Practice and study is the lifeblood of the martial arts. As both a quantity and a quality it is what ultimately differentiates success from failure in any attempt to learn any practical skill. Of equal importance in the internal cultivation tradition, practice is both the alchemical furnace and the compounded elixir itself. Much more than simply a means to an end -- regardless of whether one is preparing oneself for combat or the afterlife, whether one is seeking more strength, greater health, clearer consciousness or just a little bit better balance -- as long as internal value (gong) is the destination, practice is the path.

Now just to be clear, what is meant here by "practice" is nothing other than the regular and repeated physical performance of whatever set or series of techniques is being passed down by whichever lineage or teacher one is studying with. No matter the discrepancies between teachers and lineage branches, between styles of practice and reasons for practice, pretty much all are in agreement that it is primarily through the physical act of repeatedly practicing, studying and performing the particular techniques being taught that a) the said techniques are initially transmitted and b) their mastery is eventually conferred. Thus the theoretical promise of Tai Chi theory is made immanent through practice and through practice alone. This perspective on practice is significantly different from the more familiar Western notion of "practice makes perfect." In this more classical Tai Chi sense of practice, it would be more like: "practice is perfect."

 

 

The particular forms and techniques that we use and practice at the Falling Water School have been thoroughly time-tested and effectively refined through multiple generations of highly accomplished and respected practitioners. They were intially taught to us by Master Tung Kaiying of Los Angeles, California, who has been practicing and teaching them his entire life and originally learned them when he was a boy from his grandfather in Hong Kong, Master Tung Yingchieh, who was himself also a lifelong practitioner and one of the most respected Taichi teachers of the 20th century in China, who in turn learned the art from one of the most influential Taichi teachers of all time, the famous Beijing Master Yang Chengfu, who in turn was merely translating into a new context (widespread public classes) the movements and techniques that he had learned from the more secretive traditions of his father and uncle, who had learned them initially from their father, the great Master Yang Luchan, popularly known as Yang the Invincible, the originator of our current Yang Style system and the person who ininitially made Taichi Chuan famous across China. Master Yang himself however was merely adapting into a new context (secularized urban life) the secret movements and methods that he had learned from his own teacher in rural Chen Village, Master Chen Changxing, where these very same techniques (and many others like them) had been being practiced, cultivated and cherished by the lucky Chen family for more than 20 generations prior. Phew! And then there was the Master who taught the original Chen patriarch back in the 1500s, and the long line of teachers trailing deep into the mountains behind him at least another 500-1000 years more until the trail finally dissipates into a hermetic oblivion that goes all the way back to the mystical origins of Chinese civilization itself. Also don't forget all the loose strands of students branching off at every link in this chain and integrating their experiences with the world and then circling back to enter again into the central thread of lineage that we collectively know as Taichi Chuan.

In other words, this is a very old practice and a very old way of approaching the pleasures and problems of living without sacrificing grace, poise, dignity or integrity. The cumulative life energy and human experience that has gone into forming the particular postures, movements, and principles of the exercises and techniques we have come to call Tai Chi Chuan is truly staggering. It is a tremendous honor to be a part of continuing the transmission and to be able to contribute to the global stewardship of the wisdom of the ages in such a way.

This is the reason why we offer a salute both before and after practicing.

 

 

For all prospective students of Tai Chi Chuan the first phase of training is to learn the primary sequence of movements called "slowset" well enough to be able to perform them on one's own from start to finish without interruption. This could take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years depending on the quantity and quality of one's instruction and independent practice.

The next step is to develop and employ the principles of the Slowset both inwardly and outwardly. This means spending more time practicing the various strength building exercises from class and practicing slowset more pateiently and calmly to build better aligment and clearer focus. It also means getting introduced to the exciting realm of partner practice called Push Hands, starting with fixed-steps and using one hand only in an exercise called Single Circle, but gradually evolving into using both hands in a loose series of simple movements called Double Push Hands.

The next phase of training would be to develop more variant speeds and a more dynamic expression in one's practice. Initially this means practicing with faster tempos and learning the Fastset and Tung Family Set variations. It also means learning the basic moving-step Push Hands routines such as Three-Step, Four Corners and Circle Walking. But ultimately it means integrating one's sensitivity and strength and learning how to balance one's internal awareness with one's external being (i.e. how to more comfortably live in the world as oneself).

The next phase is to simply practice more, longer, deeper and with increasingly clearer energy and focus. This is facilitated by finding ever more external applications for the internal theory of movement that is Taichi and might look like learning the Weapon Forms, an alternate version of slowset called "Kai He (Open and Close)," the Partner Practice Forms (Duilian), the martial applications of Slowset movements (Sanshou) and even beginning to explore the creative potential of freestyle push hands.

The final phase is to keep persevering into the practice deeper and deeper, refining the forms, consolidating the center and adapting the principles into more and more of a fluid whole with all other aspects of one's life. Here the subtler aspects of Taichi become more and more significant and energy becomes more and more of a spiritual phenomenon. At this point in training the most logical step is to start teaching someone else and the circle of Tai Chi continues.