Breaking In

Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping for tips on breaking into things.

There is all sorts of terrific advice about how to practise tai chi, how much, how long, in which direction to face and so forth.

Quality of practise is important and prescribed in preference to doing lots of forms etc just for the sake of it.

Certainly the quality of what you practise is vital on your journey but as a beginner I feel there is a need to do a lot of spade work as part of the breaking in process.

For me it felt that there had to be a sufficient volume of practise to take me past a certain point in my development.

John Kells told me in 1983 that he had never had a student who practised so much and that I should continue to do so, regardless of what others might say. I have endeavoured to live up to this as much as possible. In fact, the more I practise the more I feel that the breaking in process is, in fact, neverending.