Not all violence is physical or overt. People are often extremely violent without realising it.
Violence can take many forms.
Harsh, unkind words. Derisive laughter. Sarcasm. Mockery. Insults. Emotional hostility. Aggression.
Pushing, forcing, controlling, manipulating.

Many people use violence in a sneaky, underhand way. Through gossip, malignant words, innuendo.
Our culture is far from being non-violent.

Most of the training in class is playful. We yield to force and have consideration for one another.
Nobody wants to be injured; they just want to have fun.
When you become accustomed to approaching violence playfully, you learn to avoid it.
There are usually alternatives to violence. If you can avoid conflict, step aside.

Humour helps to relax your emotions.
Kung fu asks you to let-go of pride and dignity; to treat these concepts as simply ideas.

Violence causes chemical imbalances within the body, stiffens musculature and locks the joints.
When you play, fear dissipates and your heart becomes light.

Try this approach outside of class.

Being restrained is not what some martial artists have in mind when they consider self defence.
This only demonstrates an immaturity of character.
Once they become capable of crippling or killing somebody with their hands, why would they want to?
And that is the whole point.

When your intention is tempered by restraint, you use the kung fu carefully.  

When learning a martial art it is crucial to remember that combat can be dangerous.
There is a risk of injury.
This is why discipline is important in class:

1. Keep your mind on what you are doing
2. Be playful, not macho
3. Respect your practice partner
4. Warm-up thoroughly
5. Stay loose and relaxed
6. Train at home between lessons
7. Prepare your body for combat

Most of your combat training in our school will not involve sets.
We prefer our students to experience a wide range of spontaneous attacks from solo and multiple attackers, armed and unarmed.

Sets are a learning tool and can be very useful, but they are not random enough for self defence.
Melee combat tests the individual's ability to respond under pressure.

How do we cope with an assailant without being violent?
That is a very good question.

Striking and chin na can undoubtedly cause serious damage to an assailant.
Yet, would that be your intention?

A kung fu person seeks to avoid confrontation and would only use their kung fu reluctantly.

You do only what is necessary to escape the situation.
Although the effect of your kung fu will indeed be violent, your disposition should remain composed and compassionate.
At no point would you become angry and deliberately hurt the assailant.

A great mountain can collapse at your feet and you need not change countenance.
(Cheng Man Ching)

Expert students learn to take the sets apart and gain a comprehensive understanding of the biomechanics involved.
They can also make connections and associations between patterns, themes and form movements.
Hidden applications become apparent.

Every combat set contains countless chin na, shuai jiao and variations on a movement.
A skilled student can easily recognise viable follow-ups and explore these.

At this stage, the combat set pervades the student's consciousness and can be used readily in self defence.

Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam: Put your hand in the box. I hold at your neck the gom jabbar. This one kills only animals.
Paul Atreides: Are you suggesting a duke's son is an animal?
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam: Let us say I suggest you may be human. Your awareness may be powerful enough to control your instincts. Your instinct will be to remove your hand from the box. If you do so, you die.
(Dune)

This quote from the movie Dune highlights a major consideration in the internal arts: composure.
Composure enables a person to handle stress and crisis.

We are not interested in triggering our fight or flight response.
It may have certain advantages but it can also be a serious impediment.

The aim is to remain calm, composed and present...

The primal part of you is the base animal instinct, the 'fight-or-flight' reflex. 
When we are in real danger, the psoas muscle contracts and the back is forced to bend forwards.
This posture is a fear reflex which protects the soft parts of the body from harm. 

Unfortunately, it also freezes the entire body. In kung fu we need to stay relaxed.

Humans are violent because other people conflict with their desires.
Sometimes they are simply bored.
This is very different to 'nature violence'.

In nature, violence is not the consequence of boredom or petulance.
Survival prompts the violence, rather than thought.

How do you know if you are doing it correctly?

It works.
It feels easy.
It is very effective.
The attacker should be incapable of mounting an effective counter-attack.

People follow conventions because they are familiar. They see no need to 're-invent the wheel'.
However, not everything we have in modern society is viable.
Look around you.

