In Aikido, the difference between practicing safely and broken bones is about an inch. With lower ranks practice is done very, very slowly and under strict supervision. At higher ranks we learn about that inch difference.
I think a basic course for senior citizens might be a good idea. What to do if someone grabs your wrist, or from behind, etc.
When I was home last I showed dear old mom a couple of simple things…I really didn’t mean to throw her over the sofa…honest…
I don’t know about other disciplines, but Akido without studying the thought behind it is not true Aikido. Perhaps not the gongs and cheesy music, but I sincerely believe that the mental aspect should also be stressed. I am a true believer in the concept of “chi”.
Thanks for the suggestion of emphisizing the Chi Gong in the Tai Chi. I will definitely do that if I am marketing the Yang style classes. Chen style seems to draw more of a self-defence, “I am living in a real, not magical, world”, kind of crowd. The Chen students would learn the Chi Gong just because Chi Gong cannot really be seperated from Tai Chi Chuan, regardless of the style. What do you think?
One of my teachers once said, “In a free class the student are lazy because they have not commited themselves financially. In a paying class the instructor is not commited because he wants to bleed the class for all its worth. Its a no win situation.”
One of my past students, from the french part of Swizerland, said, “There is no harm in making a living.”
I have entered both free and very expensive. ultimately it is up to the student to take from the class. My signature below translates to “I am what I make myself out to be.” I think in this case it is very true.
My goal when going home to make a living not to try to get rich. (I will find other ways to get rich, I’m sure. )
You are right to emphasize the Chi Gong aspect. My youngest son studies Aikido and his instructor saves a bit of class time every class to show him some simple exercises (Aikido related). And I have seen some very positive changes in his personality (7 year olds can be fairly wild!)
Another thing you migt want to explore is teaching young children about how to fall properly. My Aikido instructor teaches at several kindys and he bascially teaches tumbling. Learning how to fall and how to overcome that fear of falling is very important.
Mr. Bane, I totally respect Aikido. Much of my grass training I do with my students is in Aikido like stuff. (Once upon a time I crosstrained for a short time in Aikido.) For Tai Chi practitioners, The basic movement Cai, Gao Tan Ma, and Yu Nu Chuan Suo, just to name a few all follow the same principles as Aiki. In these classes we learn just as much about protecting our training partner from harm as be do throwing him/ her.
Grabbing a woman from behind however, is no mercy time, movements like San Tong Bei. I cannot give “maim training” 100% for a variety of reasons so I do not like to teach it. I do recognize its existance, however.
You are correct that Qigong cannot be separated from Taijiquan, as you could say that Taijiquan itself is a form of “Qigong.” But my idea was offering Qigong classes separate from the Taiji stuff. For example, I had a Taijiquan class in China, which did cover Qigong stuff, but I also had an entirely separate Qigong class, which was Qigong and only Qigong (Emeishan Qigong, by the way). Offering a varied curriculum, I think, would allow you to charge more since you are offering more. For example, your “curriculum” could be as follows:
(1) Chen-style Taijiquan class
(2) Yang-style Taijiquan class
(3) Qigong & Meditation class
(4) Intro to Chinese Medicine class
The Taiji and Qigong classes twice a week, the Chinese medicine class once a week, and you’ve got 7 hours of classes. Or you could increase that to however many hours you’re wanting to teach. After you’ve taught a semester or so of the intro to Chinese medicine, you could start to offer higher levels. Just some random thoughts …
I’ve trained a bit of Judo and I think that works just as well.
From my own little bit of experience visiting a few Aikido schools in the States, I haven’t been impressed. I defeated a Go-dan (5th degree black belt) who supposedly trained in Japan using karate in a match, and Aikido is supposed to be very successful against the whole punch/kick thing … but then again, the kind of karate I practice isn’t really that conventional, and I don’t use many punches and kicks.
I’ve trained a bit of Judo and I think that works just as well.
