This month, grudgingly, I would like to discuss 'metaphysics'. There is tremendous interest in this vaguely described area of study among our student body. Many people ask me to go into the 'spiritual aspect' of Tai Chi Chuan and how Tai Chi Chuan relates to the worldview of 'metaphysics'. Michiganders have a long standing tradition of interest in matters 'holistic' and 'new age' methodologies.
The word metaphysics has in etymology two streams of meaning. In one sense is meta as change giving the meaning 'change or transformation of the physical' and a secondary meaning of 'the works after the physics' meaning the study of the original causes of things physical. In the 17th century the term came to mean the study of what is beyond the norms of physicality and this is the meaning that has seemed to stick in the minds of users to this date.
The word 'holistic' or the term 'holism' were coined in the 1960's from the Greek word 'holos' meaning 'whole'. The coiner used the phrase to describe a theory that nature could be divided into separate 'wholes' for the purpose of study and observing of the inter-relation of the things of nature. This term later became coupled with the word medicine to describe a 'new' view of medicine wherein the whole of the being is considered rather than the individual symptoms or affected systems. This term goes forth to set up a belief in a new method whereas in actuality western medicine has always seen treatments' purpose as being to restore 'homeostasis' or the natural balance of all systems in the patient.
The term 'new age' became commonly accepted in the 1970's to describe a new spiritual movement or system of study. Interestingly the term did not define any significant change in the method of spiritual approach, but was rather used as a banner for students of spiritual systems that chose to create new methods of their own, usually with no substantive backing or reasoning behind their creations, but rather simply blending bits and pieces of different systems into an imbroglio of their own sold to others on the basis of the influence of their personality upon others. The phrase 'new age' actually first appeared in the early eighteen hundreds as the banner for the spiritualist movement and its' practice and promotion of necromancy.
Why do I go into these definitions?
The art form of Tai Chi Chuan dates back at least six hundred years, and the internal study of Nei Gung, (now commonly referred to as Chi Kung), can be traced back to at least 2700 b.c. In short, the art form you are studying is centuries older than the words Westerners have come up with to describe systems of thought ostensibly along the same lines as Nei Gung or Tai Chi Chuan. We Westerners are in Kindergarten in our study of the internal symmetry of the human when we compare ourselves to the lineage that created Tai Chi Chuan.
Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung are not 'new age' methods, they are old age methods. The focus and commitment that have brought these methods down through ages in continuous study are almost inconceivable in their immensity. We owe an incredible debt to generation after generation of teachers and students. How has the art survived for so long? The answer is simple. Hard work.
Tai Chi Chuan is a complete system. In the Orient the assumption made by a student of Tai Chi Chuan is that in order to learn the art they must listen to the teacher and work hard. They realize they must come in as 'an empty cup'. Here in the west we make the mistake of bringing all sorts of beliefs and previous knowledge into our studies, clouding the simplicity of the learning process. The reason for this is no doubt the natural distrust we have for teachers here. We have been exposed to so many false prophets we no longer see the proper relationship that should exist between a student and teacher as possible or even preferable.
The illustration is given in China of a teacher sitting down with a potential student with two glasses. One glass is filled with pure water, the other with tea. The pure water is likened to what the teacher offers; a complete system to a specific goal. The tea represents what the student comes in with; knowledge tainted with many obscuring or conflicting assumptions. The point is made that if the teacher begins adding their pure water to the students glass the water in the students glass will always to some extent be cloudy. The student must first empty their glass before any learning can take place.
When I started studying Tai Chi Chuan I had a very key advantage afforded me for which I am truly thankful. I was blessed to have had long-standing friendships with members of the Chinese community for many years before I began training. As a result I was aware of the principle of going in with an empty glass. Was I an empty glass? No. But I knew enough to know when I was getting in my own way and fight to overcome my arrogance when it stood as a roadblock. Have I fully overcome this? No. But I am gaining ground on it!
I'll admit when I first started I was looking for super powers. I wanted to be an healer. I wanted to exude spiritual transformative power like the robe clad Buddhist warriors in the movies. I wanted to understand to a greater depth the real meaning behind the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching which I had studied since childhood. I wanted some 'edge' or superior understanding over what I perceived to be the limited spiritual positioning of the Western mind-frame. You could say I wanted to be able to manifest and 'own' metaphysic ability and holistic knowledge and be a new age savant. I wanted to be 'spiritual' and be seen as being able to demonstrate my spirituality in a way that was so self evident it would transform the understanding of those around me. I was SEVENTEEN at the time after all!
