Intensive in Albuquerque: Will The Air Force Academy Accept Blind Students

Justin used this analogy at the Albuquerque Intensive workshop May 13-16 when describing what kind of student is ready or not for teacher training. A teacher, he said, should never recommend her pupil because she is fond of the student any more than the Air Force Academy should admit a cadet on the basis of the applicant’s possession of a pleasant personality. “One who enters teachers training must understand the movements and do them well,” he said. “In teacher training you learn how to teach, not how to move. The movements must be second nature.”

Pam suggested that the teacher aspirant make a video of her practice and not only examine it carefully themselves, but also give it to a teacher to assess. The student must ask herself, “Am I flowing from the center, softly and continuously? Is the Chi manifesting through my soft hands, wrists and waist, or am I just moving mechanically as a series of cut-up parts?” If the answer is “No, I am moving stiffly,” then that student does not yet realize that T’ai Chi Chih is a whole; it is a beautiful butterfly, not the sum of two wings, two legs and antennae. IT IS ALIVE!