Preface

When I started teaching I had assumed that everybody who started to learn Taijiquan had like myself a background in traditional martial arts, including sparring and full-contact fighting, and thus an appreciation of the training requirements together with trained flexibility and the basic knowledge of kicking and punching.

Much to my surprise even those who claimed to have black belts in Martial Arts such as Karate and Tae Kwon Do were incapable of kicking or punching correctly, had poor balance and lacked basic body awareness, the Wing Chun people had no lower body strength, the Tai Chi people had poor posture, flexibility and coordination. The only people who had any promise had learned some wrestling, Jiu jitsu or had dome some MMA training.

However , the most difficult cases were those who had trained very hard in their chosen art to the extent that their poor technique had become ingrained and they found it hard to change.

There is nothing worse than to learn bad practices really well, they are deleterious to your health and reduce your fighting capability considerably. In some cases I have come across the people concerned would have been better off if they had learned nothing at all, rather than the rubbish they had been taught.

If I had no desire to teach Taijiquan as a Martial Art I would not worry about these matters and would just teach form and a few pushing hands exercises but then it would not be Taijiquan it would just be exercise.

However the biggest hurdle to overcome is the inability to properly observe and the lack of self-awareness which leads practitioners to believe they are doing what their teacher is doing when it is apparent to anybody except themselves that they are doing anything but.

Rigidity of mind and the lack of true understanding about how to practise and train effectively by themselves, the unwillingness to experiment and learn by failure are barriers to success that must be overcome.

It has been known for many thousands of years that to become proficient any any endeavour that requires great skill 10,000 Hours must be spent in diligent practise. Most people have neither the time or inclination to do this, especially if it involves hardship and suffering..

Observation

It is essential to be able to read your opponent so as to gauge where the next attack is coming from.

In Basic training we know which hand or foot is going to be used so as to gain confidence in the technique.

Advanced practise requires that you do not know what the opponent is going to do until he does it.