A Day in the Life of… A T’ai Chi Chih Teacher

Many teachers have contacted me over the years and wanted to know how to become a “full-time” TCC teacher. At the teachers conference several teachers stop me at once with questions about my business, web site development, sales, marketing, class format, etc. I enjoy these conversations and want to expand on this topic with this article.

First, let me say that teaching the TCC discipline for a living is not as easy as it may appear. I still do some personal training a few hours per week because I like it and it helps pay my bills, but the majority (90%) of my income is from teaching TCC classes and selling TCC products. Here is a typical day for me:

• 4:30am – Wake up – TCC practice – 40 minutes
• 6:00am – Personal training client in their home
• 8:00am – Back home to eat and reply to emails & phone calls
• 10:00am – Take a walk
• 11:00am – TCC Presentation
• 12:00pm – Meeting about renting class space
• 1:00pm – Meeting about TV show production
• 3:00pm – Back home to eat, more emails, phone calls, fax press releases
• 4:00pm – Meditation – 30 minutes
• 4:30pm – Drive to class – 30 mile, one hour drive
• 6:00pm – Toning, the Jing, a few TCC movements before students show up
• 6:30pm – Teach beginner TCC class with 17 people – one hour
• 8:30pm – arrive back home for more emails and eating
• 10:30pm – sleeping…

Note: The night before I taught a two-hour Seijaku class from 7-9pm, I went right to bed after a small meal and some TV.

As you can tell, most of my time is spent either practicing the TCC movements, communicating with potential students, writing and sending out my newsletters, producing my TV show, marketing, etc. and not actually teaching class. I teach 10-12 classes per week, however my workweek is between 60-70 hours to make that happen. When teaching full time, class size cannot be small or my bills won’t get paid. Classes of three to four students won’t do it. It takes regular FREE presentations, some advertising, handing out flyers, talking to people daily on the street, constant emails & phone calls, and much more to get full classes on a consistent basis.

If you’re not willing to put in the time and do the work that goes along with teaching the TCC discipline full time, then don’t even consider trying. Now that I live on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC everything is more expensive. Now I have to promote even more.

Students are not going to come knocking at my door just by me sitting there and wanting it to happen. I have to go out and get the students myself! People have busy lives (especially in DC) so they don’t have time for something that is not going to benefit them right away. The message has to be introduced to people from the beginning: that TCC practice is not an exercise or martial art, rather a gentle system of movement designed to circulate and balance the chi and that you are a “certified” TCC instructor.

There are too many things out there that try and promise healing or results without being able to back it up. As a teacher, the result is YOU! You have to be a walking testimonial for the benefits of TCC practice wherever you are, at any time or place. THAT, along with good marketing and promotions, is how you get 10-12 full classes month after month.

Also, you have to be a good and experienced teacher to handle 100-150 students each week. If you’re not at that level in your own practice, with the experience to handle all of that teaching, then start out small and build up. A new teacher cannot handle the amount of chi that is generated by doing the TCC movements two to three hours per day six days per week, it will be a shock to the system. Not to mention the emotional drain from working with so many students…it can be very exhausting at times. I remember days when I was so tired all I could do was sit, sleep, breath, and eat. The chi would be doing it’s magic on me with such power that the message was clear, BE STILL!

In summary, if you want to be a full time TCC teacher you have to pay the price. It may not be easy, but it is worth it. I can’t think of anything else in life that I would rather spend 60 hours per week doing other than running my TCC business.