I write this review as one of Sifu Hayward’s devoted
and grateful
students, so a certain bias should be expected. The
new book,
Harmony in Motion, is a retrospective of a forty year
career of Ray
Hayward teaching Tai Chi Chuan. Forty years is a full
career in most
professions, though to my knowledge he intends to
continue. This
represents a milestone of one teacher in the eternal
process of learning,
developing and passing on skills to a new generation,
as has been done
since time immemorial. The acquisition of these skills
has always
required a huge amount of time and dedication. As
modernity has
advanced the number of people who can teach these
skills has shrunk
with each generation. Sifu Hayward is one of the few
from the second
half of the 20th Century who have learned those
skills from the previous
generation. He has diligently taught the willing to
produce another
generation.
The bulk of the book consist of essays by his
disciples That represent
the Seventh generation of Yang style Tai Chi Chuan. In
it they describe
their experience of both his depth and extraordinary
quality of teaching,
and that his character and kindness is on par with his
skill. His teaching
has been transformative for many more people whose
voices appear in
the book. The book itself is the product and
inspiration of several of his
disciples who urged the creation of the book and did a
very large
amount of the actual work. As such, it is largely a
testimonial of his
students in honor of their Teacher.
About a third of the book is Sifu Hayward’s comments
and a summary of
his system of teaching the skill of pushing hands. One
of Sifu
Hayward’s many skills is the rare ability to both
perform at a high level
and teach clearly to those who do not have the skill.
His section on
push hands is itself remarkable. It does not reveal
unknown practices,
but does present those skills in an organized
progression. His method is
teach these skills into five progressive stages so
that the drills are
learned in a comprehensive and comprehensible fashion.
I am
unaware of anyone who has laid out push hands training
in this sort of
clear format. This alone may be worth the price of the
book for many
serious students of Tai Chi Chuan.
https://www.lulu.com/shop/margo-bock-and-ray-hayward-and-julie-cisler/harmony-in-motion/paperback/product-84k78q9.html?srsltid=AfmBOoounZPT_AwT3JxUaSRp6Eao1QKh4RSMpeleHN2D5-YiLG7Yklc0&page=1&pageSize=4
No comments:
Post a Comment