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You are here: Home / Archives for Ben Sterling

How old is too old to start Tai Chi?

April 27, 2016 by Ben Sterling Leave a Comment

I hear this question a lot:

“Am I too old to start training Tai Chi? I’m well aware that there are many masters in their 60s, 70s 80s & older that are capable of tremendous feats…but I’m fairly certain that most, if not all, started their training at an age earlier than mine.”

There is a myth that Tai Chi & the Internal Arts take a lifetime to master.

This is a MYTH.

Teachers who don’t teach spread this myth so that in 5, 10 or 20 years you won’t question the fact that you are still at a beginner level in these arts.

There is a grain of truth hidden in the myth (that makes it believable.)

These arts ARE deep enough that you can continue to gain skill and knowledge throughout your entire life.

Don’t confuse “can be studied for a lifetime” with “takes a lifetime to learn.”

Mastery = Comprehensive knowledge and skill in a subject.

20 years is plenty of time to become highly skilled. (for Tai Chi. Simpler arts will take a lot less time.)

Learning to fight effectively doesn’t take nearly as long.

When you look at masters that started young they were often considered masters in their late 20’s / early 30’s.

Yang Chen Fu for example began teaching publicly at 31 (so probably about 20 – 25 years of experience.)

He was one of the first Tai Chi folks to teach publicly so there’s no way he started doing that without already being a master of the art at the top of his game.

An example of someone who started a little later in life is master Li Nang-jan.

He started learning Xing Yi Quan when he was 37 and was considered a master by the time he was 47.

…and when you are older Tai Chi is much better suited to training than Xing Yi is.

No matter where you’re starting from our how old you are, you will gain a whole lot of benefit from the study of Tai Chi.

So, what’s the best place to get started?

Start trial membership of Clear’s Tai Chi Online.

This will give you everything you need to quickly build a strong internal foundation and then move on to intermediate and advanced internal skills.

Filed Under: Tai Chi

Why belief is BS (but also essential)

March 18, 2016 by Ben Sterling Leave a Comment

Last week a reader asked:

“Can I do this if I don’t believe it?”

First, if you don’t believe you can accomplish a goal, you probably wont.

…but there are two kinds of belief.

And you only need one of them. (either one can work.)

Some people accomplish their goals simply because they have faith. Sometimes they don’t realize what they’re doing is supposed to be impossible or they simple don’t care.

This type of belief can have it’s drawbacks but it has worked very effectively for many people and it’s essential if you’re doing something that has never been done before.

The second type is belief based on experience or observation.

It shouldn’t be too hard to believe that you can learn to play guitar when you can go on youtube and see millions of people of all skill levels and from all different backgrounds doing just that.

There are many feats that were thought impossible until someone did it.

And once someone showed it could be done, many more followed in their footsteps.

(Look up Roger Bannister and the 4 minute mile if you’re not familiar.)

One reason our programs are so effective is because we use this second type of belief to help you succeed.

For example, in the Fa Kung energy healing course you learn to do some pretty extraordinary stuff. When people see the end result they often think it would require blind faith (or delusion.)

…but when you learn it, you start from square one and build step by step. Simple drills and exercises first and then more complex skills later.

When you go through that course, you believe in Qi because you can feel it.

You believe in your ability to manipulate energy and affect another person because you’ve done it, and you’ve felt someone do it to you. And you’ve been shown a clear path to achieving greater skill and seen examples of what can be done at a higher level with more practice.

Next month, we’ll be talking about Clear Defense. A completely different end of the spectrum from the energy healing stuff.

But just like the Fa Kung you’ll learn a bunch of skill that many folks think are impossible or that cannot be learn without decades of training.

And just like in the Fa Kung, you’ll learn step by step, one piece at time. So by the end of it you’ll understand how it works & why it works because you’ve done it.

Here’s another example from our Level 2 Tai Chi class a couple weeks ago.

The end result is something a lot of folks like to criticize, but as Sigung Clear explains it comes from some fairly basic principles.

All you have to do is study hard and practice a lot. Just like getting good at any other skill.

Here’s the video:

If you like it, please share it.

Because Youtube is the greatest thing that has happened to internal martial arts ever.

Youtube allows billions of people instant access to thousands of martial arts masters.

…and millions of other martial artists at all different levels of experience and skill.

There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done to increase the overall quality & accessibility of internal arts instruction.

We need more teachers teaching and for that we need more students working to become teachers.

And that will take time and hard work.

…but the other piece of the puzzle is inspiring people by showing them what is possible.

And for that, all you have to do is share a video. Of course we’d love it if you shared one of ours, but any video by a teacher you respect will benefit the martial arts community.

Filed Under: Tai Chi Tagged With: qigong, Tai Chi

Why Tai Chi may not help you.

August 4, 2015 by Ben Sterling Leave a Comment

One of the most common selling points of Tai Chi is it’s ability to rehab old injuries.

