The facism of force...
Tai chi is about feeling the flow. Going with the grain, not against it. Naturalness. Smoothness. Receptivity. Ease.
You need to be in touch with these things. If your urge is to tense-up; physically, mentally, emotionally - then you should not teach anyone anything. You need to work on yourself more.
Forcing is just not tai chi. In fact, it is as far removed from tai chi as you can get.
There is a danger in believing yourself to be calm, relaxed, open and composed. But are you? How do you respond to pressure, to crisis? Does being thwarted cripple you? Tai chi students commonly imagine themselves balanced only to lock-up horrendously when surprised. Force is not the way...
Working on yourself is where you should begin and where you should end. Gain the knowledge, the experience, the skills, but also go further and make sure that you are balanced and in tune. Get third-party assessment. Listen to people. Learn not to take life too seriously. Or yourself. Especially not yourself.
Friday
Composure
One outcome of tai chi is composure. Many people try to fake composure but the phoniness is manifested through their brittleness, fear and physical tension.
Real composure comes from being detached and a little laid back about life.
You stop taking things quite so seriously, especially yourself.
Being emotionally honest with yourself is crucial. You should not suppress or pretend.
Feel whatever emotion comes your way and if it is adverse, contemplate the cause.
Dig deep and find out the source of your upset. Work to remedy the problem if you can.
Real composure comes from being detached and a little laid back about life.
You stop taking things quite so seriously, especially yourself.
Being emotionally honest with yourself is crucial. You should not suppress or pretend.
Feel whatever emotion comes your way and if it is adverse, contemplate the cause.
Dig deep and find out the source of your upset. Work to remedy the problem if you can.
Thursday
I can't get a handle on tai chi
Why do you expect to?
The beginners syllabus is an introduction to tai chi. You are not expected to understand it straight away. Understanding takes time.
People often try to understand tai chi in terms of something else: boxing, judo, karate, wing chun. This is like considering Paul in terms of Peter.
A beginner initially lacks context. As they practice, the pieces slowly come together and the art makes sense.
The beginners syllabus is an introduction to tai chi. You are not expected to understand it straight away. Understanding takes time.
People often try to understand tai chi in terms of something else: boxing, judo, karate, wing chun. This is like considering Paul in terms of Peter.
A beginner initially lacks context. As they practice, the pieces slowly come together and the art makes sense.
Wednesday
New footage
We are experimenting with using a new camera for video footage.
This was our first attempt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMdLXwlaIqw
This was our first attempt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMdLXwlaIqw
Advanced-level (at last)
To Peter Southwood for a very nice card and an extremely generous gift of a fancy changshan.
Peter put the icing on the cake by giving feedback on Sifu's latest assessment and pronouncing him to be 'advanced'. What a wonderful wedding gift!
Sifu is more excited about the wedding than being officially 'advanced' and hasn't made any formal announcement to the class just yet.
After 20 years of tai chi chuan and baguazhang practice this is a long-overdue acknowledgement from a very difficult teacher to learn from.
After 20 years of tai chi chuan and baguazhang practice this is a long-overdue acknowledgement from a very difficult teacher to learn from.
Waist leads
Your waist must lead initially.
Once this is comfortable, work for a whole-body action such that the movements come from the feet, right through to the fingertips.
You must work at stretching out your tendons and ligaments, reaching further without strain.
Be careful not to lift the sternum.
Eventually, you lead from the centre, which is an experienced-level skill.
Once this is comfortable, work for a whole-body action such that the movements come from the feet, right through to the fingertips.
You must work at stretching out your tendons and ligaments, reaching further without strain.
Be careful not to lift the sternum.
Eventually, you lead from the centre, which is an experienced-level skill.
Tuesday
Wear & tear
A 40 year old has accumulated a lifetime of bad physical habits. The joints are often over-worked. The body is unbalanced. A person stoops or slouches. This is common. The internal arts work to improve your awareness, so that you can start to correct bad habits of body usage. The material gently re-trains your body to move differently, to use less strength, to rely upon the physics. There is consequently less wear and tear.
Passing judgement
When a person passes judgement without criteria, they reveal a certain ignorance and arrogance.
They assume to know.
This is like the notion of 'mastery'.
The word 'master' suggests an end, a conclusion. But is there such a condition? Surely all students of tai chi are evolving.
If you are not growing and changing, you become stagnant and stale.
Taoism and zen recognise the significance of process. Everything is changing.
There is no still point, no end.
How we see things is changing as we change.
Are your current thoughts and beliefs the same ones you held as a toddler/a young child?
Surely not.
Everything is provisional. Existence is protean.
They assume to know.
This is like the notion of 'mastery'.
