Teaching Tips For Teachers (Also Valuable For Students) (May 2014)

From the booklet “Teaching Tips For Teachers”, excerpted and available for free from Good Karma Publishing () and for a small fee from the New Mexico T’ai Chi Chih Center (taichichihassociation.org).

~ The Movements And Their Keys (or, what to look for) ~

We open T’ai Chi Chih with the simple Rocking Motion movement, one of the two so-called “preliminaries.” Swinging the hands up, we rise on the balls of the feet, which is not difficult to do. When we turn the hands over and come down, we should first come down to flat feet, then raise our toes to give the same effect as rocking back on our heels. The reason for this is obvious: the teacher will find that most students will lose their balance if they try to rock back on their heels without first flattening the feet. The teacher should be able to demonstrate this to the students. Be sure they can see you plainly, particularly the positions of your feet. This is important.

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The second so-called “preliminary” movement is Bird Flaps Its Wings, usually a favorite with new students. The hands flap out rapidly, but they come together, with the palms facing each other, slowly — the polarity of the two hands approaching each other is important. The teacher should watch carefully to see that, in moving the hands to the side, the knees not only bend, but bend quite a bit to the side. If the student fudges on the movement, and the knees scarcely go out to the side, the student will not get the full benefit of the movement. Practically all students can bend the knees outward, in varying degrees. Of course, the teacher must never ask a student to do more than he or she can comfortably do, particularly if the student is overweight or well along in years. T’ai Chi Chih is “Joy Thru Movement,” and the student must never be asked to strain or attempt more than he or she can do comfortably.

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The third movement, Around the Platter, is a great favorite and easy to do. Remember that the platter is round. Some students develop the habit of swinging out to the side and then coming back straight down the middle; they do not know they are doing it. The circle should look like

this and not this . You should extend as much on the far side as you do on the near side. Be sure to notice if the student is cutting the circle short and coming straight back; then correct it. It is not necessary to swing far to the side, but both sides must be equal.

Also, be sure the student goes forward to a bent knee and comes back to a knee that is bent just as much – actually, it means sinking down on the knee as the weight shifts to that knee. If there is physical disability, of course, then the student should be told to do the best he or she can.

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The next movement, Around the Platter Variation, begins with the student forming a ball as the circle starts. The hands are not placed to hold a ball before the movement begins, but form the ball as the circle begins. This is important. If the hands begin the movement already holding the ball, it would eliminate one circle. Done properly, there is a circle within a circle: the small circle comes from the forming of the ball, and the large circle is the movement of the hands and wrists around the platter, which is round.

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Bass Drum comes next, and it is one of the simplest movements. The hands are held about a foot apart, with the palms facing each other. The wrist circles are performed mostly with the wrists, not the arms. There is little chance of error in the performance of this movement, except that the student may move his or her hands farther apart or closer together, whereas they should stay at approximately the same distance apart. The student will usually note that the early T’ai Chi Chih movements are relatively simple, with movements progressively becoming more intricate, though not really difficult, as the practice continues.