The legal system, education, politics... does any of it really work? Be honest.
Computers are useful. But are they really all that good? Have we achieved the paperless office?
Do they really save us any time?

There may be an accepted way of doing things, but that is not the only way.
If you are smart, you will consider the nature, character, purpose, essence of what you are undertaking.
You will re-assess its validity.
Explore options, variables, alternatives. Adapt, change, improvise.
Take nothing for granted. Re-invent the wheel. Only this time, improve it.

Valentine's Day

Many aspects of modern life are warped.
The original meaning and purpose has been lost and only a parody remains.
People merely 'go through the motions' and the sincerity is forgotten...

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is for boring people who have no imagination.

Instead of making your day-to-day relationship fun and vibrant, you go through the motions once a year with a meal, flowers, a teddy bear and chocolate.
Yawn...

Is this truly how much you think of your loved one?
You are only prepared to show them token affection?

Our lives are based on certain assumptions. We take things for granted without proof. We treat things as a given.
Ideas such as 'religion' and 'monarchy' are widely accepted. And unchallenged.

There is a certain arrogance implicit within an assumption; the idea is treated as reality, regardless of fact.
People often believe that they have a right to do things a certain way. They assume authority.

They sometimes think that their way is the only way to do things.
Consider 'Windows' on your computer...
There are different ways to open and close a window. Different ways to save data.
Each of these methods is equally valid.
We cannot assert that there is just one correct approach. We would be incorrect to make such an assumption.

A tradition involves the passing-down of information from one generation to the next.
The knowledge is treated as a time-honoured, unchanging standard. 
With kung fu, people have passed-down the art for centuries. But it has not remained static.
To a certain extent, it has evolved with the times.

Is this a bad thing?

Consider: if a 21st Century person was given a 16th Century martial art, would it have any real world value?
If you are honest, some aspects of the art would still be viable, but other material may be hopelessly antiquated.

Combat sets require the student to apply tai chi skills effectively.
You cannot simply use force and expect success.

The sets are ruthless in their ability to expose faults in your practice.
Only by adhering to their lessons and requirements can the student apply tai chi correctly in combat.

Yes, people are roughed up a little. People are struck. People are taken to the floor.
Martial arts cannot be practiced without physical contact taking place.
Yet, no one takes offence. No one bullies. And no one is embarrassed, hurt or made to feel useless.

The mood of the class is one of fun and exploration.

Instead of strutting around pretending to be Bruce Lee, our students are like scientists; amazed by how the art enables them to evade and counter with such seeming ease.

The simplicity and the wider implications of the kung fu cause wonder, not fear.

Students should appreciate their true relationship with tai chi.
The art is manifested by you.
Hence, the quality of the art is your responsibility.

You cannot expect amazing skills when your body has not been trained, conditioned and honed.
Only you can do the work.
We offer the material and the practice partners, but you must make the effort.

How can the tai chi be anything other than what you make it?

You cannot force progress in kung fu. To even try is self-defeating. 
Remember what you can. Practice as little or as often as you want to. Decide for yourself.
Let it unfold as it will.

Give up trying to master anything. Drop the images and fantasies you harbour.
Perfection is a condition of untouched naturalness. 
It cannot be achieved through any form of trying or doing. 
Let-go of your ambitions and relax.

Students are taught according to their ability to understand.

If the advanced level of practice were offered to a student of a lesser grade, it would be entirely meaningless and confusing.
The student lacks the cognitive skills and the physical awareness and sensitivity to understand what they are being shown.

Therefore, students are shown what is necessary. They are offered a pared-down, crude outline of the real thing.
As the student proceeds through the grades, they unlearn, dismantle, reconsider...
The material slowly becomes more accurate and internal.

The danger lies in quitting at any point during this learning process, for the student leaves with what they have learned to date and mistakenly believes this to be the end product,

We were working on the psoas muscle around 2005 after my Pilates teacher had introduced me to the work of Liz Koch.
It had a passing relevance to the kung fu but was overall just something of interest rather than a key element.

Years later, I was told that an ex-student (a beginner) of that time was now teaching tai chi and that his website predominantly mentioned psoas and Liz Koch.

