We are told that life must have meaning and purpose, but who says so?
And why do you choose to believe them?
Are they saying what you want to hear?
Is that it?
Maybe we do not have a purpose. Maybe our actions are largely meaningless.
Do you know for sure?

Hui Tzu said to Chuang:

I have a big tree
The kind they call a stink tree.
The trunk is so distorted,
So full of knots,
No one can get a straight plank
Out of it. The branches are so crooked
You cannot cut them up
In any way that makes sense.

There it stands beside the road.
No carpenter will even look at it.

Such is your teaching-
Big and useless.

Chuang Tzu replied:

Have you ever watched the wildcat
Crouching, watching his prey-
This way it leaps, and that way,
High and low, and at last
Lands in the trap.

But have you seen the yak?
Great as a thundercloud
He stands in his might.
Big? Sure,
He can't catch mice!
So for your big tree. No use?

Then plant it in the wasteland
In emptiness.

Walk idly around,
Rest under its shadow;
No axe or bill prepares its end.
No one will ever cut it down.

Useless? You should worry! 
(Chuang Tzu) 

The best way to prepare your body for class and daily life is to:

1. Show restraint
2. Be playful and friendly
3. Do not get caught-up in fear
4. Exercise your body gently every day
5. Take some time to bring the mind 'home'

If you pull a muscle or hurt yourself during martial arts training, it is important to rehabilitate slowly and carefully.
Combine rest with gentle exercise.

'Constructive rest' (performed twice daily) is ideal.
Work through your qigong and stretching exercises cautiously; avoiding any extremes or discomfort.

Pain is a warning; do not ignore it. 

This is a one-way trip.
As soon as you notice an alternative way to live, you have changed. There is no turning back.
Even if you think to stop, the seeds of your transformation have already been planted, and will continue to grow.

Living a deliberate life is an opportunity for self-fulfilment, a chance to be you, to do what you want to do.
It is a chance to transcend pettiness and ego, to be free of your conditioning.
To die contented and happy. Without regret.

It is easy to get carried away during combat training. It is easy to be injured or cause injury.

By remaining composed, loose and friendly - safety can be encouraged.
Play, rather than fight.
Aggression has no place in our school.

 Sifu shows that the use of bagua in self defence is very effective and formidable. It is unpredictable for the attacker and extremely disorientating due to the movements and stepping of the defender. It is sneaky in its use of angles and finding openings. It offers many possibilities for the defender to counter attack. Bagua encourages lightness and mobility. It gets you out of the way fast and helps you deal with the potential chaos of multiple attackers. Good for people with smaller stature.

 (Rachel Waller)

Everybody feels fear.
It can be an overwhelming, overpowering experience, or merely anxiety.
This is normal and natural.

The main thing is to be present, in the moment.
Relax.
Place your mind on what is happening, rather than what you are anticipating.

Have faith in what you are learning, and avoid resisting.

Not many people actually think to live a deliberate life.
They just do what their friends do, or their family, or the people on TV, in the newspapers, in the magazines.
Instead of waking up and noticing the cage of convention that surrounds us all, most people just carry on sleeping.

Waking up is not easy. It may even prove to be disheartening and lonely.
You will be one voice in a tornado of noise, one person swimming against the current.
No one around you will notice, care about what you are doing, or offer you support.

People may even try and persuade you to stop.
They may invite you to set-aside your quest and re-join the ranks of the sleeping many.

Human beings have been civilised for a tiny fraction of the history of the species. Beneath the suits and dresses are primal genes. Even if it never acted out, the potential for violence is at the core of the games people play, a kind of hidden text.

Arrogant people employ it as a threat, timid people fear to confront it. Both conditions are out of balance and create trouble. Martial ability enables one to understand and come to terms with the subtextural violence, both in oneself and others.  It enables the practitioner to soften his hard edge and defuse of deflect the aggression of others. The deeper your kung fu, the less likelihood you will have to use it. Arrogance and fear draw trouble, internal power and centeredness bring forth wellbeing.

(Wolfe Lowenthal) 

We want to address an attack on a sliding scale of violence:

1. shuai jiao: fast and effective, a good deterrent

2. chin na: pain-infliction, suffocation, sprains, tears and breakages

3. striking: concussion, damage, internal injury

If shuai jiao does not work: chin na, if chin na does not work: strike... http://www.internalkungfu.co.uk/Freeformtriangle.htm 

Old news?

It is common for students in a martial arts class to tense-up.
This bad habit is often acquired at a young age.

The problem with tensing is that it locks the joints and stops the skeleton from moving freely.
Instead of falling to the floor in an organic, natural way... the body is stiff, brittle and rigid, and falls like a plank of wood.

There is a Chuang Tzu story about a drunken man falling out of a cart.
His inebriated state meant that he did not realise that he was falling, nor did he tense-up.
Consequently, he was not injured by the fall.
This is not promoting drunkenness or 'spacing-out'; but rather: relaxation.

The drunken man simply went with what was happening - without resistance - and was unharmed.

