Perseverance

Qigong gets easier with practice. 
Your body becomes conditioned and you no longer notice the difficulty.

Students who train regularly at home find that the exercises become ingrained quite rapidly. They gain a fantastic sense of relaxation and feel energised. Their bodies also become far stronger and resilient. 
When you feel good, it is easy to exercise. You want to exercise.

Becoming a disciple

The first step on the path to claiming lineage involves becoming a lineage disciple.
This is easy enough.
You simply need to meet the qualifying criteria, undertake the bai shi ceremony and start training at this level.

Quietude

A taijiquan person does not seek success and recognition. They have no use for such things.
Life is complex enough and riddled with hardships without inviting the scrutiny of others or indulging our own weaknesses and vanities.

The simple life is the preferred one. No fuss. No bother. No fame. No authority.

We do not live such a life because it is expected of us. That would be false. A conceit.
The decision to be this way occurs naturally and spontaneously.
No other way would seem appropriate.

100 day challenge

We encourage all students to commit to a daily regime for 100 days. 
No days off. No respite. No lies. No excuses. Day after day after day of training.
This will lay the foundation. 

After 100 days you should be fitter. The habit of training each day will be ingrained.

Power

Beginners focus upon gaining a basic familiarity with the exercises.

Intermediate students seek to improve their biomechanical efficiency in order to develop 'obvious power' (ming jing). 
This stage of practice is all about coordinated movement: "square on the inside, round on the outside."
The student avoids locking their joints, tensing muscles, leaning, stooping and using force.

Experienced students study hidden power (an jing), making the movements smoother, more flowing and less overt.
Every exercise is infused with neigong.

An expert achieves refined power (hua jing) by doing most of their work internally.

Cord: Who are you?

Blind shepherd: Whoever you think I am or want me to be, I am.

(The Silent Flute)

Kung fu in our school

Master Waller offers: 

• Chin na
• Shuai jiao
• Baguazhang
• Taijiquan
• Hard qigong
• Self defence
• Neigong• Jing
• Weapons
• San sau
• San da

Students work through a detailed syllabus.

Hard qigong

'Hard qigong' refers to qigong exercises that are martial in nature. They are specifically intended to augment the kung fu syllabus.
The main purpose of hard qigong is strength.
Unlike gym work or weight lifting, nothing is forced.

Many hard qigong exponents train this way in order to perform feats of strength and endurance. This is not really our focus.

The body mechanics of the internal martial arts are significantly more sophisticated than those of the external martial arts. 

(Bruce Frantzis)

What is kung fu?

Chinese martial arts are commonly referred to as 'kung fu'.

Kung fu (or gong fu) literally means hard work, time, skill. 
More specifically: combat skill.  

Is it really internal?

Studying taijiquan or baguazhang does not make a student an 'internal' martial artist.
It all depends on how you train the art.
It is possible (and common) to perform the martial art 'externally'.
Also, most taijiquan classes are 'tai chi for health' and therefore not an internal martial arts class at all.

Ming jing

Intermediate students must work towards acquiring 'ming jing' - obvious power.
 Requirements:

 • Some degree of exaggerated, large movement
 • Connection through the back
 • Rotation of the axis
 • Large waist turns
 • Distinct weight shifts
 • Remain balanced at all times
 • Take the balance
 • Do not strike a rooted body
 • Keep the muscles soft (relaxed)

 Be very careful not to use muscle tension (contraction), locked joints, disconnected arms or force against force.

Shuai jiao

Shuai jiao is a very good self defence skill.
It teaches you how to keep the body free and mobile, and see opportunities within every situation.

Students learn shuai jiao from the very beginning.

A young boy travelled across Japan to the school of a famous martial artist.
When he arrived at the dojo he was given an audience by the sensei.

"What do you wish from me?" the master asked.

"I wish to be your student and become the finest karateka in the land," the boy replied.
"How long must I study?"

"Ten years at least," the master answered.

"Ten years is a long time," said the boy.
"What if I studied twice as hard as all your other students?"

"Twenty years," replied the master.

"Twenty years! What if I practice day and night with all my effort?"

"Thirty years," was the master's reply.

"How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer?" the boy asked.

"The answer is clear. When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the way."

(Joe Hyams)

Scholar

A kung fu master needs to be a scholar.
The practical skills of kung fu will not work without the requisite theory underpinning them.
Kung fu is based upon a complex theoretical foundation, explained in the taoist classics and the Tai Chi Classics.

Master Waller holds an honours degree in literature and a post-graduate certificate in education.
His main website is called Neijiaquan: The Inner School.

Kung fu master

A kung fu master has made a lifelong commitment to the furtherance of the art.
His skills are an embodiment of the principles outlined in the Tai Chi Classics. He can apply these qualities in every situation with absolute ease and certainty.
The master has in-depth understanding of every facet of every exercise/form/drill/application. He possesses the ability to dismantle and explain how and why the different components operate.

The main test of mastery is his unselfconscious, skilled and utterly effective application of the art in combat; employing chin na, shuai jiao and jing.
Grace, ease, subtlety, sensitivity, nimbleness, appropriateness and simplicity are all a given for the master.
He has comprehensive theoretical knowledge and the ability to discuss and explain how taoism, martial theory and actual application all tie together.

The master has the ability to train other people to become instructors.
And the willingness to train disciples to acquire every aspect of the teaching in order to perpetuate the art themselves.

Martial arts

In the mid 1970's Master Waller started martial arts training; both in class and daily at home.
During the 1980's and 1990's Master Waller attended up to five different lessons a week, sometimes travelling over 40 miles for tuition.
He also attended a considerable number of workshops around the UK.

As a young man Master Waller enjoyed practicing many different kinds of martial arts before focussing on the Chinese internal martial arts.