There is an Indian folk tale about six blind men inspecting an elephant:

The first man encounters the side of the animal and believes it to be a wall.
The second man imagines the tusk to be a spear.
The third man thinks that the trunk is a snake.
The fourth man considers the leg to be a tree.
The fifth man feels an ear and believes it to be a fan.
The sixth man finds the tail and is certain it is a rope.

This ex-student appears to have based his understanding of tai chi on those few lessons from 2005.
Unfortunately, he still thinks that the tusk is a spear and does not yet see the elephant.

What is pain? Surely pain is a warning. Pain is your body suffering damage.
In kung fu you do not ignore your body and impose force.
If you are in pain, you are doing something incorrectly.

If you damage your body through exercise, you may have to live with it for the rest of your life.

The slogan 'no pain, no gain' is often used in conjunction with exercise.
Being healthy sounds like an ordeal.
But not everybody wants to sweat and strain their way to fitness.

A beginner must set aside conceit, competition and violence.
You focus upon play. You lighten-up. You realise that the class is a fun place to be.
You cease to be fearful and uptight. You begin to let-go and relax. You start to behave more like yourself.

This process of letting-go usually takes people a few weeks. 

We believe that self defence should be taught in an environment of fun and mutual respect.
People are more likely to be laughing than wincing in pain. They are too busy enjoying the cleverness of taoism and kung fu.

Nobody is paying to get beaten up. 

Why does somebody undertake a long-distance instructor course?

This is a hard one to answer because none of the answers really make any sense.
The most obvious answers are not very flattering:

1. Lazy
2. Stupid
3. Ignorant
4. Arrogant
5. No discipline
6. No credibility
7. No self-respect
8. Lacks the necessary competence
9. Likes the idea of being a tai chi instructor
10. Incapable of completing a genuine 'real world' instructor course in a known school

The sad part is that there are organisations out there profiteering from tai chi deadbeats.
This is why tai chi has no credibility in the 21st Century martial arts world.

Beginners treat tai chi and baguazhang like external systems and rely upon deeply bent knees and exaggerated stances for power.
Their seeming root is accomplished through physicality not energy.
The jing of 'root' is created by mind, by energy, not-doing, by allowing - not by squatting.

If a student is failing, then demotion is a sensible option.

Usually, moving to a lower grade serves to remove any pressure from the student and provides an opportunity to work on the appropriate material.

The student may resist the demotion; but this is not constructive.

It can be easy to fall into external habits of doing.
i.e. physically dropping the body... instead of mentally dropping, and making only a slight physical action.

A common habit is the degree of arm extension.
70% maximum reach must be considered at all times.
Exaggeration occurs when the student fails to relax the sternum, rear knee and elbows.

Long stances look exotic on magazine covers, but the human body gains its power vertically, not horizontally.

Should you be re-assessed?

Ask yourself the following:

1. Have you missed a lot of classes?
2. What was your last assessment like?
3. Did you fail to move up a belt last time you were graded?
4. Do you dread the next grading?
5. Are you training at home?
6. Is the quality of your kung fu not as good as it should be for your current grade?
7. How good are you at the fundamentals?
8. Is your training sloppy?
9. Are you having problems at home or at work?

There is no shame in being honest with yourself. It is easy to remove any pressure you may currently feel.

The highest level of tai chi practice is high stance and small circle. In high stance and small circle you can conserve your energy to a maximum level. This is very crucial in battle. Endurance has always been the crucial key to survival in a long battle. Moreover, due to high stance and smaller posture you can reach to the deepest relaxed stage, the mind is highly concentrated, and the sensitivity and alertness can be extremely sharp.

(Yang Jwing-Ming) 

Training the material you should be training will give you a sense of ease.
If you are failing to maintain your grade, move back a grade.

Instead of feeling pressured and out of your depth, you will feel relaxed and comfortable.
You will be free to work at your own pace. To do things in your own time.

It is important for each student to recognise that you are only as good as the skills you can manifest.