Anyways......
What I hit up against certainly was eye-opening. It seemed that to learn Tai Chi Chuan I had to work my posterior off. Hours of hard work, pain and discipline. When I asked about the spiritual aspect I was advised to learn the art first. Without understanding the art there was no way I could understand the spiritual aspect. Without healing myself and understanding the physical aspect of the art there was no way to learn the healing or the metaphysical aspect.
Darn!
I could see this knowledge manifest in my teachers. I wanted it. I was fortunate to have a clue on this. I had been studying classical music with some of the finest teachers in the world since I was eight years old. I heard them play and wanted to be able to do what they did. They told me I had to do what they had done. They told me I had to follow the same steps they had taken. The proof of their statements was 'in the taste of the pudding', so I followed their steps. I realized that the same was true of my Tai Chi Chuan teachers. They had it, they were not interested in holding me back or deceiving me, so I in turn had to follow the steps they laid out, not skipping anything, even though I in all my exalted seventeen years of accumulated knowledge may not be able to fully understand where their line of instruction and reasoning were going.
Was I perfect in this? No. Many things, if not all of the things I was taught I am still working on, as I am with what my music teachers had shown me. There is no end to learning. All that can be achieved is to work forward so that the last gained piece of the larger picture takes me forward to the next step. This requires discipline. Discipline is the first step on any spiritual path. Sacrificing where we are, however comfortable a place it may be to develop ourselves further is the true meaning of sacrifice on the spiritual path.
Self graduation is the enemy to learning. Intellectual understanding does not take us forward even one inch. Only when knowledge is so ingrained through hard work that it is in our blood can we call it our own. There are no shortcuts.
Perhaps in light of these statements people can see why I am hesitant and gruff when asked to go into metaphysics and holistic new age teachings, like I am holding them back or misjudging them when I do not respond or levitate in front of them or something....
Even worse is when I do not recognize others for their spiritual ability and 'fail' to give over control of the classes to them to be shown how a 'spiritual' person would do it right.
Unfortunately the only thing that impresses me as a Tai Chi Chuan instructor is the students ability in Tai Chi Chuan. Has the student been working on what I have shown them? Can I now take them forward to the next step? This is what concerns me. Not what others think I should be doing with them and for others; but doing what I know is right to take the individual further based on the path clearly delineated by my teachers through their living example.
The day of my first class Master Wu Ta Chi said to me through a translator, "Learning Tai Chi Chuan is like building a house. It is done brick by brick. If you miss a brick along the way the house will collapse".
We should all reflect on this statement and build on a solid and balanced foundation, one thoroughly assimilated one step at a time. 08/06/2006
Well, due to popular demand I have reinstated my Monthly Remarks Column. There is now a separate section for the questions page which will remain as an additional feature of our site. Look for my next column shortly. 07/28/2006
I have decided to change the way I utilize this column.
Rather than inventing a subject, I am now asking all of you to submit questions that you may wish answered in this column. I believe this will make this column more to-the-point and in consequence more valuable as a teaching aid.
Your question will be quoted at the head of the response, but your identity will remain anonymous.
Questions may be upon any subject. Not all questions will necessarily be answered, or may be answered at a later time.
Please submit your questions by clicking on asksifubritt.
Please make use of this offer. 06/21/2006
My apologies for not submitting this column yet, I have been extremely busy. I should have this completed by June 21st. The real question being; "Of what year?"
Sifu Britt 06/16/2006
Now that the technical materials I have been working on have come into order, it is time to get back to training related information.
There are three major areas of practice and development in the training of Tai Chi Chuan; health, meditation and martial arts.
These three are seen as being sequential, i.e. without good health, meditation training is not possible and without good health and meditation skills, the martial aspect of the art is out of reach.
If each ties to the next, what is the common element, attribute or quality whose cultivation is necessary through all three areas of development?
This aspect is referred to as 'Sung', meaning relaxation and looseness. Tai Chi Chuan practitioners describe Sung as a quantifiable element as in 'so-in-so has a lot of Sung'. The looseness of Sung in the physical body is sometimes described as a relaxed heaviness of the limbs, but is not to be confused with a 'sagginess' of the posture. The posture should be upright, well supported, well-balanced and mobile, with the limbs relaxed and 'heavy' rather than being upheld in stiffness and consequently 'floating'.
