Tai chi

I met Bob Amacker through my tai chi teacher, Tom Baeli, about 14-15 years ago. He taught a seminar for Tom's students at my studio. I sat in on it and have to say that when he said something to the effect of "If you can't do a side-kick, you're not doing tai chi", I gave a mental cheer. Bob does the ch'uan (fist) martial application of tai chi. He made a few analogies that I refer to today when I teach and his presentation confirmed once again that certain principles cross cross style and system lines.

Tom recently got an e-mail from Bob, who is currently living and teaching in Moscow. Yes, the Russian Moscow, not Idaho. Below is what Bob wrote.



Please give my best to Lee Wedlake. He is one of the few people in America that seems interested in TCC as something other than an inadequate religion, and I really appreciate his interest, more than he can imagine.



I'm sure that some of the stuff in that workshop (at Lee's) I may have revised or even contradicted by now, as my understanding is much greater than at that time.

Tell Lee that my martial explanations were actually somewhat incomplete, as I did not understand the full implications of the separation of substantial and insubstantial. One thing is for sure: T'ai Chi Ch'uan is the most sophisticated view of boxing that has ever been created, and there seems no end to its depth. How anyone can call himself a master of it is beyond my comprehension, and my respect for the geniuses who contributed to its evolution constantly increases.



Bob mirrors my thinking in that the complexities of the arts make mastery truly difficult and the level of genius is astounding. He also acknowledges that we grow over time and that what we taught in the past may not be what we teach today. I hear complaints from people that their teachers don't teach the way they did before or what they did previously. But teachers have to grow, too and that creates change. I have to thank both Tom and Bob for this short exchange. There are substantial lessons here.



You can see Bob on YouTube. His website is www.bobamacker.com
Tom Baeli has a site at www.stonemonkeytaichi.com