Teaching these 45+ (I forgot how many actually) years. What I hear however for the most part is: “I know all about Tai Chi because I’ve heard a bunch of stories about it”; “because of those stories I know everything I need to know”; “so if someone asks me something about it I could tell them everything they need to know and it would all be true”.
Studying Classical Tai Chi is very scientific, so how can I make apologies or diplomacy for Newton's 3rd law, for instance? If you bang your head against that wall, it will bounce back. It works the same for logic about what we do in Classical Tai Chi, particularly how and why we learn. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Students don't like "how long it takes." "How long it takes" is faulty reasoning, and one might say, "throwing the baby out the window with the bath water." Whoever said scientific rationale has to be pretty and fit a student's "wishful thinking"? There has been too much belittling of Tai Chi, and I explain that below. To the best of my ability, as I do here, I also teach students to check their reasoning in Tai Chi.
It is great to study with someone who teaches you and, in the process of learning, also fine-tune your "bullshit detector." My teacher does not pussyfoot with me either; he calls me on it when my reasoning is wobbly or way off. We both have also explained in videos such as DVDs and in great detail in writing for many years why there is great reasoning behind video learning over classroom learning. I have also written about my own experiences in learning from his videos.
There was a "golden age" of Tai Chi; well, I think this is a golden "golden age" because of technology and its ability to facilitate learning. Those "old masters" could only cover so much ground, even if there were electric cars. They were so much in demand, and every student wanted Wu Chien Chuan himself, so to speak. How does the myriad of details even get to a Tai Chi family when so many outside students clam for the Grandmaster? Of course, many students want it straight from Master Stephen Hwa, not his disciples, and I am happy about that and know he is glad he can make videos and online courses. As many videos as he has made, however, he will be the first to not misdirect you but simply say each one of the 50+ only covers one (1) detail of a myriad of details connected with learning. Do you recall the saying "the devil is in the details"?
I invited Master Hwa in from Rochester to teach my class in Buffalo. The picture is from about 20 years ago, and if people don't know how to walk, how can they do Classical Tai Chi "Form"? When you read my blog and Facebook in-depth, I think you'll find the purpose of Classical Tai Chi is not stress and inner peace. Many things call themselves Tai Chi but are merely dance, exercise, or "wine and cheese" excuses to socialize...they are not Tai Chi. In my experience, those so-called Tai Chi's all cut corners in the learning. I have students who make no bones about telling me what some other martial art teacher is doing and how that should affect Classical Tai Chi. That's B.S.! Some Tai Chi adds moves, principles, and techniques from other martial arts. Add movements here, take out movements here, take out moves there, and pretty soon, it does not resemble its original purpose. You do all that cutting of corners, and the logical structure collapses.