In the health aspect of development Sung is developed through physical training. In order for the body to be relaxed there must be sufficient muscular strength for the posture to be carried easily. Remember that without muscles, the skeleton would be a pile on the floor. The skeleton does not support the posture, the balance of the musculature supports the framework of the skeleton. If the muscles are not properly conditioned, they have to compensate for lack of conditioning with tension in order to hold the body upright and control movement.
An example of this principle might be a person taking on new employment in a factory moving boxes. For many weeks their musculature would be insufficiently developed to support the demands of the physical task, and the person would have to 'grit and bear it' through each working day, with many resultant strains and pains in the muscles by works end. Over time however, their bodies would develop into the right level of conditioning to handle the task and eventually, barring other circumstances, would settle down to a routine wherein the work load is comfortable.
This type of conditioning does form a part of Tai Chi Chuan training, and on the outside appears like a method that would take away from, rather than enhance relaxation. Many people are greatly surprised at how much muscular effort, (especially in the legs), is required to properly perform the movements of the chuan (form). Most Western students come to Tai Chi Chuan looking for relaxation training and are turned off by the effort aspect they meet up with in the first class. What they do not recognize is that Tai Chi Chuan is about balance. When a person starts their training, some of their muscles will be too long and too weak and will have to shortened and strengthened. Some muscles will be too short and too strong or tense and will have to be lengthened and loosened in order for the correct balance to be achieved for the musculature to support the posture correctly.
Once this balanced is established Sung starts coming within reach. Without balanced support of the spine, relaxed looseness is unattainable.
The circulatory system is also deeply involved in the development of Sung. Without good blood-flow, the muscles cannot operate effectively, as they lack oxygen and nutrients essential to their function. The only way to increase or improve circulation is through physical effort, for it is in response to muscular activity that circulation increases. On the other side of the coin, tension in the muscles serves to restrict circulation, so muscular effort must be combined with stretching and loosening of the musculature through postural training and mind effort. Again, this is about balancing the system. As a result, when training the form, we feel muscular effort as well as stretching, and are encouraged to try and relax and feel our way through the postures while not deforming the alignments.
Like the factory worker on the new job, the postures of the form do not become comfortable until our physical system is trained properly to support and move through the postures easily. Where Tai Chi chuan differs from the factory illustration is that the postures are balanced as a training system, scientifically and thoroughly thought through to produce a specific over-all balance. Tai Chi Chuan training is not lopsided.
Again within the health aspect of the training is the proper control and technique of breathing. If our breath is upheld in the chest area the muscular action of breathing is tense and lung capacity is restricted. Without proper breathing this tension makes the development of Sung impossible. The workload of respiration has to be conditioned to occur in association with the abdominal muscles, which can take a practitioner many years to fully conquer.
The good news on all this work we apparently have to do to get the physical form into the correct condition to produce Sung is that once the work is done and the system re-balanced, from that point on until the end of life practice becomes a matter of maintaining this balance. With this balance health is maintained and longevity is the result.
Following the proper conditioning of the physical form, we then turn to meditation. Meditation in Tai chi Chuan may be described as training to improve our ability to concentrate, (focus), and to relax.
Much of the tension held in our bodies relates to traumatic experiences occasioned through day-to-day life and its' challenges. Stressful events over which we have no or inadequate control remain unresolved and we must suppress their experience in order to continue as best we can with the next challenge life sends at us. As a result of this suppression the memories and trauma are stored into the bodily systems in the form of what is called 'Somatic Memory'. As we bury the traumatic event to move forward, there is a resultant tension built up in the musculature. The more traumatic events we repress un-dealt with, the greater the tension within the body. Unfortunately, we are rarely aware of this tension as we become accustomed to it over time.
Through the movements of Tai Chi Chuan we begin to notice this latent physical tension, and in identifying it, we can target it and train towards its' release. The release may be achieved through movement and exercise itself, or it may require internal reflection to trace the source of the latent tension to its' roots and in turn require work to resolve the issues in question.
Stored trauma usually results in hyper-sensitivity in the persons nervous system. The greater the somatic memory storage, the more inclined a person would be to break rather than bend under new sources of stress. In essence, one may consider somatic memory as 'anti-Sung'. Therefore it is as essential to release old habitual patterns of thought and release old hurts as it is to regenerate and renew the physical system through training.
In the next stage of training comes the martial aspect of Tai chi Chuan. Since the application of the art requires looseness and softness and a highly developed degree of capacity to focus and adapt to change under pressure, one may see the obvious need for having developed Sung through health and meditation training, bringing the three stages of training full circle.
