“We tried Tai Chi for a little while but it didn’t do anything for us.”

That’s what one of our senior students heard from a couple friends of his.

So he asked them what they had done in class.

“The form”

So he told them about breath.

And about body states.

And he told how Tai Chi is about what’s happening inside the body and how with only a couple moves they could really get a lot of benefit very quickly if they’d come try one of our classes.

“maybe… Sometime…” was the response.

This went on for a few weeks.

finally he said we’d let them come train for free and we would guarantee much better results than what they saw before.

To this day they have never set foot in our school.

Because of one mediocre experience…
…From a teacher who knew a Tai Chi Set, but didn’t know the first thing about Tai Chi.

This is the credibility problem of Tai Chi.

Quality teachers are few and far between.

And when the average person encounters poor quality instruction they most often blame the art instead of the teacher.

Things are looking up.

The amount of info on Tai Chi is growing.

The interest in Tai Chi is growing.

But we still need a whole lot more quality teachers.

Dedicated, hard working folks.

Teachers who can take interested people and fuel that interest. Show them what Tai Chi can do and guide them down the path to true internal skill and development.

That’s where you come in…

Become a skilled Tai Chi instructor.

Help us change the world.

http://www.clearstaichi.com/tai-chi-dvd/tai-chi-basic-skills-instructor-certification-package

Peace,
Ben Sterling
Ben@ClearSilat.com

I had a great time this weekend. (June 16-18)

Adam Mizner is on his US tour so we went down to see his Alabama workshop and then brought him here to Tennessee briefly before he heads on to his next stop. (I recommend checking out one of his workshops if you can.)

One of the things that caught my eye…

(there was a bunch of fun stuff)

…is when Adam Mizner talked about one of the most common errors he sees in Tai Chi players.

It caught my eye because me and Sifu Clear had been talking about the exact same problem the day before while eating breakfast at a Cracker Barrel halfway between East TN and AL.

It’s a problem we never would have thought would be so common in 15 – 20+ year Tai Chi players.

But over the last few years as we’ve started traveling more and doing more workshops we keep seeing this problem over and over.

And it’s not just Tai Chi players. Bagua and Xing Yi folks make this same mistake too.

The problem is the lower back.

There are a number of reasons for lower back errors:

* Too much sitting. (in front of PC’s, in cars, etc..)

* Poor instruction.

Follow the leader type instruction will never correct this problem.

* Not enough correction.

Form work or standing practice without constant correction and feedback from a teacher or training partner will only make the problem worse.

* Intentional misdirection

I’ve even seen stuff where this error is intentionally built into the training method so the students power will always be limited and easy for the teacher to negate.

Folks who don’t fix this problem will never be able to generate the power they’re after…

And they’ll wreck their lower back.

Our favorite method for correcting this problem is taught on the Internal Power video.

It teaches the Clear’s Internal Push Hands method and a bunch of drills & games to help you focus on specific aspects of the training method.

This method gives you the direct feedback you need to correct the lower back…

As well as any other structural issues, alignment errors, body state problems and it builds a lot of other usefull skills as well.

Go check out that DVD here:

http://www.clearstaichi.com/tai-chi-dvd/internal-power-video

…and pay close attention to your lower back in all of your training. It’s probably not as correct as you think it is.

Take Care,
Ben Sterling
Ben@ClearSilat.com

P.S. Don’t forget to register for our upcoming workshops.

July 20, 21 & 22 – Xing Yi Quan Intensive – Maryville TN
August 11 & 12 – Willem (Uncle Bill) DeThouars – Maryville TN

(There are NO abstract concepts in Tai Chi)

There’s a tribe in Namibia with no word for the color blue.

Some folks got curious and too a laptop down there, opened it up, and showed them 11 green squares and 1 blue one.

12 squares,
..all identical..
..except for one.

They asked the tribe, “which square is different.”

The tribe looked… and looked…

and said, “What do you mean?”

The tribe is NOT colorblind.

To you or I the blue square looks really really blue…

..But the tribe couldn’t recognized it.

Because they had no word for the color Blue.

This same phenomenon is a huge problem in Tai Chi.

Except backwards.

We have lots of colors:

– Sung
– Peng
– Ting Jing
– chansi jing
– Short power
– long power
– cold power
– root
and many more…

But most folks treat these terms as abstract concepts

Fuzzy words.

The problem, is that without a concrete understanding of what blue is…

(and what it’s not.)

…you can’t learn to paint with it.

You can’t experiment & learn & really figure out how the color blue works.. unless someone… at some point said,

“See that there? That’s called Blue.”

The first step in learning something is to name it. Give that name a definition and figure out what it is and what it is not.

Or take the names you know and figure out exactly what they mean.

That first step is one of the most challenging and time consuming aspects of training in the internal arts.

Because they’re internal most of what really defines these arts is not what you see on the outside but what is happening inside the body.

Until you learn to feel what is happening inside yourself and inside others, it’s really tough to figure out what your trying to accomplish.

(and eventually you can train yourself to see it)

The fastest way to build this sensitivity is with the drills & games taught on our Internal Power DVD.

Sigung Clear takes you through a step by step process that builds your ability to feel as well as a number of other internal skills.

All you need is a training partner. (Also hard work and practice of course.)

http://www.clearstaichi.com/tai-chi-dvd/internal-power-video

Take Care,
Ben Sterling
Ben@ClearSilat.com

P.S. Upcoming workshops in Maryville. Email me for details if you would like to attend.

- Small group lesson with Adam Mizner on Mon June 18th
- 3 Day Xing Yi intensive on July 20, 21 & 22
- 2 Day Seminar with Ba Pak Willem DeThouars on August 11 & 12.