Teaching TCC to a city population through largest U.S. non-profit HMO

My T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) classes at Kaiser Permanente (the largest non-profit HMO in the country) in San Francisco have steadily increased in number since I began teaching there in January, 1999. We had scheduled three classes at that time, but due to the fact that the program schedule hadn’t been printed or distributed until late December / early January, we only filled one class.

The next session, two classes filled. After that, all three, with people being turned away (actually, routed into the next session). I have a lot of students now who have waited two or more months to get into the course. I think this is beneficial for all concerned — one, we fill the classes, but, two, the students come in with a commitment that has been generated after two months of waiting (and consciously or not, focusing on TCC).

I have been really impressed with the great percentage of students who commit to practicing every day (or nearly so) right from the beginning of the course. These are usually the ones who also attend every class of the eight, but not always. I have heard back from a few who couldn’t keep attending class (usually due to work scheduling), but continue to practice.

I believe that this level of commitment to practice has something to do with the fact that they couldn’t get into the class session they wanted (because it was full), and so became that much more determined after waiting another two months to get in. I think they value something that was hard-won like that, not easily gotten.

I have also noticed that the students who buy Justin Stone’s video (particularly seniors, who seem to have the most difficulty remembering how to do the movements during their practice sessions at home) tend to benefit greatly from Justin’s instruction and practice. Justin imparts something that I don’t. I have seen ones who were struggling in class come back after a week of practicing with Justin and suddenly be able to flow! I believe Justin shows completely relaxed, completely soft FLOW better than any of us. Why shouldn’t our students have the chance to learn from the best?

I encourage students to practice with Justin’s video. I say, “Every day, you can practice with Justin Stone, the Originator of the form!”

My number one goal as a teacher is to get my students practicing. Whether they have to do it seated, holding onto a chair, or by watching and following along with Justin’s video, I believe that any of those scenarios is better than if they get frustrated and don’t practice at all.

Obviously, the ideal is to have people practicing while standing up (as TCC was originated), doing it well, and able to do it on their own consistently (without the guidance of a videotape or a teacher in front of them). That is the ideal, and that is the direction I would eventually lead every student if given the time to do so. But you have to take students from where they’re at when they first come to TCC. I say that in class — that we’re all at wherever we’re at (including myself) and we’re going to progress from there.

The student population at Kaiser SF is extremely varied! Because San Francisco is such an international city, I have a lot of students who were born in other countries and for whatever reason, now live here. Sometimes they don’t understand English very well, and they usually don’t tell me. So, I’ve learned to watch for that when the understanding is not happening. I have all ages — every class has younger people, middle-aged people and seniors. I have more people with disabilities or medical conditions than I ever did when Ed and I taught privately or through the Bellevue Parks and Recreation Dept. in Bellevue, WA.

I have had people with Parkinson’s, heart conditions, bad backs and knees, moderate to severe arthritis, depression, high blood pressure, lack of balance, Multiple Sclerosis, asthma, obesity, strokes, poor circulation. As a result, I have learned to alter my approach from: “Wouldn’t you rather try this seated?” or “Would you like to hold onto a chair?” to stating during the first class: “If I see that you’re having problems with balance, or you seem to be feeling too much strain, I’m going to ask you to hold onto a chair or chairs (one on either side) or to sit down, and I will then show you how to modify the movement from there.”

Before I did this, some students would just persist on in their pain or wobbliness and decline my offers of assistance every time. They would go home in pain, and end up dropping out of the class. Mostly, this was younger people who didn’t want to admit to themselves yet that they have some disabling condition.

I would rather have them doing seated TCC than not doing it at all. So, now I just lay out that possibility from the very beginning so they don’t have an unrealistic expectation for themselves. Anyone who wants to be in the class, I want in the class, and I want them to succeed (at whatever is their capability). Probably the only person with a disability who I would decline would be one with a mental illness that could disrupt the class.

Some of the students I have just cannot seem to do what I show them. They attempt to, but it never comes out quite right. With these students (in my experience, seniors), I have learned to pretty much stop correcting them, and let them get what they can. They know they’re not doing what everyone else is, but to keep correcting them gets nowhere productive. They end up frustrated and so do I. When I have let go, I have found that that is when they are able to make progress on their own by watching me, watching me, focusing, focusing on how I move — then, with no expectation, they sometimes grasp one more part of what I am doing and begin to incorporate it.

It’s a great challenge to address all levels of ability in the same class, especially since each of my eight-hour class formats is tightly-designed with very little slack time. When someone is just not getting what I’m trying to correct on him or her after a minute or two, I’ll ask the person to stay after class so we can work on it without a tight time constraint. He or she is usually grateful for the extra help.

I teach TCC in two courses: Course A covers “Rocking Motion” through “Pulling in the Energy”, and “Cosmic Consciousness”; Course B covers “Pulling Taffy” through the “Six Healing Sounds”. Each eight week period, I teach two classes of Course A and one of Course B. Each course is eight hours long, an hour a week. So, the entire form is taught in 16 hours. After 16 weeks of practice (four months or more, depending on schedule breaks), these students have established a new routine in their lives. To send them out on their own after four months of practice gives them a better shot at sticking to the new habit they have built than if I sent them out after only eight weeks, which is how TCC is most commonly taught.

At the last class of Course B, I tell them, “Congratulations! Now you’ve learned the entire form of T’ai Chi Chih! Next is a lifetime of refinement!” Throughout the course, whenever I go to audit a TCC Teacher Training Course, attend the annual Teachers’ Conference, or visit Justin in Albuquerque, I tell my students about it. If I discover something in my practice (a new understanding or improvement in my performance of the form), or I receive a correction on my form, I tell my students about it. They know I am still a student. I tell them that’s what I love about TCC — that there are so many levels to it, that I can keep refining and refining. Actually, quite seriously, does it have an end? The farther I go, the more it seems to open up below me!

Many students want to go on, and they end up repeating Course A and/or Course B. Many have asked for more than that, and I have told them about other formats that I have taught: “Intermediate” (where we work to refine movements, particularly the more difficult ones), and “Practice” (where the emphasis is on having full practices of all of the movements they already know). I proposed the two formats to my coordinator at Kaiser SF, and we decided to offer them twice each next year, if enough people register.

I am fortunate to have the opportunity at Kaiser SF — it is enjoyable, challenging and dynamic. I am grateful to the coordinator I work with, who has held a steadfast vision of success for the program in her mind since before she even had a teacher or a program implemented. It’s not very often you have such support! I am grateful to Justin for his continued prodding, pushing and unquestionable support. I am grateful to Ed for his piercing insights on how to do T’ai Chi Chih (and the ability to convey them). I am grateful for my life.