The individuals level of Sung is most easily measured by an instructor in pushing hands. The way the student deals with incoming force shows clearly what the picture is internally in relation to the students physical or mental tensions or resistance.
I hope you find this information of use.
Sifu Britt 04/05/2006
I am pleased to announce the opening of our Online Shopping Center!
This has been one of the most difficult and trying projects I have ever undertaken. Remember I am not a computer engineer but a layman. I believe everything is functional and have tested the system thoroughly; but this is the real world and there may be some glitches and rough spots. If you have any problems or questions in using the online ordering system please contact me immediately by telephone, (248) 764-0863), or by email at sifubritt@wustyledetroit.com.
I can assure you that the site is secure and your personal information is well-protected by SSL technology. No personal information entered will be shared with any third party.
When you go to the Online Shopping section you will see three option buttons.
One takes you to the catalog section where you can view the available items and see the product attributes and descriptions. If you wish to order using your credit card, (Visa and Mastercard only at this time), you carefully complete the order form and proceed to checkout.
If you would prefer ordering by check by mail or through your instructor, there is a button marked 'Mail-In Order Form'. This will bring an order form up in a printable format which you then carefully complete and either mail in or give to your instructor. Be careful to include 6% sales tax correctly if you are a Michigan resident. (Yes our Institute does pay taxes!).
The vast majority of you will wish to avoid shipping and handling charges by having your instructor deliver the items directly! To do this be sure to show the delivery option as hand delivery! Also carefully indicate your instructor's name and the location where you study. If you do wish items shipped it will be done by UPS ground service and you should select that option remembering that shipping and handling of weighty items like clothing is expensive.
Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery of your order, as each order is custom prepared upon receipt of the request.
The third option on the Online Shopping page is a link to Far East Ginseng, one of the better local area sources for liniments, tai chi shoes and so forth, all of which are not at this time offered by us directly.
The pictures of the goods in the catalog were scanned in from the catalogs used by the embroidery people. As the items are individually produced through orders we will photograph and replace the catalog shots with actual pictures of the final product.
These products are of fine quality. You will see that we are asking that people wear navy training clothing with a white embroidered logo and black pants as the standard training uniform; but you will also see that we are offering street clothing options as well in case there is an interest.
Please really be careful to consider all the options listed, right down to logo style and embroidery color. I truly wish to give people options and individual choices.
You will see that you can order Banquet Tickets online as well. The image for these is not the final ticket image as the tickets will not be printed until August, but purchase now is available and will reserve your participation in this event.
There is also a gift certificate section in case you wish to give someone the gift of classes for a month. Again the picture on the site is not an exact representation of what these certificates look like. These certificates are available now and are quite attractive in their real format.
There is also a Donations section, in case anyone wishes to utilize this option.
I would like to extend my warmest thanks to Jennifer White, our representative at Futuristic Artwear for her professionalism, assistance, and keen artistic eye.
I would also like to thank Sandy Zenisek for her assistance in developing our new logo, and to Michael Punzalan, my technical (sans pocket-protector) assistant in all of this.
My thanks go out as well to the support teams at IXWebhosting, LinkPoint Central and CardService International.
I hope you enjoy the use of this new feature!
Sifu Britt 03/09/2006
Happy Valentines Day everyone!
Firstly this month I would like to cover our banquet for 2006.
The date is set as December 3rd, 2006, reception at 6:00 p.m. as before. The location will again be at the Sterling Inn.
The banquet this year will be more about fun than ceremony. There will of course be demonstrations, and this year each teacher will be putting together a demonstration team.
I am bringing in our own sound system and a DJ.
There will be PRIZES!!!!!!
I encourage you all to bring family members and friends this year. Everyone had so much fun last year that I do expect a larger attendance this year. As we are not having a discipleship ceremony nor giving awards this year we can focus in on having fun. The demonstrations will be enjoyable for family and friends, prizes are good and there will be a DJ, so I believe even those not directly training with us will have a wonderful time.
Clothing for training is now being developed. Sweat shirts, polo shirts, training pants, gym bags, jackets, coats and more are in the works. Our new logo will appear on these items in embroidery rather than silk screen. The firm we are working with is very professional and produces an excellent product. Clothing will be available in proper cuts for women and for men.
I am in the process of developing an online shopping facility for our website. The purpose is to give members a convenient way to order training clothing and other supplies, having the convenience of secure credit card payment. Banquet tickets will also be available online once we have the store up and running.
