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It sounds mighty official but basically this is my chance to outline the direction my Taijiquan and therefore the Taijiquan of my students is taking.

Taijiquan is a strange animal as far as training is concerned. There are many attracted to it simply because they saw it on the telly and it looked really relaxing.

Well this is all well and good because it gets people into the training room but let's face it, Taijiquan is not what it appears to be. And as far as the telly is concerned, Taijiquan is slow motion Chinese line dancing.

So many people give up before they start simply because they see Taijiquan being practiced at a high level, albeit very slowly, and then discover that you can't simply 'do it' like that. It takes time to learn the movements and time to get them even close to looking right. It then takes a sod of a long time to actually do the moves so that they feel right, that is, natural to the practitioner.

VVVV So here is how I see things VVVV

Back to Honest Taijiquan

Taijiquan is based upon a martial art.
It was developed as a method for hiding a lethal form of fighting known as 'Haou-Chuan' or 'Loose Boxing.
The reason for this development is a matter for the historians and story tellers and so is of less importance to me than the simply stated fact that to hide a fighting form inside a slow moving form is an act of deception.
It is the deceptive aspects of Taijiquan that are overlooked by many and so I choose to avoid overlooking them myself.
For those who chose to practice Taijiquan as simply a graceful set of movements I have little time.
Think; Taijiquan looks like this because it was meant to hide something else. To go along with the superficial, even to the point of claiming some form of enlightenment by doing so, is to succumb to the deception.
Does anybody who practices Taijiquan "purely for the healing and spiritual qualities" actually know that they are practicing one of the most effective martial arts ever encountered?
I'll answer you now, yes they do. Particularly when they attend my classes. I lose so many students in the first week of attending that it actually saddens me. Not that I can't seem to make Taijiquan appeal to them, nor that my class numbers are low. But that so many people can see only what some prat on the telly tells them and then believes it whole heartedly. When these people meet a student of Taijiquan who tells them that Taijiquan is about fighting then they dismiss the student as a crank or thug of some kind.

I tell people that Taijiquan is the art of getting the best possible result from the least amount of work. They like this idea. I then show them what the movements look like. They like that bit as well. I then tell them that many believe that Taijiquan has healing properties. That also goes down well. So I tell them now that because Taijiquan moves so slowly then the healing aspects are slow to take effect. They all agree that the slow but sure way to health is the only true way to health, but they have lost interest already. I can see it in their faces. Everybody wants a quick and easy fix, I do too but sometimes you have to put in a bit of time.

Those students who I count as regulars are loyal to a fault. They are not all the young "Oh yes I like the idea of hitting somebody like that" brigade. Some of them are really quite pleasant all the time... as far as I can tell. Even the more gung-ho types are actually really nice people. They just find it fascinating that some remarkable things can be done to the human body when you hit it. But none of us particularly wants to try it out.


This is more so with the sword forms which I am only just delving in to. So many of the "just for my health" people like the idea of swinging a sword about and leaping around but shy away from the descriptions of the applications of a movement such as 'Part the Horse's Mane'. It beats the hell out of me that someone can be reticent about the use of an effective unarmed defense/attack strategy that may leave an aggressor immobilize if performed absolutely correctly because it may cause untold 'internal' damage, and be happy about swinging three foot of steel around like a whirling dervish! Like that is not meant to hurt people?

"Oh but it just looks so graceful and ballettic" they cry. And then they have the gall to say they don't like push hands because "that's like competitive and fighting". PUSH HANDS IS A TRAINING EXERCISE IN BALANCE AND SENSITIVITY AND IS NOT MEANT TO BE A COMPETITIVE THING. If all those people who use push hands tournaments to see how well they have developed their 'internal power' tried using that stuff for real they would be in some sorry state I can tell you. The only way to test if ANY martial art works as a self-defense or combative art is to go into your nearest big town at closing time and get into a fight. And good luck to you bud because I'll be damned if I'm going to try that one. There is little a dojo fighter can do against a seasoned street fighter, and the only way you can become good there is to get into a lot of fights. Bugger that for a game of darts I'll tell you.

I'm nearly finished ranting now so remember that Taiji is about self improvement, discipline, and just plain old having a good time. If you want to develop it to a fighting form go ahead. Study it carefully and do your best to avoid the real thing. If you do have to 'use' Taiji, remember to speed it up a bit. It's surprising how many people do say to me 'a martial art, but it's so slow'.

My Views on Training

There are a few things I tell all my students as they begin training and then along the way to becoming genuine students. I'll list them because it's easier that way and help me to order my thoughts.

When you first start Taiji, it should not hurt

Any pain - no gain

Don't try to remember the sequence of movements

If you can remember 1 movement from your first class, do it when you get home

Don't worry if you are doing it wrong

Move with your breathing and you are fine. Qigong is all about following the breath, you could be picking your nose and scratching your arse, as long as you've got the breathing right then you are doing qigong.

Don't try to breathe differently to start with

I will tell you if you are going to hurt yourself and correct you accordingly

If you do get it right in the first 6 years you can have my job

If you get it right in the first 3 sessions I'll retire and never practice again!

Don't ever think you have been training for a year or so. If you train for 1 hour a week you have still only done 48 hours training after holidays and sickness. Think about this and then work our how good you want to be after 2 days training?

I teach for between 16-20 hours a week. if you put in that time you will get better sooner. But only if you don't try to get better, sooner.

It's not a joke, the harder you work, in the early stages, the harder it is.

You have to let go for a while, just let it happen.

When that begins to happen I can begin to guide you.

When I guide, use the guidance as suggestion, not instruction.

Feel how it feels to move this way, then move some more

Test yourself gently

Would the technique work if something was approaching you; a hand or fist?

Think of the attacks as simply arm or leg movements, not as powerful blows

You only have to interrupt or divert the blow, not stop it

If he misses by an inch then it hurts as little as if he misses by a yard

A moving target is hard to hit, but a constantly moving target can be predicted after a while

A moving target will also get tired

In stillness be light and responsive to everything around you

Do not plan your next movement, simply move and move simply

If at first you don't succeed, ask first then try again