Surprisingly Steve!

“Even softer than soft.”

“To go back to that remembrance of the rocking you did as a child, as a baby, in the womb…before you were born.”

“The movement is like a golf game.”

This JOY of sharing personally, of preparing with integrity, of letting go anticipation of anxiety–concerns embraced at the Fargo Pre-Teachers’ Training Preparation Course.

Seasoned instructor Jean Katus and her certified students Jeanne Carlson-Linscott and Chris McLain were moving with six aspiring T’ai Chi Chih teachers when the door cautiously, slowly opened and instructor Steve Ridley sneaked in! We had just “carried the ball to the side” and we all dropped it and ran to greet him. Shocked with jubilation, we laughed and shrieked! We did not know Steve was coming!

Thus the second T’ai Chi Chih Pre-Teachers’ Training Preparation Course was off to a spontaneously surprising start. (We’ve planned a third for the Minneapolis area early this spring.)

This is the second time we three instructors have conducted this course. Each time we have learned more and will share with you the format we incorporate and some of the issues processed. We feel that the team teaching effort offers students greater benefits than the single-teacher approach because they, as teacher candidates, are given an opportunity to see and hear things in perhaps a bit different way from what their original teacher expressed and demonstrated–while allowing them to realize that the form is the same no matter who does it.

The format focuses on perfecting the movement and on giving each potential candidate many chances to lead the group. Practice in giving the presentation is included–one aspect we all recalled having felt apprehensive about. The recommended books written by Justin Stone, originator, plus Stone’s audio tape are to be familiar territory for the student. Primary attention is directed toward moving together and becoming more conscious of the ever-subtle awarenesses that evolve with dedicated and intense T’ai Chi Chih practice.

Key issues we have discussed in planning these courses are:

1. How do we continue to support each other as instructors?

2. Are OUR ears open and receptive to correcting OUR personality traits that have integrated into the basic form?

3. How do we maintain our integrity and humility as teachers being open to one another’s constructive observations?

Teaching as a veteran triad under the gentle directions of Jean Katus’ “13 plus years-of-experience” gave us “five-years-of-experience” instructors continual fresh insight. Add to this Steve’s ever-evolving ability to articulate input…and, WOW, did those six candidates leave with a whale of a lot of information to integrate…and they were SMILING!

Dedication to the purity of the form and the integrity that Justin stresses remain the cornerSTONE of our combined efforts with preparing instructors.

– Chris McLain and Jeanne Carlson-Linscott