I expect the online shopping to available by months end. It is an onerous task setting this up in such a way that it will be both efficient and secure. Tremendous amounts of research and effort have been applied to this. I would like to thank Mr. Mike Punzalan for his tremendous assistance with this and with my computer related learning curve in general. I would also like to thank all those with techie minds that have been giving me sound advice. It is greatly appreciated.
Over the last two months I have been involved in a major project to convert all video (VHS) format footage acquired by our Institute over the years into DVD format to protect and catalogue our history. It has been a tremendous amount of work, but well worthwhile, producing over 83 DVD's.
From this documentation you can expect to see more photo's being added to our site. To save download time and for ease of viewing these will be formatted in separate photo galleries by topic.
The video clip of the 1999 Hong Demo has been upgraded. The previous clip was of very poor quality and has now been recreated from the original digital tapes. You may wish to have a look at it at your leisure.
We have also changed servers. This has greatly increased the download speed, and has allowed us far greater storage room.
My next project is the creation of instructional videos for the hand form. I have been building a studio for this production and will begin shooting in March. This will probably take one full year to complete, as the information being captured is extensive.
So you can see I have been busy.
We have a great year coming up! I as always wish to thank you all for your support. 02/14/2006
People have been asking about my February message. I am still writing it. There is a lot to cover. Have patience. The month is not over yet! 02/10/2006
Please accept all my best wishes to you and to your families for this holiday season, however you may keep it. 2005 was a wonderful year for all of us leaving us with much to be thankful for. Thank you all for all your love and support as always, and I am eagerly expectant of great things in the year to come. 12/23/2005
Firstly, my apologies for not making an entry last month. Preparations for our Institute's banquet were all consuming at that time.
Which brings me to the subject of this month's message.
We had the pleasure of finally getting all the classes together in celebration of two of our senior instructors, Sifu Michael Ashmore and Sifu John Marchewitz taking on disciples for the first time, and to take the opportunity as an Institute to thank those in the community who have done so much to help us grow.
From all that I have heard so far , everyone seemed to enjoy the event, (with the exception of the sound system).
I want to give you a bit of an inside view as to what motivated me to arrange this event at this particular time.
We have, as a school, had parties before and have attended banquets and similar gatherings in southeast Asia, but this was the first time that we have gone all out here in Detroit including everyone we possibly could in a single activity. So why now? Why wait until our 18th year? The reason is the discipleship ceremony.
Until this ceremony we were not a school. A school does not become a school until there are graduates. Prior to this you have a collection of people working to build a school. Now what is a graduate? Someone who has trained and taught until the point that they have shown they can retain students, and to the point where those students have in turn shown the technical level and character to become disciples themselves, thus becoming the next cycle of teachers in training, bringing everything full circle.
The effect of this turning point, bluntly put, is that if I died tomorrow the school would continue. A horrible way to put it, but accurate, as it is a teachers responsibility to train their successors in order to honor the work their teachers did with them prior to prepare them as successors of the generation before. Again, a complete circle.
In effect our Institute has just opened it's doors as a school. We are not in our 18th year of preparation anymore, but in our first year of operation. This is why I brought everyone together to say thank you for helping us complete this important transition.
There are other reasons for this event as well. The idea grew strong within me in August, the signal being given that it was time. What was the impetus for this beyond Sifu John and Sifu Michael?; the world condition and the stresses upon our students.
With hurricanes and wars and business failures and every other thing people are being inundated with it seemed to me that it would be very helpful to give people something to look forward to that was not 'a negative'. All the planning and excitement of preparation, anticipation and curiosity surrounding such an event acts as a tonic for the spirit.
So much of what people do from day to day is depersonalized. This is a very isolated world where people can be within the proximity of thousands and still be completely alone. Tai Chi Chuan works in many ways to counter this. Classes are participatory and require that people work with and inter-relate with each other. This develops an unique social bond between the participants. The training itself requires that people work together in the forms and pushing hands for each person to receive the full benefit. This is not necessarily required in a fitness center or a community education class. It is unique to Tai Chi Chuan.
Taking this to the next level, we have classes all over the city operating in isolation. It was high time to bring everyone together to expand the sense of fellowship and support not just between students, but between classes. Everyone there was surprised to see so many people. I cannot tell you how many people said to me "I had no idea there were so many people involved in this!".
Well, guess what, there are. Not only are there many people, but you all have something very particular in common. Many expressed to me their delight with the diversity of the persons drawn together. Financial, cultural, ethnic, religious and sexual barriers (i.e. women beating up men in the demonstrations) and age barriers were meaningless within that room that night. Just as they should be.
