Ability is everything in taijiquan

Remember this - martial arts are a meritocracy. Ability is everything. Not knowledge. Not time served. Ability. If you can do it, then you can advance.

Physical skill

Physical skills cannot be acquired without physical training. Solo training is essential.

Partnered training also; which is why we offer workshops and boot camp.

The ideal situation is to make friends with other students and practice together outside of class.

Chinese New Year meal 2019

You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair.
(Zen mondo)

'Spiritual'

The spiritual component of martial arts training encompasses the same goal as meditation. In order to deal with combat skilfully we must take ourselves out of the equation.
Our self-consciousness is a hindrance. We must focus our mind on what is happening right now, rather than on our anxieties, extrapolations or ego. 

"But we want to be rightly educated, sir. What shall we do?"

First of all, see very clearly one simple fact: that neither the government, nor your present teachers, nor your parents, care to educate you rightly; if they did, the world would be entirely different, and there would be no wars. So if you want to be rightly educated, you have to set about it yourself; and when you are grown up, you will then see to it that your own children are rightly educated.

"But how can we rightly educate ourselves? We need someone to teach us."

You have teachers to instruct you in mathematics, in literature, and so on; but education is something deeper and wider than the mere gathering of information. Education is the cultivation of the mind so that action is not self-centred; it is learning throughout life to break down the walls which the mind builds in order to be secure, and from which arises fear with all its complexities. To be rightly educated, you have to study hard and not be lazy. Be good at games, not to beat another, but to amuse yourself. Eat the right food, and keep physically fit. Let the mind be alert and capable of dealing with the problems of life, not as a Hindu, a Communist, or a Christian, but as a human being. To be rightly educated, you have to understand yourself; you have to keep on learning about yourself. When you stop learning, life becomes ugly and sorrowful. Without goodness and love, you are not rightly educated.

(Krishnamurti)

The world used to be, in its various forms, a world of sacred, shining things.

 The shining things now seem far away.

 (Dreyfus & Kelly)

The task of the craftsman is not to generate meaning, but rather to cultivate in himself the skill of discerning meanings that are already there.

 (Dreyfus & Kelly)

The Festival of the Good King Marc