If you wear a black belt but have the skills of a yellow belt, then you are only a yellow belt.
The belt itself is a piece of fabric.
Your skills (or lack of) speak for themselves.

Less effort, more effect...

Every tai chi student must work to reduce the size of their circle.
It is martially imperative for your movements to be small.

You must move without alerting the attacker's nervous system.
Like a shadow. Like a thought.

By balancing frame size, relationship with the opponent and intent, a student can ensure that they employ the optimal framework.
Every movement produces a more significant effect.

The external movement decreases as the internal work increases.
Neigong and intent enable greater effect with markedly less effort.

Instead of sweeping arcs, the student uses twisting, coiling, spiralling action to generate internal pressure in the soft tissues of the body.
These are movements-within-movements.
Smooth, fluid, small, hidden, unnoticed. 

Fixing a problem:

Begin by stopping what you are doing or thinking.
Then, look at your training dispassionately; without ego, pride, vanity or defensiveness.
Recognise the need to address the problem.

If the instructor speaks to you about the diminished quality of your practice, it is important to be honest.
Self-deception is pointless.
Your instructor would not be talking to you if you were not experiencing problems...

Pretending that things are ok (when they are not ok) is foolish.

What matters in a martial art is the effect of your movements.

If you claim to be expressing force yet your partner is physically unmoved by your action, you are expressing nothing.
Your opponent's experience of the kinetic energy you manifest is known as 'jing'.

This is not to be confused with 'li' - hard, skeletal, muscular force.

Tai chi was designed to make your body an effective conduit for the use of kinetic energy.
If your body is stiff and tense, you will not be able to utilise jing.
It is necessary to be soft and loose, sensitive and open.
This does not mean flaccid.
The groundpath must be present constantly, otherwise you cannot transfer kinetic energy from your body to another.

If you are stiff and unyielding, disconnected or flaccid - this transmission will be unsuccessful.

Confused about yielding?

If taoism is the art of adjusting to life, then tai chi is the art of adjusting to the opponent.
This process of adjustment is what yielding is about.
Balancing, sensitivity, change.

Yielding is concerned with not opposing force, making space... and then counter-attacking.

Having made space, you must incapacitate your attacker. Yielding is only half of the requirement.
Unless you neutralise the attacker, they will continue to assault you.
Step-in decisively and finish-off the attacker.

The internal way of using strength has some basic considerations:

1. Never employ force against force; always yield to strength
2. No more than 4 ounces of pressure should be exerted upon your body or expressed by you
3. Each movement should be a whole-body movement
4. Unite internally using neigong yet remain soft, pliable and yielding
5. You can transmit strength via groundpath
6. Intention can unite mind and body into one focussed unit

People read these points and feel dissatisfied, as though some crucial part was missing.
You must remain calm and composed, relaxed and easy. 

This applies particularly to wannabe lineage students: 

I do not enlighten those who are not eager to learn, nor arouse those who are not quick to give an explanation themselves.

If I have presented one corner of the square and they cannot come back to me with the other three, I should not go over the points again.

(Confucius)

I think that bagua is fantastic. I see it as an honour to be taught something so detailed and deadly. Every new starter [including me] has different ideas about self defence and martial arts. This exceeds all expectations you could possibly come up with.

 Learning baguazhang at this stage in my tai chi experience is unexpected. I am getting to see aspects of shuai jiao and chin na that would only be possible much further into the tai chi syllabus. It can be rough depending on what is being taught, but it is never over the top. Pain within an application usually comes from being tense.

 (Barnaby Baron)

Internal skill is subtle.
It takes decades of time, understanding and training to cultivate: this is why so many people go astray.

The visible outward signs are small. Most of the work takes place within the body. The movements are smaller, less obvious.

As the student's skill improves, the physicality of the tai chi diminishes.
The frame serves to supplement the mind.
A more subtle physical expression is now possible.

Partner drills and form application teach the student how to minimalise their movements.
Balance, timing, structure, softness and mind combine to create the desired outcome: a twitch instead of an arc.

It is important to rest.

One of my own follies is over-training: my training reaches a peak where it feels fantastic overall, but I start having problems: tiredness, stiff neck, migraine...
These are signs that I am doing too much.