Good teachers draw forth good people as students. Good teachers love their students and teach them with warmth and consideration. In turn good students respect and appreciate their teachers and extend warmth and love to them. Result? A room full of loving good people that care for each other.
When classes train in isolation the students have no idea others are involved. Everyone had an awakening on that score. The demonstrations placed another layer of understanding on this realization for people. As the demonstrations were given by the senior students, NOT the teachers, every person saw that there was more to learn, further to grow with interesting things on the horizon. As well people saw that the art is learnable, awakening more interest and motivation to work harder and get to the higher levels of training.
It was wonderful to me to see so many people having such a good time without props such as alcohol, flirtation, tobacco or drugs. It is nice to see a party where there are no morning after regrets!
I would like to thank all those who attended and brought with them a great attitude and spirit. I would also like to thank all those many who helped with the preparations.
This will now be an annual event. Next years will be quite different. I will not tell you how as that is the kind of closed lipped Sifu I am, but if I were you I would start getting excited now.
Sifu Britt, 12/07/2005
It seems like autumn is now upon us!
Time certainly flies..............
I had wanted to visit all of classes by the end of September. Apparently not, but I am still working on attending and will be there soon. (Yeah right, promises, promises).
The banquet preparations have consumed a great deal of my time, as well as getting my daughter Joy settled in to the University of Ottawa. Yes she is now in university. I mention this as she was born in 1986, and our school was established in 1987, so consequently the senior students have watched her grow as a yardstick of sorts for the history of our school.
So the question arises, "Have we kept pace?"; "Are we too now in 'university'?"
I believe the answer to that question is "Yes".
Our programs are well-established and respected. Some of our instructors now have as much as 16 years teaching experience under their belts.
The upcoming banquet, (which I am truly looking forward to) will bring home our progress to all attending. That is all I am going to hint at on this subject at this time.
Every month is bringing new activities and change to our Institute. In September we began our long awaited online classes. These classes are free to members and are a gift from me to you for your support of our classes and seminars. I am doing a survey to decide on the best time for these classes to give the greatest number of people the opportunity to attend. For those who miss a class, transcripts are available free of charge by request.
I will be beginning a series of instruction in the United Kingdom beginning in February 2006. If you have friends or family in England who might wish to attend, please let them know. Have them email me and we will see if the tour schedule accommodates their needs.
Marci Jenkins of our Institute is in the process of incorporating video from our Asian tours into DVD format. She has completed the 1999 tour on three discs which are available to those interested for $20.00 US. To order copies click on this link. Trip Videos.
I am getting more and more emails from students with training questions. There is no problem at all with this, but please copy your email to your instructor so that they will know what issues you are confronting as well. If you do not copy them, I automatically copy them for you, unless there is an issue relating to teaching, which I am pleased to say has never come up.
Some of these emails are very valuable and you will find I have copied some anonymously on the Students Commentary page found in the section for information for Current Students.
We will have one more seminar before year end. Details on this will be brought forward to your instructors by October 15th. (I have something up my sleeve).
Also, I will be conducting a session before year end for those acting as assistant instructors in the various classes. This is long overdue and details will be forthcoming for this session as well.
As always, keep up the good work. I always welcome comments and suggestions.
Sifu Britt 10/03/2005
I am sure everyone has been watching the images of destruction and suffering in the gulf coast area. It is impossible to not be touched at a deep level. Many of our students have friends and family in the gulf area affected and some have spent a significant part of their life living in these areas.
My heart goes out to those affected. I am sure everyone’s does……
It is easy to feel powerless in such circumstances, but there are things that can be done: donations to relief agencies and so on. And as the situation evolves there will be many other areas of assistance that will develop where we may be able to assist.
Many true realizations come from events such as the Tsunami, the London bombings and Katrina. These events make us more thankful for what we have. They also cause us to delve deeply into the more philosophic questions like ‘why does suffering exist?’
I am not any more capable of answering these questions than any other person but as a Tai Chi Chuan instructor I do have something to say when it comes to the coping skills and tools practitioners have to overcome the damages and strains caused by stress.
The restoration and rebalancing of the physical system is the main reason people practice Tai Chi Chuan. As we open the circulation, deepen and enhance breathing and calm and focus the mind we are overcoming the physical symptoms of stress damage.
I have seen in the past week people walking into classes saddened and downcast. How can one not be watching the news? But after some time training I see life coming back into people, smiles growing, joy and laughter.