The human survival mechanism is referred to as 'the reptile brain'.It is the primitive part of our brain that deals with instinctive requirements rather than thoughts and desires.

When attacked, a human being experiences the 'fight or flight' response. You either defend yourself or you run away.

Our classes do not want people to freeze, run or become aggressive. We do not want to use the fight or flight response.There is an alternative.
The aim is to become composed and detached. Self-consciousness ceases. The mind becomes quiet and you are absorbed into the immediate.

When a student fails to train at home, they should commit a reasonable period of time before the lesson to preparing their body.
Loosen the joints, lengthen the muscles, improve flexibility.
Do not simply rush into combat.

Avoid a cursory workout; the time you commit to sensible training is an investment in your own wellbeing.

Training daily at home between lessons is the best way to avoid injury in or out of class.
A gentle daily workout will significantly strengthen your body.

Stronger muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments - combined with mobile joints - will enable your body to respond to adversity in a better way.

I am really enjoying learning baguazhang. Learning two different concepts of internal art really gives you a lot to think about and take in. The teaching method is exactly how I would want it to be. Focusing on one aspect of bagua one week, and then another aspect the next, never combining. You are clear and concise with your ideas, teachings and requests. I feel that this is vital to a student being able to learn. The student must be able to listen though or the teachings are pointless.

 Within the baguazhang class, I like the fact that there are no belts. Everyone has equal status, although different levels of capability. The class has a clear path; each class seems to have a message or a lesson to be learned. Not just learning 'something', but a specific lesson. I will always leave a bagua session with something new in my head. Again, I feel this is vital to keeping interest levels up without overdosing on information. I guess that this comes down to only teaching someone what they are capable of understanding.

 (Barnaby Baron)

Imagine a woodcutter with an axe...

If he hacks at the wood using great force and muscle strength, he will rapidly become tired.
The axe head has weight and so does the shaft.
When chopping, the woodcutter must propel the axe using his body.
If he softens the tension in his own frame, he can use momentum to swing the axe.
Tension in his muscles and joints will block movement.
It is the movement that produces momentum and the greater the momentum, the more powerful the stroke.

Think of an athletics event where a hammer, discus or shot putt is thrown...

The person moves their body in an arc, allowing the hammer to pull out from the body.
Centrifugal force draws the hammer around the arc, increasing its weight and power.

They move their body around the hammer, increasing momentum but sustaining the gravity.
Then they let go.
Striking in kung fu uses centrifugal power to gain momentum, then centripetal power to come back upon impact.

In self defence we do not aim to become nasty and cruel. Simply escape. Do only what is necessary.

Many kung fu students have a very balanced relationship with the world around them; animals, environment and people.
They refrain from hurting other people with words, actions or deeds.
Often, they are vegetarian and actively work to encourage other people to respect all life.

We can learn a lot from animals and can repay these lessons with kindness and compassion.

Some martial artists seek to be as fierce as an animal by copying the perceived behaviour of the beast.
Their emotions run wild, they lose control and become very aggressive.
This is not what we want in kung fu.

The kung fu person is not angry or aggressive; they are only doing what needs to be done.
Inwardly, the emotions are cool and relaxed, the mind quiet and expansive.
Their bearing suggests detachment combined with a physical readiness to act.

This is the animal way of martial arts: a potentially violent situation arouses animal instinct, which leads to fear, which activates the glands, which raises the heart rate, which engages the body, and it fights.

This is the human way of martial arts: a potentially violent situation instantly arouses the human ability to detect how best to handle the situation, without stressful anger, then the mind/body becomes tranquil and highly alert.

(Bruce Frantzis)

It is not enough to simply copy how an animal attacks. Nor is speed the answer.
Both body and mind must behave differently.
Neigong trains the body to move in a kung fu way; with connected, soft musculature and sensitivity.
Relaxation is imperative.

Unless your body is incredibly relaxed and balanced, it cannot move spontaneously in any direction.
Similarly, the mind must become quiet and alert.
Emotion must subside and awareness must grow considerably.
Mind, body and emotion are joined in every action - this joining is called shen.

Some martial arts have developed from the observation of animals.
Often the style may adopt similar strategies or body language to the animal.
In kung fu, the focus is upon the nature of the animal rather than just the physicality.

Consider: how does a snake attack?
It is not aggressive or anticipatory, it simply moves - spontaneously.
The attack is sudden and continues for as long as necessary.

We learn to adopt the same instantaneous approach.

'Fight or flight' is the term used to describe our instinctive response to serious danger.

Unfortunately, many people imbue situations with inappropriate import, and they are perpetually in a fight or flight condition.
There are very few situations in everyday life that are literally a matter of life and death.
Letting your animal nature rule you is not a good thing - it puts the body under stress and creates anxiety.

We train to be detached from violence, to remain calm and friendly.
By keeping a cool head and letting our body naturally do the work, we can work more effectively in the face of threat.
The reptile brain may move our bodies into action but it is not allowed to corrupt our temperament with aggression.

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.