I pare my routine back to the absolute essentials, and give my body time to recover.
My energy returns and I am ok.

This sounds easy enough but it is hard to let-go of the extended training, hard to do less.
The urge to hold-on is strong, but also harmful.

When I was 25 my doctor told me to choose whether I was going to focus upon kung fu, yoga, running or cycling.
I was doing all 4 activities simultaneously and pushing it.
The doctor said that you cannot train like an olympic athlete every day without it taking a heavy toll.

I chose the kung fu because it is sustainable and mild on the body.
But only if the training is moderate...

It can be quite a shock for a student to find out that their form is actually a mess.
The form may look aesthetically pleasing, yet under pressure it falls apart.

Taoism advocates eating the fruit, not the flower.
The form must be functional, effective and comfortable.
If your structure and movements fail in combat, what exactly are you training when you practice your form?

Locke: What do you suppose is in that cocoon, Charlie?

 Charlie: I don't know. A - a - a butterfly, I guess.

 Locke: No, it's much more beautiful than that. That's a moth cocoon. It's ironic - butterflies get all the attention, but moths, they spin silk. They're stronger. They're faster.

 Charlie: That's wonderful, but...

 Locke: You see this little hole? This moth's just about to emerge. It's in there right now, struggling. It's digging it's way through the thick hide of the cocoon. Now, I could help it - take my knife, gently widen the opening, and the moth would be free - but it would be too weak to survive. Struggle is nature's way of strengthening it.

 (Lost)

The 'internal arts' are so-called because the focus is within.
You are required to feel rather than do.
Outward movement must reflect the inner condition and should stem from what is happening internally.
This sounds difficult until you consider it further.

Every movement made by the human body begins under the skin; nerves activate muscles and muscles move the bones.
There is nothing special about this; it is the normal process.
Tai chi simply reconsiders the way in which the movement is generated; it explores the how. 

External bad habits:

1. Force against force
2. More than 4 ounces of pressure exerted by you or expressed by you
3. Localised arm  and shoulder movement
4. Deep, long or wide stances
5. Fixed legs - disconnected upper & lower
6. Tensed muscles
7. Over-emphasis of the waist
8. Incorrect use of the pelvis and hips
9. Pushing upon impact
10. Aggression

These will all perpetuate an external approach to tai chi.

The horse stance is not a combat stance.
It is a training method designed to create greater postural stability and build-up the leg muscles.
There is nothing 'internal' about it.

Sets are derived from the form.
They use movements from the form against an attacker.
Therefore, they also serve to test your skill with form. If your form is imprecise and sloppy, your application will not work.

A combat set provides an opportunity for a student to really tidy-up their form and gain insight into how the form can be used.
Errors that may seem unimportant in solo practice may prove disastrous in partner work. 

The partnered exercises in the syllabus are about using the form.

Many of the skills acquired from pushing hands (and the associated exercises) are quite subtle and require significant ongoing practice.
Sensitivity, awareness, stickiness and peng are cultivated patiently.
Such drills are not directly martial.
You could not apply the drills in combat, but you would use the skills taught by the drills.

In traditional Chinese culture, tai chi chuan was seen as a means for refining character.
It enabled the individual to balance all aspects of their being.

The challenge of learning tai chi removes conflict, macho urges and aggression.
A student learns how to move in a graceful, balanced, harmonious way and maintain composure at all times.

In 1956 the 24 step tai chi form was created.
This new set of movements broke from the martial tradition of tai chi; enabling more people to practice the art.
Stripped of its combat significance, the 24 step employed elongated, yoga-like stances and postures that no martial artist would ever practice.

Since then, many new competition/performance forms have been created.

The word 'fighting' has the connotation of reciprocity: two people trading blows. Taking turns.
Many schools are training 'fighters' for competitions.

Kung fu is about cultivating a healthy body, a sharp, clear mind, settled emotions and self defence skills.
Students work towards inner peace, strength and relaxation.

The self defence training is extensive, sophisticated and will require a lot of hard work.
The three skills of combat are an integral part of the syllabus.

