Teacher Mannerisms

This year’s Teachers’ Conference in California was a first for me, and it was an enriching experience. We had a beautiful location, good fellowship, and lots of shared thoughts and information.

I’ve been thinking about how important it is for teachers, whenever possible, to attend the conferences as well as any teacher renewal sessions that are held.

As teachers we influence the way our students perform the T’ai Chi Chih moves. If we develop mannerisms they will be copied, and over a period of years will affect many hundreds of people. For example, one student I helped to prepare for the teacher training course had picked up a flourish from another teacher while doing the circle motion from Bird Flaps it’s Wings. This student made a circle eight instead of a simple circle. This is a small thing which could give the wrong information to a whole class.

I heard about a humorous incident which involved a class where the teacher brushed his brow with his fingers before beginning each move. This mannerism was copied by the entire class!

I personally use my video tape as a reference to keep myself on track, but I know I might from time to time, need correction.

It is important to keep the moves uniform to give the greatest benefits to our students. Also we should adhere to Justin Stone’s original concepts and pass them along properly.