Variation for Teaching & Learning

I’ve had some enlightening conversations* about teaching styles over the last couple of years. It’s not surprising that our different personalities and styles emerge as we present the T’ai Chi Chih form.

This past August I conducted a three-day teaching and movement retreat near south Philadelphia. It was here that a different concept of teaching TCC was presented to help simplify learning. We had 18 open and receptive participants: two teachers, two teacher candidates, four students with no prior knowledge of TCC, and 10 others who had attended more than one TCC event.

From this experience it became clear how important it is that we help students understand the movements in light of the six principles described in Justin’s teachings – through the DVD, Photo Text, Spiritual Odyssey, Teaching Tips for TCC Teachers (also valuable for students), and other writings.

There are three basic directions of movement: up-down (RockingMotion, Bird Flaps its Wings, Light at the Top of the Head/Light at the Temple, and Joyous Breath); side-to-side (Carry the Ball to the Side, Pulling Taffy and its three variations, and Passing Clouds); and forward-backward (Around the Platter, Around the Platter Variation, Bass Drum, Daughter on the Mountaintop, Daughter in the Valley, Push Pull, Pulling in the Energy, andWorking the Pulley). Six Healing Sounds is a combination of side-to-side and forward-backward. We finish with Cosmic Consciousness Pose. When introducing each of these directions, leg positions, and movements (with an emphasis on the full weight shift while adding the secondary, circular wrist movements), students discover the relationships between movements in each grouping. This is described under “Leg Motions” in the Photo Text (pg. 18). So from the beginning, students understand the importance of the flow of energy from below the waist to the soles of the feet (the bubbling spring) – feeling the body filling and emptying, substantial and insubstantial, through each leg. “We are balancing this Vital Force as it flows.” (pg. 7) “The practice of T’ai Chi Chih is designed to activate, circulate and balance the Divine Energy (Chi) lying dormant in each one of us.” (pg. 6) “Concentrating on the T’an T’ien (two inches below the navel) will cause a good deal of Chi to be stored there, the seat of heaven.” (pg. 7)

Dividing TCC’s 19 flowing movements into three basic categories adds to the simplicity of the form. Over the years I have been frustrated with the timing of TCC courses when teaching the form in order, because the second half of the form doesn’t receive as much practice time as the first half.

In grouping movements as described above, more time is given to experiencing flowing from the center, while adding the swivel in the side-to-side movements. Beginning with Carry the Ball to the Side followed by “the Taffies” and ending with Passing Clouds, a natural flow and rhythm develops in the discovery of how to move.

After each teaching session, the newly learned movements are integrated in the suggested order (as per the Table of Contents from the Photo Text).

Students are also reminded to “practice, practice, practice” and “practice the movements you enjoy doing.” Justin suggests a variety of ways in which students may make those choices. (See pgs. 5, 12, 13, and 18 of the Photo Text.) TCC brings about unlimited interior freedom, and it begins with the choices of which movements to practice on a daily basis. “Actually the practice of any ten of the 20 movements and postures, if repeated regularly, should be enough to bring great results, but of course, it is more advantageous to learn all the movements and get the benefits from each.”(pg. 18)

So, you are invited to try it and see if it could be a way for you to teach and learn. In reading the references to this article, are you surprised to discover the teaching wisdom contained within the Photo Text? To teach well, you must understand TCC well – not only in your mind but, more importantly, in your felt experience. The deeper you go, the more you will truly discover Joy thru Movement.

*Sandy McAlister first spoke about the relationship of the groupings, followed by Lorraine Lepine’s successful classes in this format. Several others have similar experience.