Hello and welcome to this issue of the taichido newsletter.
With the summer and its various holidays over and the
autunm beginning to set in, Gary reflects on what this
means to his tai chi teaching... Eleswhere, tahnks for
all the feedback about the Complete Long Yang Form DVDs,
its really encouraging to see that they are so successful
for those wishing to learn tai chi, and for those who
need a comprehensive reference.
Mark Allen
webmaster taichido.com, taichidoshop.com, editor Taichido
Newsletter
What Did You Do On Your Holiday ?
In the month of July taichido produced no newsletter at
all - and then the August issue was written by Mark. What
excuses do I have for taking this two month break? None
really; I just took a holiday from it! I could cite all
kinds of "rich tapestry of life" stuff to excuse
myself, but they would all be just that - i.e. excuses
and no real reason. Truth is - I took a holiday. That's
quite normal isn't it? Here where we have the phrase "make
hay when the sun shines" and when the hot season
is usually not much more than a month or two of temperatures
above 20 degrees with eternal "scattered showers",
we certainly try to.
This - being busy meeting with students - particularly
at this time of the year surprises me because usually
I have to take an involuntary holiday from teaching about
now anyway because so many are inclined to 'go away' or
'be away' for most of this month. I don't need to keep
records to recognise this. In four years of unbroken experience
this "sunshine slump" is statistically obvious
and equaled only by [what I call] the "Xmas X-out".
[In the UK - mid December till mid January]. I may talk
more about the Xmas X-out when the time comes but as this
is still a season away I'll leave it there for now if
you don't mind. Least to say, most students return from
their Xmas break fatter and more frazzled than when they
left! As a Tai Chi teacher this disappoints me because
I reckon that up to six month worth of training can be
undone in those few weeks of over indulgence.
As far as the summer is concerned, when a student tells
me "I won't be able to come for the next 4 weeks"
I accept "because I am on holiday" as their
only reason. I just wish them well, say "see you
later" and amend my diary accordingly. I don't expect
any more reasons. However; secretly and only as a teacher
of Tai Chi, I am disappointed.
"Falling is the privilege of the tourist".
Most of us save up all year so we can have fun in the
sun at least once a year; to go on holiday and 'let ourselves
go'. If the sun does not shine where we are at the time
we want to do this, we save up more to make sure that
we can afford to to go somewhere that it does. We go on
holiday to let off steam. We go on holiday to relax, or
unwind, or de-stress. Some may go away to sight-see, or
climb mountains, or cling on to the ropes of rubber boat
as it rides the rapids ... but some others would say that
this sounds too much like hard work! Each to their own.
My idea of a holiday is more Tai Chi!
When students return from their holiday I usually ask
"have you been practicing?" or sometimes [depending
upon my first best guess] "did you practice at all?"
- and expect "not much" or "no" as
an answer. I only ask this question so as to ascertain
where (individual) training should resume. If they have
been practicing, we are ready to move on. If they have
not then we must either just go back to where we were
or, more often, further back. Sometimes I think that the
best thing to is to go back to the very beginning! That
is what I think, but it is not what I say or suggest.
If I said that out load it might well be taken as an insult.
It is not. I am just trying to do my job properly!
Going back to the beginning at any time would in fact
be the best thing to do with more students than I dare
to numerate here - including some that don't go any where
but are so distracted or 'stressed out' that they should
not be in a dojo anyway. But then again, my expectations
of students is extremely high and would say that in ten
years of teaching only one person has come anywhere near
the level that I could call dedicated or reliable and
sustained this beyond the need for me to ask "have
you been practicing?" This person that I give anonymous
respect to here now is, by the way, the only person I
know that has been back to the beginning of the Yang Long
Form as many or more times than I have myself.
I guess that my expectations are such because I do not
teach the kind of Tai Chi that can be done as a hobby.
I teach it with the assumption that it will become a way
of life.
In an attempt of expressing this in practical terms I
would say that one of the main features of the Tai Chi
that I teach is that it is an excellent preventative practice.
From personal experience I would say that its creativity
alchemy certainly works, however, if only in gratitude
and respect for this Art that is sometimes over-hyped
as a miracle cure, it remains my duty to say with all
sincerity and respect that it is not a quick fix.
There are all kinds of therapy available for the easing
of aches and pains and the fixing of various broken bits
but the regular practice of Tai Chi goes beyond this and
aids the prevention of such ailments in the first place.
This is not to say (again) that it is not also an excellent
curative - but even as a perponent I would say that the
slow and steady nature of its therapy, the self discipline
- and the necessity of some understanding of the technicalities
of its self application is not instant enough for those
that turn to it as an alternative, or in desperation.
Western medicine is what these westerners/people usually
need.
The Yang Long Form. Guess what? It's Long!
My teacher frequently stated that the classic way of learning
the Yang Long Form is to first learn it one way round
- i.e. right handed. I liken this to learning to play
the piano or how to drive a car. If you are left handed
- tough! You learn to drive a car or play the piano on/in
one built that way round. So just like that, everyone
learns to do tai chi the same way round. For the sake
of this discussion I shall have to call this the 'right
handed' model.