From my own little bit of experience visiting a few Aikido schools in the States, I haven’t been impressed. I defeated a Go-dan (5th degree black belt) who supposedly trained in Japan using karate in a match, and Aikido is supposed to be very successful against the whole punch/kick thing … but then again, the kind of karate I practice isn’t really that conventional, and I don’t use many punches and kicks. [/quote]
Wow, that guy actually used Aikido in a “match”? What was he thinking?..LittleBuddhaTW, he deserved the caning.
Poor choice of words … he wanted to demonstrate how an Aikido gesture could defend against a karate attack, so he asked me to come at him with a “karate move” … he was thinking punch or kick, but I wasn’t … he kept trying reversal after reversal, and I just kept digging, gouging, and jabbing pressure points which made him look silly every time he yelped. It was tons of fun. Pigeon-hole people who do karate as punchers and kickers and that’s what you get.
Then the guy goes on to reprimand me because I was supposed to “let him” get me so that he could demonstrate the technique … yeah, when someone attacks you on the street, they’re just gonna let you get 'im.
Little Buddha’s point leads to the difference between Dui Lien and reality fighting. I think that both are important for ones Martial Arts developement. If I never had Dui Lien, two person drills, I would have never been able to develope the skills for reality training.
What Little Buddha has also demonstrated is that combat is chaos. Mesheel, and others learning the Martial Arts, need to understand Little Buddha’s point, that real threats never happen the way you want them to. While paired drills can help give your forms meaning or even teach you the basic methods, it becomes nonsense when some wacko wants to hurt you on the street. I know, I’ve been there, but that’s another story.
One of my teachers likes to say, “Hua jiu shi da”, poorly translated to deflection is aggression. If Little Buddha’s Aikido challenger was not trying to show off, but simply embrassed Little Buddha’s Chaos, then the story might have been a little different.
Exactly, in real life there are no forms. Therefore it is very important to understand the essence of whatever discipline you are studying. Nobody is going to announce, “Okay, I am going to try an overhead strike.”, before a bar fight. Reaction time, or perhaps “awareness”, is what a martial art teaches. Part of my training invloves my partner coming at me any way he/she wants to…good stuff. Basically, the only stuff one is ever going to use in a real life situation are the basics…stuff learned at the lower ranks. Look at Steven Segal’s films, I would say that 80-90% of the forms he uses are stuff that is taught to the first or second ranks. All very basic, but honed to perfection. If you don’t master the basics, then every thing else you learn is worthless. I always try to stop and pay attention to when my instructors are pointing out something to a white belt…reinforcement of the basics.
LB’s example is very good and it seems that the Aikido instructior missed a good chance to show his students how to deal with the unexpected. It sounds as if he knows the forms (5th degree black belt) but doesn’t understand the essence of Aikido.
I am always a bit wary of when people announce their belts. Back in the States, a lot of people get pushed up through the ranks in order to get them into competitions. Or with Aikido, there is a “show” form; it looks very pretty but I sure wouldn’t want to count on that form if my ass is on the line.
I’m not sure this applies to all black belt tests in Aikido, but there is a part of the test where the student has to stay on his feet for 15 seconds with 3 black belts trying to bring him/her down in any way. You usually never see any forms being used, just an understanding of movement away from an attack and some simple joint manipulations. It’s a long 15 seconds.
What is the best form of self defense? Running away as fast as you can.
The best form of self defence is communication, nes pas?
So, there are a couple of aspects discussed which I am lacking in.
I have been doing Qi Gong for the past 30 years. This knowledge has been very useful in my training. However, because I started at 6 years old and have travel far to much in my life, I do not remember how to start teaching students. Only understand the end result. I would like to teach Qi Gong as a seperate thing, but because my Qi Gong is formless, I am trying to relearn my Qi Gong basics through Tai Chi.
In this case should I not try to teach Qi Gong as a seperate class because, as of yet it lacks structure?
Dui Lien, paired training,
Again, although I loved Aikido, it was very difficult to take it with me when it was time to move. I have crosstrained in many martial arts, and Tai Chi seems to include aspects of everything. Because Tai Chi focuses on the forms training, it has been easier for me to carry my Dui Lien memories with me. But, the problem is, Memory is not the same as physical skill.