It is at this point, when well-being is being re-established that a student can trip themselves up. It is natural to feel some guilt when experiencing joy while others suffer so terribly. A feeling of guilt can creep in as we may think that we are somehow callous or disconnected from our hearts in experiencing this joy. We can ask ourselves if our happiness means that somehow we do not care enough.
Please do not go there. It is in times of trouble that it becomes essential that someone maintains a positive attitude. If a person is in the mud themselves there is no way they can pull another out of the mud. Depression and sadness rob us our motivation, our creativity, our problem solving skills, our energy; all the things we need so desperately to call upon in order to help our families, friends and ourselves in times of need.
We are so highly blessed to have a system of training to overcome the damages of repetitive stress. We should be thankful for this and go forward in joy, as joy is infectious.
August has been a good month for us. The plans for the banquet are coming forward smoothly. This will be a wonderful event and I remind you that your friends and family are welcome at this celebration.
All looks locked in with the venue being The Sterling Inn, the date being Sunday December the fourth, reception at 6:00 p.m.
Tickets are $35.00 and we are accepting advanced deposits now to hold the room deposit.
As always I wish to thank everyone for their support and hard work!
Sifu Britt 9/03/2005
Well here we are in August now, still in the dead of heat, and hopefully enjoying every moment of it. (Remember February?).
At the central classes here we have been hard at work this summer, handing out new forms, consolidating what we are already working on, strengthening our assistant instructors, building websites and chat rooms, giving demonstrations and keeping up with our seminar schedule.
A lot of good information has been going out and I am very pleased to see everyone taking hold of it and running with it in their training.
There is a lot of pressure ‘out there’ in this world of ours and we are so blessed to have a method to train which enables us to shed some of our daily tension. It is good to have somewhere to go at days end to work it all out, share some laughs with friends while learning and progressing in knowledge and techniques that are taking us forward. In turn I know you are all taking your enthusiasm and progress back to your family and business life refreshed to handle those challenges life hands to us.
As I look ahead into this month and September I see much that needs to be done.
On the smallest scale is more work on the website, finishing the photo gallery and processing more video.
I am also gearing up for online classes to start in September. More information will be coming on this soon.
The more important project on my plate though relates to communication; specifically between all the students in the various classes we teach.
It has been an issue with me for a very long time. We have students working hard all over the city being competently instructed by Sifu’s John, Michael, Sandy, Sam and Arlene, but there is very little interaction between the students. As a result there are many people who share a common interest that would benefit from working with each other that are rarely given the opportunity.
This is a tremendous loss of a golden opportunity I am no longer able to abide.
There are several things to do about this unfortunate circumstance.
First, we have a mailing list between the students that I am asking everyone to become a part of. By having your email address added to this list you will receive first hand information relating to changes and events upcoming. It is true that these will be and are being posted on the newsletter of this site, but not everyone checks in every day. We also pass on various submissions from the members, some humorous, some informational which students wish to share with each other. There are people from all over the world on this list, so we get some wonderful submissions.
To have your name added to this list please send an email to Sifu Britt, and add a note as to which teacher you study with and at what location your classes are held.
Email submissions for consideration should be sent to this address, and, if they are PC enough and not recent repeats they will be forwarded accordingly.
Secondly, over the next six weeks I will be attending all of the classes everywhere, meet with all of you and observe your training. I need an overview of all of our activities to help coordinate the efforts of our staff to give you the best possible training environment, to plan marketing and to plan class expansion.
Thirdly we desperately need your input. We are now very much ready to increase the numbers of classes we provide. If you know of a place, an organization, church or business that would be interested or might be interested in having classes, please let me know by contacting me at Sifu Britt. A contact name or even just a telephone number would be of great assistance. This includes submissions from our out-of-state and our international contacts as well. Seminars held out of state leading to classes are part of what we do.
Fourthly comes our readiness to perform demonstrations of Tai Chi Chuan. We have an excellent team that will demonstrate free of charge at local events, businesses, churches, hospitals, community centers….anywhere where people would enjoy seeing Tai Chi Chuan. If you have ideas as to whom we should contact in this regard, please contact me at Sifu Britt.
Fifth comes media. We have tremendous experience in presenting the art to the media; newspapers, magazines, radio and television. If you have any ideas for approaching media sources for interviews and so on contact me at Sifu Britt.
(Incidentally, the above contact hyperlinks all have different subject headings, so use the link in the paragraph that applies. I confuse easily!).
