Stages
Over my many years of training in TC I have gained a wealth of information and knowledge. Some of which is on this site and the rest is inscribed on bamboo scrolls guarded by celestial dragons.
But how, what and who to teach is always difficult. When I first started teaching I tried to teach everyone everything regardless of their ability and attitude, but as one of my teachers said ' you can’t make a 2 stroke engine into a 4 stroke', some-people will never be ‘masters’ and it's wrong to deceive your students that they will be. They may just not have what it takes but that doesn't mean they can't benefit from TC, its ok to be just a student. (But if you must become a teacher, guard against believing your own hype- the title of master is given to you by others not promoted by yourself.)
I don't believe TC should try to be totally inclusive, the student should fit the style not the other way round. How much and what aspects of the style the student is taught, depends on the amount of effort they are prepared to put in and whether they have the appropriate mental and physical capabilities to understand the stages shown.
The first four stages relate to solo forms practice- all students.
1. Breathing
2. Relaxation & softness
3. Posture
4. Movement
The next two plus the previous four relate to pushing hands drills with a partner- some students.
5. Listening
6. Following
The last four plus the previous six relate to actual martial applications & self defence- a hand full of students.
7. Body & mind conditioning
8. Evade & divert
9. Discharge
10. Escape
I haven't gone into great detail explaining these stages here, because the key is not just to understand them intellectually but to actually physically ‘feel’ them by regular practice both in and outside a class. Many things can't be written, read or spoken about but only experienced. The knowledge is therefore in the doing.
For the minority of my students who can understand all these stages in both the heart and the mind, well maybe it's time to ask the dragons if you can have a look at those scrolls.