In the case were my Dui Lien skill could use some serious polishing, should I avoid teaching paired drills in the West?
Oh no, I think pair work is very important. I would, however, make sure that your students do not pair up with the same person every time. It is good to practice with all different shapes and sizes of people. I personally “hate” working with a left-handed person.
Is it practical? If it is not, then I would have reservations about studying something. Pair work gives any martial art a “practical” feel for it.
Sorry Chris…I don’t know any of that “nes pas” French stuff…I’m an Okie
Well, yes, communication could be a form of self defense but saying the wrong thing to somebody can get you into a lot of trouble. I’ll stand by my comment about running away. You never get hurt by running away…unless you don’t look both ways before crossing the street while running away and get hit by a bus or something.
nes pas is probably spelt wrong but means something like, correct. Norwegian has the same kind of phrase, but the chances of anybody understanding Norwegian are FAR less than Frence. :mrgreen:
Let me guess, Okie, US flag, Oklahoma? Are most people from oklahoma to dim to be able to speak more than one language? I don’t really get the connection.
[quote=“Chris Robinson”]
Let me guess, Okie, US flag, Oklahoma? Are most people from oklahoma to dim to be able to speak more than one language? I don’t really get the connection.[/quote]
No, I’m a Steinbeck Okie…I’m from California
(I was trying to be funny)
Check out the Youth Central part of the Taipei Times about “Thieves dipping into avocado profits”. There has been more than once in my lifetime where my dad and I had to get up in the middle of the night and load up the shotguns with buckshot. Never actually shot AT anybody trying to steal citrus but they sure make a loud noise (we would always point them up in the air)! “Get the f@@k outta my trees.” [color=red]BOOM! [/color].That’s when I saw for the first time that running away was the best form of self defense.
Yes, yes I know :offtopic: I will try to return to the essence of this thread.
I think paired training is very usefull. Eventhough an agressor is unlikely to use any of the studied forms to attack you, but I dare to say, that I most probably would feel more confident in giving him counter attack, than I was before.
I always pair up with my boyfriend. I would want to train with somebody else from time to time, but I am the only girl and the only foreigner in my class, so nobody besides my boyfriend and our teacher actually dares to grab me or throw me on the floor…
There is a woman in my Yang Class, but she is half my size. I feel doing paired training with her is pointless because I out mass her by far too much.
However, Pushing Hands is another story. This kind of sensitivity training can be practiced by any pair, regardless of size or gender.
So, we have talked about a fun class with Forms, pushing hands for competition, and paired drills. this I would say is great, but … it is the martial arts. We are looking at 1,5 EUR per hour per student.
Or, we are looking at Yoga style forms, maybe pushing hands for sensitivity/ qi gong training, and relaxation therapy in forms and warm-up. Could this be a way of promoting the Tai Chi without being compared to a martial art? Would it be worth 8 EUR per hour per student?
You are right, I have seen my female student push a student only a little smaller than myself because she has superior techniquel knowledge of Tai Chi.
I think I wish I had a training partner at my own level. :? Not trying to be egotistical here but I am in a strange limbo with my Push Hands ability. It is very difficult to find my equal but I still suck in competition. I don’t hold my silver metal in very high regards.
Sometimes weight does matter, if I had a student who was bigger or stronger than me, I would love to train with this person, I would learn alot.
But then again, my job as an instructor is not to be looking for training opportunities.
[quote=“Chris Robinson”]You are right, I have seen my female student push a student only a little smaller than myself because she has superior techniquel knowledge of Tai Chi.
I think I wish I had a training partner at my own level. :? Not trying to be egotistical here but I am in a strange limbo with my Push Hands ability. It is very difficult to find my equal but I still suck in competition. I don’t hold my silver metal in very high regards.
Sometimes weight does matter, if I had a student who was bigger or stronger than me, I would love to train with this person, I would learn alot.
But then again, my job as an instructor is not to be looking for training opportunities. [/quote]
I am the really high ranks whipping boy. “This is what you do when you are attacked by someone much bigger and taller”…See Durins Bane fly across the dojo with his elbow shoved all the way up his ass. Taking the cane is my middle name…
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