The Last 2 Weekends with Master Choi

Some Reminiscences of 30 Years of Practicing T'ai-Chi Ch'uan
by Ray Hayward

2007 marks my 30 year anniversary of learning and practicing T'ai-Chi. Although my exact date is July 31st, I am taking this year to look back on 30 years, celebrate and share, and to project and dream about another 30 years.

I began my T'ai-Chi journey in 1977 after practicing Kenpo Karate for four years. I had been reading many books about martial arts and T'ai-Chi interested me. I began looking around for a T'ai-Chi instructor and first began practicing a style called Hwa Yu T'ai-Chi. I had read that a famous T'ai-Chi master, Master T.T. Liang, was teaching in Boston but he did not advertise and I couldn't find his school or him. At the Hwa Yu School the instructor lent me a book by T.T. Liang and it had photographs of him in it. While walking down the street one day I actually recognized Master Liang walking on the sidewalk. I stopped him and asked if I could study with him. He told me to come the following week and that began my great good fortune.

I learned the complete system of Yang Style T'ai-Chi Chuan from Master Liang as well as Praying Mantis, Ch'in-na, and various weapons. Not only did I study at various studios in Boston, but I practiced in two parks with Master Liang: the Rose Garden at Fenway Park and the Public Gardens next to the Boston Common. I also followed Master Liang to Minnesota, and I visited and studied with him in Florida, New Jersey, and in California. I met many classmates and friends while studying with Master Liang, most notably my three Pauls: Paul Parrotta, Paul Gallagher and Paul Abdella.

I also learned Yang style T'ai-Chi and studied the T'ai-Chi classics with Paul Gallagher. I learned Chen style T'ai-Chi with Dr. Leung Kay-Chi and for the last few years I have been learning the combined style of T'ai-Chi from Grandmaster Wai-lun Choi. Here is an example of how differently two masters can look at the same principle. Master Liang told us to tuck our hips, but to be careful not to tuck too much. Master Choi on the other hand stressed that you can't tuck your hips enough.

Teaching has been an integral part of my journey. First as a helper in Master Liang's classes, then by being given my first teaching assignment by Master Liang, and teaching around the Boston area. I was a guest instructor at the first five Deer Mountain Taoist Academy retreats in Vermont. I've taught T'ai-Chi in Massachusetts, Vermont, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, Florida, New York, Manitoba, and I even taught a short course in London, as well as many places in Minnesota.

I am truly lucky for I found the art that I wanted to practice for my whole life at an early age. I am just as excited to learn and practice today as I was 30 years ago. I am still researching and exploring daily, and I am eager to share my findings. I am seeking to refine my art and to continue my journey towards the unseen and mysterious. I've spent the last 30 years learning, practicing, and researching the entire system as well as exploring other systems. I had heard from many sources that T'ai-Chi as a system was missing parts and that the self-defense and higher levels of meditation had been lost. Master Liang always told us, "Everything is in it (T'ai-Chi), all the practical use, health maintenance, and Taoist meditation". Because Master Liang’s emphasis had been on health and well-being, the self-defense and fighting aspects were not emphasized. Although Master Liang knew them, and taught us many of the advanced theories, techniques, and principles, he was most concerned with health and the "changing of temperament.” After studying with Grandmaster Wai-lun Choi I was able to see that T'ai-Chi is indeed a complete system and has all the components and levels. Through Master Choi's guidance I was able to see the training methods necessary to bring these out.

What do the next 30 years hold for me? If God grants me 30 more years of life and health, then these are some of my foreseeable plans and goals. I want to refine the right side of my solo form while strengthening the left side. I want to practice the complete T’ai-Chi Ch’uan system every day. I have a few changes to make to the Solo Form and some for the weapons forms and San-Shou as well. I would like to catalog the complete system in books and DVDs and I have a third of my next project, a book about the Pushing-Hands, already written. I would like to fine-tune and make the most out of the studio’s schedule, open a second studio, and find two apprentices to train as my successors. 30 years from now, God willing, I will be 77, the age Master Liang was when I met him. He was just beginning the most productive and influential stage of his T'ai-Chi teaching career. I hope to be seeing my students reaching the peak of their teaching careers.