A complete martial art is not about fighting.
Therefore, the strategies and tactics are geared towards completion of the event.
Force is never blocked.
Struggling is circumvented.
If something does not work, it is immediately discarded.

An entirely different mentality is required.

The student must think about the art as a martial art, not as a sport.
The aim is to evade and escape, not to win prizes or accolades.
The opponent may attack from an unexpected angle, they may be armed, they may not be alone and they will not stop when you have had enough.

Your repertoire must be varied and extensive. Your skills must be honed and comfortable.
Students must use their bodies intelligently and skilfully, employing optimal body mechanics to ensure the best 'effort to reward' ratio

The form itself teaches the body how to move in an internal way.
Ideally, this is how your body should move in combat.

Form literally means 'shape'; and the aim is to re-shape your movements and structure into something martially viable.

The complexity of form means that a student has countless layers of skill to add to their form, and it will take decades to understand it deeply.
This learning process is what training an internal art is all about. 

Unlike fighting, self defence requires the student to finish the opponent off decisively.
There can be no drawn-out combat.

The exponent must be capable of rapidly, spontaneously switching tactics and skills.
Trading blows is time-consuming.
It is necessary to adapt, change and improvise constantly.

Skill in all three areas of combat are necessary: chin na, jing and shuai jiao.
In self defence, the situation is unpredictable and there are no rules.
You must incapacitate the attacker immediately.

Bruce Lee saw this division of grappling or striking/kicking as being an imbalance he wanted to correct.
However, traditional martial arts were already complete.
They did not need anything adding to them.

Tai chi chuan and baguazhang teach 3 martial expressions:

1. Chin na
2. Jing
3. Shuai jiao

Chin na involves cavity press, dividing the muscle, misplacing the bones and sealing the breath.
Jing teaches sensitivity, awareness, manipulation and all forms of striking without tension.
Shuai jiao is about putting the opponent on the floor. 

Questioner:

"Dear Sifu Waller,does Shuai Jiao have forms? Also,does Shuai Jiao have more grappling than striking? Lastly,how long does it usually take for one to earn a black belt in Shuai Jiao? Thank you."


Answer:

Baguazhang and tai chi chuan feature a significant range of shuai jiao applications
Each art has its own form that can be applied as chin na, jing or shuai jiao, dependent upon the individual student's skill and insight.

Shuai jiao is about taking people down to the floor.
Typically, there is no striking.
As a form of grappling shuai jiao works in tandem with the various pushing hands (grappling) skills, and chin na (seizing, not grappling) or jing (sensitivity skills & striking without tension).

We don't offer a separate belt in shuai jiao.
One student gained his black belt in tai chi and baguazhang within 5 years.
Most people take longer than this.

Why did Bruce Lee develop jeet kune do?

Bruce Lee had studied wing chun and felt that wing chun did not fully address certain aspects of combat such as grappling, kicking and floor work.
To resolve this, Bruce Lee sought to develop his own martial arts system.

Many modern martial arts focus on certain aspects of combat and neglect other considerations.
Typically, an art is concerned with grappling or striking/kicking.
Broadly speaking, judo, ju jitsu and aikido are grappling arts... whilst karate, wing chun and tae kwon do are striking arts.

Yang Cheng Fu said "Use mind not force" and this one statement holds the key to understanding the difference between internal and external.
Intention requires considerable presence and awareness.
The student must have a calm, clear mind; focussed on the here and now.

The mind is used to create energetic outcomes within the body.
For example: a student seeks to 'sink' and 'root'.
A beginner may accomplish this by dropping deep into the hips, bending the knees and bearing the weight down.
Such a method would be fine in most martial arts, but in what way is it internal?

The physical action needs to be slight. No deep bending. No bearing down.
Use your mind instead.
If this seems difficult to you or unlikely, it reveals the fact that your training remains largely 'external'.

The fundamental qigong/neigong exercises were designed to build-up the strength and coordination required to practice form.
Instead of moving in a tense, sloppy, disconnected way, students learn how to move slowly and smoothly.
In time, the entire body moves as one unit.

