Tai Chi is assimilated in the public mind, worldwide, with health exercises and spiritual balance, Taoism and holistic living. It’s for the old, the sick, and the spiritual seekers. Fuck that for a game of soldiers.
Training with Dan in the late 80s - early 90s was a revelation for me. This was nothing to do with "Tai Chi"; it was working, efficient, Chinese internal martial arts with an edge. You hurt, you sweated it, you worked out, and you might just get injured. There was Chuan ("fist"), oh yes. I hoped that I could carry the flag here in France and do something similar, that I could create generations of students who could do the same. I have evidently failed in this. I guess you have to be as dedicated as Dan, as big as him ... and the rest, to do something like that.
Anyway I’ve spent 7 years of time and several thousand euros trying to spread the word and I’m sick of it. I’m going to follow Ed in elegant retirement, doing my own thing, and training with like-minded people. I’m leaving the public arena, the bad smell has at last gotten me too sick to stay.
The first generation turned out to be a bunch of wasters, junkies and hippies, some of whom also showed themselves to be lying, manipulative hypocrites as well. None were athletes. Some of their students more recently showed some promise, but as far as I know they all left. I don’t need to wonder why. If you sell something that you don’t deliver the punter gets pissed, however good your parties and sexual favors may be.
The second generation has been a mixed bunch. There have been and still are some who, if not athletes, at least want to practice Tai Chi Chuan and *not* Tai Chi. But they have always been a tiny minority. Last year there were 33 people registered in the Association. Along with tourists, other visitors and outsiders, I probably saw around 70 people turn up to class. Less than 10 were interested in martial arts.
Apart from the Federation, who I always thought were a bad deal anyway, the less-than-casual observer may note the growing presence of mainland Chinese in the little world of European Tai Chi, as well as Tai Chi Chuan. Although some of these people are actually quite good, the vast majority are simply propagating more of the same – but often with more variances on the silk pyjamas. It’s all bullshit.
The *only* people I’ve met and worked with who’ve been worth a dime are westerners and Japanese, though I should say I’ve not met everyone and I know there are good people in Taiwan. Last night I saw some of another class given by another well-dressed Chinese who is “extremely good”. More of the same. No partner work, lots of standing around. Even Anya is more active than that (ah yes but she’s a westerner).
So, I’m out. Ever optimistic (oh yes, I am!), I have hopes that the various camps may reconcile in order for the best to emerge, so that my students and everyone else’s can have access to Godfrey, Dan and maybe even Torben, via their teachers (not all of whom are now so bad). I’d like to think it can happen, but it’s not really up to me. You can bring a horse to water but you can’t make him drink! We shall see …
Не that will steal an egg will steal an ox.
ReplyDeleteWhen I practice Tai Chi, it's not just an exercise or series of movements. I visualize how each movement would apply in a defensive situation as a block or counter strike. It really does open your mind to the true nature of Tai Chi, which was originally a style of fighting. But political correctness has turned this fascinating martial art into sappy new age nonsense. To make a long story short, I agree 100 percent with what you're saying. Too bad you feel the need to give up on it.
ReplyDeletePoint is "Tai Chi" vs "Tai Chi Chuan". I never stopped the latter, only the former. I still practice and teach. But waving hands in the clouds is not the main thing, whatever you may visualize. Hand form practice will never teach you how to fight.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that "learning Tai Chi Chuan form only with no Tui Shou, is like buying a pair of shoes and only bringing home the shoe-box."
ReplyDeleteWell said. Tai chi has become an unstoppable beast of rubbish feeding some pseudo spiritual food to the hungry. You only have to read and engage your brain to see that much of the spiritual (whatever that is) stuff is quite a late addition and also western in origin.
ReplyDeleteIf you only practice the form for health benefits you are better off doing some other regular exercise. Fitness benefits from the forms as far as keeping you flexible and gives you some body awareness but is are not sufficient for working the heart, strength or maintaining a healthy weight. There main use is to train correct body movement Tai chi Chuan utilises in its applications. You need to practice the full curriculum for the full fitness benefits. Many classes are full of people scared of a bit of hard work needed to achieve fitness. They also have a serious misconception that training the form balances there QI which will magically keep them healthy whatever their lifestyle.
Class attendance has always been sporadic and low but occasionally you get a good bunch that stay long enough for the coin to drop. The best thing I ever did was train with Neil Rosiak one of Dans old students. His classes are 100 percent hard core authentic martial Tai Chi Chuan training like DAN used to teach.
Neil always said the biggest mistake people make is using Tai Chi Teaching as a form of income. As soon as you do that you have to embrace the rubbish because that’s what people want and you need to be a peace with teaching that otherwise it will not be a successful business. In London there are plenty of instructors who do that and they are very busy. Neil is one of a few who has kept it separate like Ian Cameron and therefore not had the need to invent new forms and talk about QI and therefore kept it real. It doesn’t bother Neil if one or ten people show up to a class he is still teaching authentic Tai Chi Chuan and therefore still enjoys training.