When I began studying T’ai-Chi, Master T.T. Liang was 77 years old and had just reached his 30th anniversary of T’ai-Chi practice. Many times he would begin a lesson with “After 30 years I found this to be true or that to be true.” I can now say after 30 years I have some truths, or rather, experiences, I would like to share with you.

1. Concerning the Solo Form, I believe it is good in the beginning to practice it in a group, with a leader or an outside rhythm and tempo. But after 30 years I believe the only way to master your Solo Form is to practice it by yourself with your own internal and personal rhythm and speed.

2. With all my teaching experience I believe that women students should begin practicing the Pushing-Hands exercises with other women for the first six months so that they become empowered and comfortable before they join a mixed gender class. I believe men need to emphasize sensitivity when first learning the Pushing-Hands exercise and strive to proportionally increase their skill while decreasing their aggression.

3. After 30 years of reading, studying, researching, and practicing the principles and theories from the T’ai-Chi Classics I can now say that some of the Classics are wrong, some I fully understand, some I know even better than the writer, some I haven’t deciphered, and some are truly profound and mysterious.

4. I’ve had some really great teachers. How do I define a great teacher? Four essential qualities: they have to be able to get me to the next level, they have to be able to teach me how to learn, they have to show me a new way of looking at old material, and they have to inspire me, not necessarily with their skills, but with their knowledge, commitment, and enthusiasm. A good teacher is someone who knows how to put the right carrot in front of the right donkey.

5. I look at students as tortoises and hares. I’m not impressed with quick results. I am more impressed with longevity, commitment, loyalty, and perseverance. Master Liang warned us that when you practice T’ai-Chi, … “even 10 years is a short time.”

6. There is a phenomenon which Paul Gallagher coined as “Tai-chi friends.” These are the people you work-out with, not against. You share a common bond of research and practice. Paul Gallagher taught me the scholarly and gentlemanly way to compare skills and understanding. I was more than happy when I was younger to compare my skills, full out and full ego. This, of course, makes many enemies. To work slowly with another person looking at techniques in great detail is the fast track to accomplishment. I try to instill this method in my classes so that everyone will have a good partner, and be a good partner. Indeed, one of the sayings that we use at the studio came from this experience. Maybe you’ve heard someone say, “A good partner is worth 1,000 gold bars.”

7. Did I mention sacrifice? In any pursuit there must be sacrifice, compromise, and loss. On this night of celebration I don’t feel it is appropriate to tell the tale of my own personal sacrifices.

8. I would say that group classes are great, but I don’t believe I could be where I am now without continuous private classes. From the very beginning I studied with Master Liang in weekly private classes as well as in group classes. The vast majority of classes I’ve studied with Master Choi have been private lessons. I don’t believe you can learn deeply if your only exposure to T’ai-Chi is through weekend workshops and seminars. There is magic in T’ai-Chi. I can’t define that magic but I’ve experienced it many times and it has always been person-to-person. In a good teacher-student relationship, the mystical and unspoken lessons are conveyed through that relationship. The Chinese call this “passed from my mouth to your heart.” It’s hard for this to happen in a crowd, although occasionally, it does.

Next year I celebrate 30 years of practicing Praying Mantis Kung Fu, and the following year, Hsing-Yi and Pa-Kua and I will give them a feature in the corresponding New Year Demos. I would like to conclude with one thought and one summation.

Here's my thought:

If speed, power, youth, aggression, and arrogance are the secrets of T'ai-Chi, then it is no better than any other exercise or martial art. What makes T'ai-Chi the "supreme ultimate" is slow-motion, softness, yielding, non-action, and humility. I believe these are the real secrets. They are not hidden, or lost, but are out in the open for anyone brave enough to embrace them.

After 30 years I feel I can use four words to sum up my T'ai-Chi experience so far:

relax

sink

unify

enjoy

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