Seniority & Sensibility - The Ego Discussion of Learning Martial Arts

Yes... I know I've been travelling a lot. And completely contrary to what I thought was going to happen at the end of 2008, it looks like 2009 will (for the most part) continue to be a year full of travel.

As I continue to grow in the world of kettlebell training, it looks like I'll be travelling more & more. If you haven't done so already, please make a habit of checking my other blog - Kettlebells Los Angeles - every once in a while. My travel schedule is usually updated with regularity and posted on the right hand side.

Just to put it down in writing and remind everyone, there are 3 main senior students that are in charge of my Tai-Chi classes while I'm gone: Anton Summers, Kate Summers, and Chris Shea. They've learned enough from me to be able to teach on their own. And they each have PLENTY of information to share with their junior classmates.

Here are a few of the questions I want to answer here & answer definitively...

Will you teach on Saturdays when you're in town? Absolutely. I have no intention of abandoning my Saturday morning Clover Park class. I do, however, have other obligations and opportunities as far as work goes. So by the law of simple economics, I'm going to have to go where the greatest opportunities lie when they call.

What if I don't get along with the senior students and I just want to learn from you, Sifu? Then don't come. Ever. If you just want to learn from me and only me, then do it via private training sessions. Don't expect to come to a group class and have me there at your beck & call all the time. Also, I've said this more than a few times, but there are plenty of so-called Tai-Chi authorities who know less about real Tai-Chi than my senior students. So they've got PLENTY to teach you. If you want to disrespect them by doing even as much as ignoring them when they teach you, then just go elsewhere.

Well how come they said one thing and then one week you said something different about the exact same subject? There are 3 possible answers to that question:
1. People make mistakes. It's entirely possible that the senior recalled my position on the matter incorrectly, interpreted your question incorrectly, or just didn't know the right answer.
2. The knowledge that was being quoted to you was from a snapshot of a different time. Chris Shea has trained with me probably the longest out of anyone in the group, so he's seen my teaching method evolve over the years. He can tell you how many movements have different teaching cues than they did say 10 years ago. So don't be bullheadedly stuck in one and only one way of doing something. Be open to receiving the little bits of evolution as I or the seniors dole them out.
3. The answer you were given is correct, and the answer I gave you is correct. In other words, depending on the context, a movement can be peformed differently. You just have to know what to do and when to do it. For example, if you're in the middle of leading a class of beginners, you're not going to go at ultra-slow speed, since most of them don't have the strength or patience to handle moving at that speed. Instead, you move at a moderate speed, do a shorter segment, and do it multiple repetitions.

Regardless of who's at the helm any given week, get in there and give your all! Don't let your eyes wander, your mind turn off, or your form lack effort and concentration.

Yang style Tai-Chi origins

A couple of weeks ago, I fielded a few questions about Yang style history during my Tai-Chi instructors' course in Irvine. Just now, goofing around on Wikipedia, I happened to find a great article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Lu-ch%27an

Please keep in mind that history has different interpretations, depending on your personal perspective, so I don't necessarily agree with all of this, however, I do think it to be worth reading.

Chinese New Year celebrations

Students,

On Saturday at the Tai-Chi class, we stumbled onto a great idea for this upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations. The Year of the Ox begins on January 26, 2009, which puts it very close to the weekend of the 24th.

Instead of going to a restaurant and doing all the "usual" stuff, we figured that it'd be a lot of fun to simply get together after Tai-Chi, crack open a few drinks, order some Chinese food (or whatever food), and watch 2 Chinese sword-based movies: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Jet Li's Hero.

We'll train 'til 10:30am, then just head over to a place (yet to be determined) with a big enough screen & DVD player, then just hang, eat, & enjoy each others' company until the 2 movies are over.

Who's in?

Holiday Schedule & a peek at 2009

Hello Everyone. It's been a while since I've posted here, and I thank you all for your patience & dedication. Luckily, I won't be travelling any more for the rest of 2008 aside from a long overdue drive to San Diego to train with one of my mentors - Prof. Roy Harris. No more LAX until 2009..... YES!!!!!!!!!

Depending on whether or not I can coordinate schedules with Prof. Harris, I may or may not be teaching on 12/20. I WILL, however, be teaching on 12/27/08 at the park.

2008 has seen me travelling more in one year than I have ever before. In my life, I never imagined that I'd see so much of an airport, never mind the rest of the world.

2009 will hopefully bring greater prosperity with less absence from my home... LA. To that end, I'm planning on bringing my Krabi Krabong and Muay Boran master here from Thailand in January. And I've curtailed my travelling somewhat to avoid some of the extended overseas trips that I originally had on the table.

Also, the 6-person instructor corps of the California Martial Arts schools, founded by my friend, Sifu John Cheng of Irvine, CA, will be training more closely with us in both Yang style Tai-Chi and Combat Shuai-Chiao. They've been training with me on Tuesdays for a few months now, but now they're going to be interacting more closely with my West LA/Santa Monica instructors. So far, two of them have earned their RKC certifications, and they are all training in Krabi Krabong, Combat Shuai-Chiao, and Yang style Tai-Chi with me. Please extend your warmest welcomes to them if you see them in class or in workshops.

It's about time that some of you work on finalizing your Tai-Chi instructor credentials. Some of you are not far from Black Sash ranking, making you a fully authorized instructor on your own under my authority. Others of you are very close to higher rankings as well.

Let's try to make 2009 a year for great achievements and great improvements!

Best always,
SIFU

Happy Holidays

Hi everyone,

I will be missing tomorrow's class in my attempt to join the Venice 5K/10K Christmas Run.  I used to participate every year, and I have decided to renew my effort.  However, I think it will be a 5K fast walk instead of the 10K jog.  Oh well....

I wish everyone the most festive of holidays and a happy and healthy new year. I will look forward to seeing you for our Saturday class, January 10th.

Mary