Tai Chi, Ba Kua, Hsing Yi in London THE ROSE LI
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The Rose Li School
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The Rose Li System™
The majority of Miss Li’s students would remember her teaching in the form of spontaneous or sometimes one-off comments to their group or rarely, or if you were lucky, to you individually. Much of the time tuition consisted of 'go away and practice'. In fact, Miss Li's teaching methodology changed and developed considerably over the years. Students prior to the mid-1980s were taught mostly form whereas students taught during the later years of her life were given many more 'clues' to the key concepts of Nei Jia. I believe the reason for this was twofold. First, the longer you were her student the greater her trust, and secondly, as she grew older and closer to death, the more imperative it became that the debt she held to Teng Yun Feng had to be paid: this was to pass on and preserve his knowledge.

For her open classes, the ethos was to teach to the group as a whole and not the individual. If a comment was made to an individual then the whole group would be part of the process. That she could make a group statement feel like she was talking to you personally says a lot about her ability as a teacher. The individual, however, had to earn the right to be given tuition. This was gained by practice, pure and simple. That tuition was earned, based upon your amount of practice, was founded on the essence of Nei Jia: you do Nei Jia. The role of a teacher was to guide the student: earning the right to obtain tuition was part of the tuition in and of itself, otherwise the teacher would steal the student's discoveries. But what lay behind Miss Li's seemingly random set of teaching comments was a logical and systematic structure: the 'System'. It was for this reason that Teng Yun Feng would say not to use his name to justify anything. You have to use cold, hard logic and knowledge to gain insight into what you do; to quote Teng: "I don't know very much, but what I do know, I know well".

Unfortunately, for many of Miss Li's students, and particularly those who were not taught Xing Yi, the beauty and sophistication of the System was never experienced; it was enough to say that they were a 'Miss Li student', even though the essence of the System was, and continues to be, a complete mystery. For a fair proportion of her students, the reason for remaining a 'Miss Li student', beyond the enormous loyalty they held for her, was the feeling that another 'secret' was going to turn up, just around the corner. It never did as there are no secrets, just common sense, but then again everything is obvious once you know it.

The situation was further compounded in the 1990's and up to the time of her death by her obligation to Teng. Her dilemma was that she was indebted to Teng to pass on the System, however, the students were simply not up to the task. As time progressed, she was getting increasingly ill - the hereditary, Alzheimer's-like disease that had affected her grandmother was taking hold. Soon she would not be able to teach anything. What would happen after her death? Her solution was twofold, direct and typical Miss Li. The first strand of this solution was the 'Moses in the desert method'. Put the students through the grinder. See how they behave. If any survive, then fine. If no one survives, then they don't deserve it anyway. It doesn't matter if there are any of the students left as provision would be made to teach a new and second generation of student. This may sound callous, but will be familiar to all who knew her: "If someone crosses a river and is up to their knees in water then help them out. If they are up to their waist, then wait. If they are up to their neck, put your foot on their head and push them under". As Robert W Smith said, she could be a harsh taskmaster. The second strand to her solution was to make sure that the System would be transmitted whatever happened. The Rose Li School was born out of this. The issues were straight forward. How do you develop the traditional teaching system that Teng used to make sure that Westerners understood what they were learning? How do you ensure that the starting point is in actuality the System that Teng taught? How do you shed light on the System for the 'old students'? How do you teach so that the principles of the System become evident and can be utilised by martial artists from other systems? What emerged from these questions, is what we now call The Rose Li System™.

This teaching and learning system is distinctive and unique to the School. It is founded upon using simple forms to demonstrate the key characteristics of Nei Jia:
• Spiral motion
• Reverse breathing
• Stretching 'five ends'

These three characteristics in total define both Nei Jia and our System. The aim of all martial arts is the same and many other arts incorporate elements of these characteristics. For example, both Karate and Jujitsu have 'whiplash' aspects that are related to our concept of spiral motion, some Tai Chi systems use reverse breathing and elements of spiral motion - but none use all three.

The System is internal in that you do not need a training partner to practice its effectiveness - there is no resort to attempting a 'technique'. You will undergo a major shift in your perceptions about learning and practicing martial arts and what defines a 'traditional' martial art. In the Rose Li System™, a beginners learning is the responsibility of the instructor; there are no preconceptions. Learning is based upon simple, fundamental principles that you consistently apply to a wide number of differing situations. You learn by doing rather than rote copying your instructor. Because, as a beginner, you learn in a relaxed, practical way, you rapidly internalise what you are practicing. You are quickly able to adapt to your own strengths and weaknesses and have a continuous sense of progress. Learning Nei Jia in this way is very much like a child learning a language - once you have a basic syntax and common vocabulary, you can not only engage with your instructor but also with a world that would otherwise not be accessible. Being taught in this way means that what you learn you will never lose. This process is not merely an introduction to the School's methods but it also encapsulates the whole essence of the School's teaching ethos.

Maurice Passman
London June 2010

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