Charlie

Choice

Not many students will get to be lineage students.
It is not a matter of playing favourites. It is a question of priorities and commitment.
Ultimately, the choice lies with the student.

The keenest students will be asked if they are willing to make the commitment to learn everything the instructor has to offer.
Are they prepared to work harder than any other student?
Are they willing to be pushed harder than any other student?

Question to Sifu Waller re syllabus

Question: Why do most tai chi schools not have a syllabus as such?

Answer: Usually a martial arts school has a clearly defined scheme of work, grades, levels, assessment etc. However, most tai chi classes are not martial classes. The teachers would not know how to systematically teach the combat skills.

Tea ceremony

Taking private lessons and/or training with a instructor for many years does not make you a lineage student.
An indoor student is allowed inside the private centre of the instructor's art.
A formal, public pledge is required, along with a gift symbolising your commitment to look after your instructor's wellbeing.

Traditionally, a tea ceremony takes place in which the lineage candidate(s) makes a public declaration of their intent.
The instructor accepts the student(s).
Photographs may or may not be taken, and the student may be given a lineage chart showing how the art has been passed on.

The Inner Warrior

Damian

Steve

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.

Expert

Being a taijiquan expert is more than just talent. You need to put in the work.

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 taijiquan, dancing or playing the piano.

Personal trainer?

Your teacher is not a personal trainer. They are not in 'the service industry'.
They are not obligated to please you or give you what you ask for.

Tai chi cannot be taught piecemeal.
You cannot pick and choose how and what to study.

If a martial arts teacher had to choose between bowing to the demands of the consumer marketplace or closing their school to the public, many would close their school.
Teaching hand-picked students is better than diluting the art.

Passing your green belt...

The green belt is the first grade in the intermediate syllabus.
It is an easy grade to pass.

Washed away

Footprints in the sand provide the illusion of permanence. Yet the tide always washes them away - as though they never existed at all.

Gravestones mark the burial ground of those who were. And in the centuries to come, what will they mean? Who will remember or mourn the passing of so many?

We are like impressions in the sand, and no matter what our contribution, the world will forget us once we are washed away.

Qigong & form

Qigong and form in particular need to be accurate in order for you to complete the beginners syllabus.

Alignment and structure are key features of tai chi.

Alcohol

Many alcoholic drinks are not suitable for vegetarians.
Check the label.

Feedback

Your web site...

 Beautiful and truth seeking, a joy to read. Thank you.

 (Sue and David)

Brian

Business address

Newcastle Tai Chi
St Andrew's Church
Station Road
Benton
NE12 8AW
0750 3604568
http://www.newcastletaichi.co.uk
newcastletaichi@hotmail.com

Common misconceptions

Beginners seldom express wardoff internally.

Most students manifest the physical shape of wardoff without the internal energetic quality that makes it a jing.

Common misconceptions:

1. stiff block
   - fundamental error in perception
   
2. immovable
   - yielding is paramount. Without it, there is no taijiquan
   - strength vs strength is not taijiquan
   
3. tension used rather than connection/groundpath
   - beginners-level error
   
4. rigid legs, only turning hips
   - external attitude
   - stance too low
   
5. not using bow stance
   - posture lacks 5 bows
   
6. use of arms and shoulders
   - unite upper & lower timing sequence lacking
   - wardoff is not being produced by spiralling & rippling
   - power must rise up from the ground

You hide your skills well...

Your taijiquan skills cannot be hidden from others, for they should be part of your everyday movement, your everyday being.

We walk, and our religion is shown (even to the dullest and most insensitive person) in how we walk. Or to put it more accurately, living in this world means choosing, choosing to walk, and the way we choose to walk is infallibly and perfectly expressed in the walk itself. Nothing can disguise it. The walk of an ordinary man and of an enlightened man are as different as that of a snake and a giraffe.

(R H Blyth)

If your internal skills are not evident when you work with other people, you should question whether they exist at all. The absolute necessity of partner work is irrefutable. Partner work separates those who practice taijiquan from those who do not.

The necessary balance

A taijiquan student needs to concentrate in some respects, and be unselfconscious in other regards.

Both facets of this requirement are addressed through the act of playfulness.