quite recently I have lost my father also, and I am full of remorse. My sorrow is not only remorse, but also the feeling of suddenly being left alone. What am I to do? How am I to get over it?

Krishnamurti: If one may ask, do you suffer for your father, or does sorrow arise from having no longer the relationship to which you had grown accustomed?

Questioner: I don't quite understand what you mean.

Krishnamurti: Do you suffer because your father is gone, or because you feel lonely?
You are suffering, surely, not for your father, but because you are lonely, and your sorrow is that which comes from self-pity.

(Krishnamurti)

Commerce

Businesses seek to make money. They accomplish this in many ways.
One method is 'abstraction'.

Instead of handling money with your hands, you are encouraged to use 'electronic' methods of payment:

1. Credit card
2. Debit card
3. Store card
4. Standing order
5. Direct debit
6. Mobile phone contract

These all serve to distance you from the transaction itself.

Common health problems

Students frequently come to class with backache and tight shoulders, or they simply cannot relax.
Our training releases the muscles, calms the nerves and dissipates tension.

No neigong

The way most people do tai chi, it's not a martial art. They could never use it the way they're doing it. Everything's in their hands, they just fill in the rest with fantasy talk.

 

 (Paul Gale) 

Time

To heal, we must commit ourselves to a healthier life.

Every day we waste in idleness is gone forever.
Time will not wait.

Alert

Our classes make people feel more alert.

Students are required to be open to new ideas and explore the material for themselves.
There is the joy of discovery, of finding out for yourself what works.

Self defence training increases your physical and mental awareness; you become more receptive and you notice more.
Your body suddenly seems to be telling you things. This is not new. What's new is that you are listening.