The word 'master' suggests an end, a conclusion. But is there such a condition? Surely all students of tai chi are evolving.
If you are not growing and changing, you become stagnant and stale.
Taoism and zen recognise the significance of process. Everything is changing.
There is no still point, no end.
How we see things is changing as we change.
Are your current thoughts and beliefs the same ones you held as a toddler/a young child?
Surely not.
Everything is provisional. Existence is protean.
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Monday
Illusion
Modern society reveres beauty; it values aesthetics over substance and has a very narrow definition of what it considers beautiful.
In terms of people, the aesthetic appears to be that of a television celebrity teenager: wrinkle-free, smooth-skinned, pubescent body and straight hair.
Television uses make-up and lighting, as do magazine photographers.
What you see is not real.
Adults actually turn to the butchery of cosmetic surgery in the hope of looking like a teenager again.
There is a danger in believing illusions and attempting to re-shape your looks to fit them.
In terms of people, the aesthetic appears to be that of a television celebrity teenager: wrinkle-free, smooth-skinned, pubescent body and straight hair.
Television uses make-up and lighting, as do magazine photographers.
What you see is not real.
Adults actually turn to the butchery of cosmetic surgery in the hope of looking like a teenager again.
There is a danger in believing illusions and attempting to re-shape your looks to fit them.
Sunday
Becoming a teacher #7
Teaching experience is vital.
Knowing your material is not enough. Helping others encourages you to see the art in a very different way. Practicing is one thing. Explaining is another. It makes you re-consider the art and how it operates.
If a student with no teaching experience in class suddenly sought to be a teacher, I'd seriously question their motives. What makes them convinced that they have something to teach? Also, with no demonstration of a helping nature, what makes them imagine themselves capable or willing? It is a little naive.
A good student teacher has fun teaching. There is humour, rapport, skill present at all times. They know how to adapt, change and improvise. How to turn things on their head.
Knowing your material is not enough. Helping others encourages you to see the art in a very different way. Practicing is one thing. Explaining is another. It makes you re-consider the art and how it operates.
If a student with no teaching experience in class suddenly sought to be a teacher, I'd seriously question their motives. What makes them convinced that they have something to teach? Also, with no demonstration of a helping nature, what makes them imagine themselves capable or willing? It is a little naive.
A good student teacher has fun teaching. There is humour, rapport, skill present at all times. They know how to adapt, change and improvise. How to turn things on their head.
In touch
Saturday
Trainee instructors (2)
My school does offer instructor training...
However, many would-be instructors have something in mind that requires a shorter-term commitment.
Herein lies the problem.
Are the prospective instructors already skilled at tai chi?
If they cannot do it themselves, how do they expect to teach it?
To teach, you must have experience.
And experience takes time.
To perform tai chi skilfully requires decades of training and ongoing corrections and development.
It is not akin to keep fit or yoga.
At its heart it is a Chinese martial art, and even if your intention is 'health', a thorough grounding in the principles of the art are necessary.
Popular culture gives the impression that people can qualify to be a tai chi instructor in 2 years or so.
This is ridiculous. And unethical.
How long does it take to learn how to play the piano, to dance, to pass a degree?
A person may learn how to drive a car in a matter of months, but are they then a driving instructor also?
To teach, you must possess the skills.
Possessing the skills demands time and daily practice.
Attempting a shortcut is unethical, ill advised and dangerous.
Who will insure you?
If someone is injured because of poor quality tuition, you may be liable for malpractice.
However, many would-be instructors have something in mind that requires a shorter-term commitment.
Herein lies the problem.
Are the prospective instructors already skilled at tai chi?
If they cannot do it themselves, how do they expect to teach it?
To teach, you must have experience.
And experience takes time.
To perform tai chi skilfully requires decades of training and ongoing corrections and development.
It is not akin to keep fit or yoga.
At its heart it is a Chinese martial art, and even if your intention is 'health', a thorough grounding in the principles of the art are necessary.
Popular culture gives the impression that people can qualify to be a tai chi instructor in 2 years or so.
This is ridiculous. And unethical.
How long does it take to learn how to play the piano, to dance, to pass a degree?
A person may learn how to drive a car in a matter of months, but are they then a driving instructor also?
To teach, you must possess the skills.
Possessing the skills demands time and daily practice.
Attempting a shortcut is unethical, ill advised and dangerous.
Who will insure you?
If someone is injured because of poor quality tuition, you may be liable for malpractice.
Friday
Trainee instructors
I got an e-mail today from a healthcare professional wanting to train their staff to be tai chi instructors...
At first glance such a request may sound reasonable, until you consider one essential point: to teach a subject, you must know the subject thoroughly and comprehensively. And this takes time.