But learning to do this way is by no means the end of
learning Form. Its not even the middle because, classically,
one should then next learn to proficiently perform it
from first move to last ... left handed (or, the other
way round). Now, having learnt this ... this might be
called half way through the initial learning process because
next one should learn to perform it proficiently - from
the last posture to the first. And then, the home stretch
of the initial learning process and one should learn to
proficiently perform it from last posture to first - left
handed! In all, this process can takes about eight years.
In fact, I can personally verify that it does ... take
that long.
This then is the 'classic' process to learn and then become
intimately familiar with Tai Chi Form.
Note: Form; nothing else, just Form. Not how to be faster
than a speeding bullet or how to leap tall buildings with
a single bound. Just Tai Chi Form.
My relationship with any individual student needs to have
matured over abut three years before I introduce them
to push hands techniques; and only after about 5 to 8
years will I engage in true Chuan application or practice..
Even then, I would not do this until we have studied break
falls, ground cover position and other techniques more
normally associated with the harder arts such a Jodo.
To conclude this months issue of the taichido newsletter
I would like to share with you three contrasting emails
that have, each in their own way, left me with nothing
to say in reply. The first one passed on some idiosynchratic
and very useful insights, the second because if I did
so I could only disagree to; so chose to not do that,
and the third reinforces Mark's text about the positive
feedback coming out from the DVDs
Greetings from New York State.....
I just stumbled upon your site while surfing-with-Google.
It is refreshing to find a TCC site that isn't a "me-me-I'm-the-greatest-Sifu-in-the-world".
Having just barely made it through two years of intense
learning of Yang Short Form (with Qigong and some Push-hands)
with a rather competent teacher, and two years of just hanging
by myself with no teacher...I am now searching for a teacher
that fits in with what I perceive your philosophy to be.
A very good question would be..."Why did I leave him?".
Read on...
Most of this local area's teachers go with the flow and
tend to teach the martial side of TCC to draw more pupils
(there is a different connotation in the use of the word
"student") to their schools. This also included
the local Buddhist monastery (a real one I might add...this
one actually boasts that it is the home of the largest statue
of Buddha in North America). While you probably cannot direct
me to a teacher with the same outlook as yours, I just wanted
to email you to tell you how much I enjoyed reading your
BLOG. I like your philosophy.
I have enjoyed learning TCC, but not the martial overtones.
But, I do understand the origins and the tie-ins. I have
found it relaxing, therapeutic and very contemplative. It
keeps the aches and pains of old-age down to a bare minimum.
Also, self-learning of a new style, once one "knows"
another style, is not a bad thing when one does not have
a teacher one can blend with. I guess that until I can find
the closest blend I will have to stick to the DVD's.....maybe
even yours.
Regards,
Elliott "E.T." Terman [I would believe that the
BLOG he refers to is the NLARCHIVE]
The second email that I share with you now is another
thing all together, and could generate some discussion:
Country United States. Comments:
wonderful site, but the movements are not seemingly real
taijiquan movements. They seem more like 'Granny Tai chi'
than the tai chi that i have been taught. Of course, i
do realize not a lot of people are wanting to pratice
a martial art for self defence, rather they just want
the health benifits (which isn't a bad thing). However,
it would be nice to see a website like this preserve the
origional essence of Taijiquan. What i mean by this is,
13 techniques/forms (do we really need 100+ movements?
:s), Push hands, and Qigong (nei gong qigong - wei dan
qigong can be done simulatniously while praticing the
13 forms). Over all, i like the site though :)
I do end now on a happy note and share with you one last
email that I could only reply to with a "gee thanks"!
Dear Gary and Mark
I would like to thank you for your excellent 3 disc DVD.
As a triathlete (swim, run, cycle), and tap dancer I was
told some years ago that Tai Chi was a great contrasting
complementary excercise to the very aerobic stuff I do
regularly. I bought a book and video at that time (five
years ago) but didn't have much success and ended up doing
a Canadian airforce (FBX Plan) set of strengthening excercises
instead.
Living as I do in a small village it is difficult to get
to classes that fit in with my life so when a keep fit
teacher started "an introduction to Tai Chi"
in our local village hall I went along and have been doing
the 18 Form Chi Kung for 2 months and enjoying that immensely.
This led me to research via the internet and your wonderful
website which has kept me occupied for weeks now and I
still haven't read it all. Sadly the class that started
so well is already in danger of folding due to lack of
support.
The DVD arrived through the post at 6.30am this morning
and by 9.00am I had "grasped the sparrows tail"
left and right and really felt as though I was doing it
properly through your clever use of varying shots of front,
back, hands and feet. I really feel I can now at last
learn the Tai Chi that I've been wanting to do for so
long.
p.s. If its any use to anyone I position a mirror in front
of the T.V and practice to the reflection as I would in
a dance class. It helps enormously to get it right. Yours,
...
Gary 14th-20th Sept 05.