When the form is practiced correctly, it is quite demanding.

For shen to manifest, a person must lose all self-consciousness.
Instinct must replace intellect, and thought must give way to physical sensation.
The divide between themselves and the activity must end.

A spectator should not be comforted by your pretty smile.
The movements of your body and your intensity should make them feel only one thing: nervous.

An earnest student is not putting on a performance.
They are focussed upon what is occurring in the immediate moment.
They are feeling what is happening as it is happening; without commentary or reflection.

The student should look neither happy nor sad.
Their expression should be alert, alive and intense.
Shen should be present in their eyes: like a predator stalking its prey.

The form is like that of a falcon about to seize a rabbit, and the shen is like that of a cat about to catch a rat.

(Wu Yu-hsiang)

There is nothing friendly about this description.
It suggests a serious demeanour in which the ego of the student is sublimated by the art.

Tao Te Ching teaches us many important lessons.
In terms of combat we recognise that the 'power' can only be used if the student adheres strictly to the 'way' of the event.
Blocking the incoming force, struggling, resisting, postural instability... these bad habits prevent the student from having any power.

Instead, it is necessary to harmonise, accord, blend with the attack.
Neutralise, and counter-attack by borrowing power from the opponent and adding it to our own.

This is harder than it sounds, for the student must set aside their own pride and ego, and follow the parameters of the art exactly.  

Dear Lord, 

Thank you for giving me the strength and the conviction to complete the task you entrusted to me. Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path.  

And for keeping me resolute when all around seemed lost.  

Thank you for your protection and your many signs along the way.  

Thank you for any good that I may have done, I'm so sorry about the bad.  

Thank you for the friend I made.  

Please watch over her as you watched over me.  

Thank you for finally allowing me to rest.  

I'm so very tired, but I go now to my rest at peace.  

I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith. 

(Book of Eli)

A new starter's response to attack is random, sloppy and untrained.
The individual is usually poorly coordinated, with little sense of balance, rhythm and timing.

What you bring with you into an internal kung fu class is worthless: physical tension, bad postural habits, aggression, fear, clumsiness...
Even skills from other martial arts tend to be an impediment.
You must unlearn.

Our aim is help you to become responsive, spontaneous, adaptive. Capable of changing instantly in accordance with circumstance.

How should you look?

Pouting, smiling, preening or macho demeanours all share one common theme: vanity.
Self-consciousness.
Now we are at the root of the problem.

If you are immersed in the moment, unselfconscious... why are you smiling?
Why would you care what anybody else thinks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVzY5el7EjU

The Internal Kung Fu website is filled with training tips.
If you read 1 page every day, it would take you 3 years to get through the entire site.
And would you truly understand the content?

It can be difficult to perceive something new on its own terms.
The temptation is always to see it in terms of what you already know.
Yet, this approach closes your mind to the new.

Internal kung fu cannot be seen in terms of the conventional, external martial arts.
Yes, we require similar results:

1. Success in self defence
2. The ability to perform a variety of skills against a range of opponents
3. Appropriateness

But the means by which we accomplish and manifest these skills is quite different to mainstream combat systems.

I find the syllabus is well-structured and offers carefully designed and enjoyable exercises which aid application of the palm changes. Learning the purpose of each of the movements gives a real insight into overall strategy of baguazhang.

In addition to creating an accessible website containing information relevant to learning baguazhang, Sifu Waller also takes the time to explain concepts in detail in class with the added benefit of being able to demonstrate how these principles can be applied martially.

The emphasis on evasive movements in baguazhang has been particularly helpful in overcoming my tendency to freeze-up during self-defence scenarios and instead I'm learning to relax and respond.

Although the underlying principles are similar to tai chi, baguazhang feels very different. Adapting your mindset to take into account multiple opponents is difficult but very rewarding from a martial perspective.

Bagua is proving to be a great opportunity to escape from the trappings of individual techniques and instead concentrate on realistic improvisation of self-defence applications in high-pressure situations. I particularly appreciate the focus on deception and evasion.

(Dominic Hine)

Gift from baguazhang students

Gift from baguazhang students