Until you can do tai chi to a high standard yourself, you are not fit to teach. In fact, you have nothing to teach. Passing on bad habits, misconceptions and mistakes is unwise. Only experience can prevent this from happening.
There is more to tai chi than can be learned in a short course. It is an ongoing endeavour. To become good you must make a deep investment. To become a instructor you must be good at tai chi, be capable of teaching people, and have rapport with people.
At first glance such a request may sound reasonable, until you consider one essential point: to teach a subject, you must know the subject thoroughly and comprehensively. And this takes time.
Until you can do tai chi to a high standard yourself, you are not fit to teach. In fact, you have nothing to teach. Passing on bad habits, misconceptions and mistakes is unwise. Only experience can prevent this from happening.
There is more to tai chi than can be learned in a short course. It is an ongoing endeavour. To become good you must make a deep investment. To become a instructor you must be good at tai chi, be capable of teaching people, and have rapport with people.
Gratification
We are also inclined toward things that please us and away from things that do not.
This is called gratification.
Yet, there is great danger in dismissing things on the basis of gratification.
Not everything in life is there to please us.
Indeed, much of existence is not about us and has no bearing on us.
We are not the centre of the universe.
Embracing the unknown inevitably means doing things that are not necessarily pleasurable.
This is like drinking green tea.
The taste is bitter and unpleasant, but you drink anyway, and eventually the bitterness no longer concerns you.
This is called gratification.
Yet, there is great danger in dismissing things on the basis of gratification.
Not everything in life is there to please us.
Indeed, much of existence is not about us and has no bearing on us.
We are not the centre of the universe.
Embracing the unknown inevitably means doing things that are not necessarily pleasurable.
This is like drinking green tea.
The taste is bitter and unpleasant, but you drink anyway, and eventually the bitterness no longer concerns you.
Be nice
This is a good rule to live by: if you don't have anything pleasant to say, don't say it. Think about it...
If you watch the old black and white movie Harvey, you appreciate the value of just being nice to people. Being nice is a lovely alternative to the bitterness we so commonly encounter in our culture.
You may even find that you enjoy it...
If you watch the old black and white movie Harvey, you appreciate the value of just being nice to people. Being nice is a lovely alternative to the bitterness we so commonly encounter in our culture.
You may even find that you enjoy it...
Thursday
How you are
Often our perception of things says more about ourselves than the subject of our assessment.
A person passes comment, and in so doing reveals the inner workings of their mind.
How we see things and what we take the information to mean will vary from person to person.
In truth, we do not see things as they are, but as we are.
Our perceptions are coloured by our upbringing, our education, our memories, our bias, our opinions, our culture, our desires and expectations.
A person passes comment, and in so doing reveals the inner workings of their mind.
How we see things and what we take the information to mean will vary from person to person.
In truth, we do not see things as they are, but as we are.
Our perceptions are coloured by our upbringing, our education, our memories, our bias, our opinions, our culture, our desires and expectations.
Business address
Newcastle Tai Chi
St Andrew's Church
Station Road
Benton
NE12 8AW
0750 3604568
http://www.newcastletaichi.co.uk
newcastletaichi@hotmail.com
St Andrew's Church
Station Road
Benton
NE12 8AW
0750 3604568
http://www.newcastletaichi.co.uk
newcastletaichi@hotmail.com
Wednesday
Assessment
A new starter watches the tai chi in class and remarks upon the quality of the material.
A reasonable reply might be: "How can you tell?"
This simple question is extremely penetrating.
On what basis is the new starter assessing the tai chi performance?
How are they measuring the skill?
What criteria are being applied?
Which qualities do they consider to be valuable?
A reasonable reply might be: "How can you tell?"
This simple question is extremely penetrating.
On what basis is the new starter assessing the tai chi performance?
How are they measuring the skill?
What criteria are being applied?
Which qualities do they consider to be valuable?
Tuesday
Not doing
Our lives are enmeshed in activity. We are relentlessly doing. Incessantly active.At every moment we are caught up in cogitation. Choosing, judging, assessing, predicting.
Yet, instead of selecting this or that option, we can simply be.
There is no need to look, to seek, to actively do anything. We can simply remain calm and do nothing.
We do not try to change the situation into something else, or accomplish anything.
Instead of doing, we stop doing. We come to a halt. At this point, we are relaxing.
Yet, instead of selecting this or that option, we can simply be.
There is no need to look, to seek, to actively do anything. We can simply remain calm and do nothing.
We do not try to change the situation into something else, or accomplish anything.
Instead of doing, we stop doing. We come to a halt. At this point, we are relaxing.
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