Last and by no means least I am planning a dinner for all of our students metro-wide, and all of our supporters through hospitals, community centers, seniors’ centers and so on. I intend to have this dinner in November and am researching the location now. We will, of course, be eating, but there will also be a demonstration given by the senior students and disciples, recognition awards, music and entertainment. Since 1987 people in this city have worked so hard in the support of the school that it is time we patted ourselves on the back and had some fun.
This dinner will be open to family and friends as well so it will be an excellent opportunity for them to see first hand what you have been up to all these years.
In short, we have the world at our fingertips here. We are ready to grow. If we let this opportunity and timing slip through our hands we will have only ourselves to blame. 8/03/2005
Here we are now in the full heat of the summer.
It makes me very happy to see everyone training with such high spirits and enthusiasm in spite of our lack of air conditioning!
There have been some big changes in the last month. I faced what has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life and had to choose, after 30 years, to separate from the international academies and teach on my own.
This was purely my own decision, for which I have my own reasons all of which will remain unspoken. I am pleased, (no, not pleased), over-whelmed at the tremendous support I have received in this decision.
The message this month is brief.
I just want to again thank everyone for their support and commitment as we look forward to continuing instruction with dedication and good-will!
Sifu, 07/12/2005
As I have been working through the process of building this web site I have had much time to reflect, (mostly on how little I know about computers!), but also, and more importantly on the history of the development of our Detroit Academy and everything we have had to go through to get where we are.
It has been a difficult road.
When we first started every student was in effect a pioneer. I knew Wu Style, the students had yet to learn. We started from scratch. Learning Tai Chi Chuan is very difficult. Far more difficult than most people imagine when considering beginning classes. All the literature speaks of "meditation in motion" or "gentle relaxed exercise", but, as you all know, learning is hard work. Physically, emotionally and mentally.
This is true for the student in even the most supportive and established of schools. For those learning in Detroit the only support system available was my encouragement. There were no senior students to share their experiences. There was no cultural background to aid in understanding the art form.
Over the years many students fell by the way-side. Some felt the art was too difficult. Some were simply disinterested. Some dropped out from what they perceived of as "politics", (which in reality is just the natural result of strangers coming together trying to attune to a common goal without knowing what that goal should be, and yet convinced they know better than most). Some left after a short time feeling they had learned everything there was to learn. There are many other reasons people have left. I would truly hope no-one left because they felt ill-treated by me, but I suppose that is inevitable...
It is true that I care about every person that has left. Whether people understand it or not I teach out of and because of my love for people, and an overpowering drive in me to help others if I can. This has always and will always be true. But I cannot afford to be discouraged or saddened for those who have gone. The door is always open for them and they know this if they are honest with themselves. I save my energy for those who are before me. For those with the tenacity and long range vision to see Tai Chi Chuan for what it is. A lifestyle.
We train Tai Chi Chuan for longevity. Not necessarily in terms of years of life, but rather in terms of longevity in quality of life.
In most forms of physical training people speak of maintaining health, as do Tai Chi Chuan practitioners, but Tai Chi Chuan is unique in that the longer we train, the more we understand the art, the more we can do, and the greater the benefit we receive from each training session. For this reason we cannot realistically look at Tai Chi Chuan as a course of study from which we graduate, but rather as a part of our lives; something we do as part of our weekly routine that we do of our own free will, that we enjoy, and that we benefit from.
This positioning can only be arrived at by avoiding politics. If we are looking around the school to see who is popular or unpopular, or trying to trip-up the Sifu, or trying to manipulate the opinions of others or convince others of our importance, our stay in Tai Chi Chuan will be very short indeed. All of these are side issues that have nothing to do with why the school or its' Sifu are there. We are there for the art.
I teach because I love people and I love the art. I believe the art form should be preserved because I can testify to its' effectiveness, both personally and for those I have seen improve that I have taught.
While building this site I had to, by necessity, take a look backward.
When I completed the site and opened it for the first time however I was "held" speechless in the present.
When I see all that has been achieved, the international tours, the classes we offer, the fine teachers we have generated, the experiences we have brought to our students, the healings we have witnessed, the personal growth the training has brought the students, the fellowship, the challenges we have overcome, the successes, the mistakes, the tears and the joy....
All I am left with is pride. Pride in all of you who have made this reality manifest. I thank all of you who have persevered in your training and in your support of the school, and, most importantly, I am eagerly driven to teach. Your support and success is my motivation and I am in a hurry to see what good things the future will bring to us!
Sifu, 06/05/2005