San Francisco teacher training: a Joyous week

There was “a whole lot of” yinning and yanging going on in San Anselmo, California early this summer. No it wasn’t a rock-n-roll jam session. It was a joyous week-long T’ai Chi Chih teacher training from June 28 to July 3. Twelve candidates from the western U.S. descended upon the otherwise serene San Francisco Theological Seminary in search of their T’ai Chi Chih teacher’s accreditation.

The lovely San Francisco Theological Seminary campus was the perfect setting with tall trees and distant views as well as beautiful architecture to nurture the candidates and auditors alike in their process. The quaint little town of San Anselmo just a few blocks away, offered delightful restaurants for our dinners. Many of the 18 auditors joined us for the delicious catered lunch we shared daily in the campus cafeteria. All of the candidates and the teachers who stayed on site enjoyed private dorm rooms.

The yinning and yanging of T’ai Chi Chih was certainly reflected in the week as much of the experience for everyone was about balance.

The candidates came with a certain amount of confidence in their skills and yet with apprehension for the training process. Teacher trainer Sandy McAlister quickly put any fears of encountering a rigid taskmaster to rest as she gently yet firmly led all of us in movement review for the first few days. Her skill as a long-time instructor and as a teacher trainer was very apparent as she took us through movement refinement and then on to the finer, more subtle points of T’ai Chi Chih practice. We were also very fortunate to have had teacher trainer Pam Towne auditing and volunteering her assistance for the entire week. Many thanks to our two devoted teacher trainers.

Auditing teachers found themselves seeking that balance between refining their own personal practice and teaching skills with that of playing the role of teacher and assisting candidates. It is always interesting to note how much we teachers learn from working with the candidates. Many of the eighteen auditors came for the first few days of movement review while others came for the week. Donna McElhose (Chicago, IL) and Sally McLaughlin (San Rafael, CA) returned at 8:00 a.m. all week long to work with candidates on special points before the day’s training began. Roberta Taggart (Redondo Beach, CA) who stayed on site for the entire week was of invaluable assistance. A special note of gratitude goes out to all those teachers (too numerous to name) who assisted in some way. Please know that the candidates were extremely grateful for the contributions of all of the auditors.

All of the candidates had worked hard in their preparations before teacher training, although it was apparent that those who had attended an Intensive clearly had the advantage over those who had not. Many commented that if they had known how valuable and important it was to attend an Intensive before teacher training they certainly would have done so. Many of the candidates attended a “teacher prep” course. One of the many benefits was that here they had the opportunity to form a bond with each other. This connected feeling spilled over to the whole group and there was a very strong sense of unity and support among all of the candidates during training.

The candidates worked very hard all week and definitely experienced the ying and yang of many things. They worked as a group and they worked individually. Sometimes it came easily and sometimes they struggled. They experienced how their practice can fall apart and then how it can amazingly come back together in a beautiful new way. They had time for socializing and they had time for quiet contemplation alone. They had time for laughter and fun and time for serious study and self-examination. They made lasting friendships. They built inner awareness and self-confidence. They enjoyed the moment and they built a future as T’ai Chi Chih instructors.

In the end all 12 candidates came away with their T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Accreditation. However, amazing things happen in a week of doing that much T’ai Chih Chih practice and circulating that much chi through the body. It’s certain that they came away with much more than a credential from this wondrous and strange week-long phenomenon called T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Training.

Congratulations to our 12 new T’ai Chi Chih Teachers.

Thanks to Justin Stone for the gift of T’ai Chi Chih ® Joy Thru Movement.

I
worry
Will I pass?
Abandon hope
Flow softly
from the
core

— by Roberta Taggart, pyramid poem written on the chalkboard at the training