Retreat setting beneficial for candidates at St. Louis TCC Training

The T’ai Chi Chih teachers accreditation in St. Louis, MO. provided depth and growth for its participants. As we went over and over the simple 19 movements and final pose the chi flowed. We realized these easy movements provided many of us with frustrations as well as healing on all levels. The longer daytime format allowed more time for development and detailed correction.

The Mercy Center is a Catholic retreat in the middle of St. Louis County. Its sprawling grounds are nestled in between homes with large lots of land. It’s the perfect place to host a T’ai Chi Chih teachers accreditation and became home for the 12 teacher candidates. Inside the Center we had a large auditorium with plenty of moving space. Lunch was provided at the Center for all participating making it easy to spend the extra lunch time to “retreat” to the Mercy Center’s grounds. Many participants walked the outside labyrinth during the one hour and 45 minute lunch break as a walking meditation. The weather was in our favor the whole week. Temperatures in the 70’s and low humidity. There were many places to walk and “get away” during the breaks.

The retreat setting helped the candidates bond and work together. Many people had breakfast, lunch and dinner together. There were numerous social events in the evenings, including a visit to the art museum, and dinners out. One of the more unusual things about this training was that we had three people from out of the country. Two were from Canada and one from Ireland.

Eight current St. Louis T’ai Chi Chih teachers lended a helping hand to the course. Several teachers did airport pickups and even a semiprofessional “tour” of the St. Louis City for our out-of-the-country guests. We provided a potluck dinner on Wednesday evening at Anne Perkins’ home. Thursday evening after dinner we watched the video of the talk that Justin Stone gave to Folsom Prison. Six of these teachers served as auditors, helping the candidates with form correction and sometimes being called up front by Ed to demonstrate moves.

In the end 10 of the 12 candidates were accredited. Two of the candidates’ certificates were deferred until a later date to allow them to bring their skills up.* Maturity of practice had a significant impact on who was ready for accreditation. All participants gained deeper knowledge and respect for the accreditation process and for the movements of T’ai Chi Chih.

*A note about referring candidates for the teachers accreditation process. I learned that students can’t be “too” prepared. It is unfair to the candidate, the other candidates, and to the trainers to send someone to the training who is not fully ready. Luckily the student I sent to the training who was not fully prepared did understand and could sense the level she needed to be at but hadn’t matured to yet. I am and felt totally responsible for this and will be working with this candidate until she is ready. Ed Altman has a set of guidelines to prepare candidates for the training. I will be going over these guidelines one by one learning to “see” better. In the meantime I hope others can learn from my mistake and be more mindful in the preparations of students for the accreditation process.