Many teachers tout these benefits citing the many studies that show these types of results.

…and yet their students are often disappointed to find they don’t get anything more than what general exercise can provide.

The teacher failed to understand that one size does not fit all.

Unfortunately, simply doing a Tai Chi set isn’t enough.

The first step is doing your Tai Chi set with the proper internal principles. This will provide many general health benefits. However, it falls far short of the full potential that Tai Chi has to offer.

To get the full rehab benefits of Tai Chi you must tailor your set to target the specific issue you wish to address.

Tai Chi Basic Skills Lessons 36 – 40 teach the principles behind using a Tai Chi set to help rehabilitate injuries. So you can adapt whatever Tai Chi set you know to your specific issues.

It also teaches how to specifically target Knee, Spine, Hip and Elbow issues with your Tai Chi.

These lessons are available right now in Clear’s Tai Chi Online.

Try it now for only $5.

Filed Under: Tai Chi

Buyer Beware! Test Drive that Art.

July 29, 2015 by Ben Sterling Leave a Comment

There’s a common myth that it should take months or years to see results from their internal arts training.

…but you wouldn’t buy a car without seeing if you like the way it drives would you?

When it comes to martial arts you should see if you can learn something before you invest lots of time and money.

After all just because a teacher makes good demos doesn’t mean they have skill,

…Just because they have skill doesn’t mean they will teach it…

…just because they are willing to teach doesn’t mean they’re any good at teaching or that their teaching style will fit your learning style.

So, give it a test run.

For example, try the Free Fundamentals of Bagua course.

It contains over 30 lessons (not demos) that teach principles, drills and techniques of Baguazhang.

This isn’t a series of demos showing what WE can do..

This is a test drive that lets you find out exactly what YOU can learn at home.

We even provide forums to help you find training partners, ask questions & get feedback. (many teachers don’t even provide Q&A on videos you’ve paid for)

It’s not as flashy as a demo. …and you’ll have to put in a little work.

If you learn something useful, If you see tangible benefits from the free course, then you’ll be able to get much more out of our paid courses.

They are much more extensive & in depth.

If you don’t get something out of it, that’s ok too. You’re probably better off finding a teacher who fits your learning style better.

…of course we’d like to try and troubleshoot any issues you have in the forums. We are always working on become better teachers.

Either way, you’ll have a pretty good idea of whether our Bagua is for you or not.

Now, there are skills that take years of work and development to get to.

…but even Bagua, as big and complicated as it is, should deliver significant tangible results quickly.

Functional self defense skill is attainable within a year. (If you work hard and do a multiple opponent drills frequently.)

If you’ve been enjoying the free Bagua course then you should check out the Baguazhang intensive. It teaches a whole lot more with much more depth and detail.

For a big list of what’s in this course go here:

https://www.clearmartialarts.com/bagua-online/

…but hurry enrollment closes on Friday.

Filed Under: Baguazhang

All Bagua is good Bagua (even when it’s not so good.)

July 27, 2015 by Ben Sterling 1 Comment

All Bagua is good. (even when it’s not so good.)

Here’s the thing:

Any art is a pyramid of skill.

Bagua, Yoga, knitting. It’s all the same.

At the bottom you have a large group of hobbyists with low skill. In the middle there’s a smaller group of people who are decent.

…and you have a small group at the top who are world class.

As an art grows, the number of hobbyists grows faster and larger than those who are highly skilled.

This is essential to increasing the amount of quality stuff at the high end.

Baguazhang students having fun with circle walking drills at the 2014 Baguazhang workshop.
Baguazhang students having fun with circle walking drills at the 2014 Baguazhang workshop.

To help Bagua flourish we need to do 2 things:

1. Support & encourage the low level hobbyists. Even if they never try to expand their own skill, they are excellent training partners and can help others begin training the art.

2. Provide a clear path to intermediate and advanced skill. All too often this can get clouded in petty politics between systems and all that bickering damages that base of hobbyists who will quit and go somewhere more pleasant.

Fortunately, in the internet age it’s easier than ever before to provide information and find information. We just need to make good info available.

Finding training partners and connecting with other practitioners is easier than ever as well.

The free Fighting Fundamentals Course is designed to do just this.

It provides an education in how to use the core Bagua principles and it includes a forum to discuss Bagua and find other folks to train with.

The goal is to create as many Bagua enthusiasts as possible. Whether folks dabble with the program or go on to pursue the highest levels of the art (with us or anyone else) they will be a valuable asset to the art and community of Bagua as a whole.

Of course, we hope you’ll like it so much that you’ll join the Bagua Intensive where we go into much more depth on how Bagua fights, body methods, energies and advanced Yi training.

Enrollment in the intensive closes July 31st.

https://www.clearmartialarts.com/bagua-online/

Filed Under: Baguazhang Tagged With: Baguazhang

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