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Teaching levels | ||
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Students
In a taijiquan class people are
often required to work together.
Sometimes a more experienced student may help other people out. Are they teaching?
No.
Not teaching
Examples where no active teaching is
taking place:
Spotting
- students are shown what a mistake looks like
- they work with other students and look for that mistake
Helping (learning-by-helping)
- an assistant teacher might assist in preparing the room or cleaning up afterwards
- they may greet new starters
- they may undertake responsibilities in
class that exceed those of the average student
Leading
- a more experienced student performs exercises
in front of other students and the junior students follow along
- this involves simply copying/imitating
Knowledge
The inexperienced student lacks the necessary
knowledge-base to actually teach taijiquan.
Yes, they can effectively 'lead' a follow-me group, but this remains a far
cry from teaching because the process is essentially passive.
It makes little demand on the student's
knowledge.
Teaching
Teaching is a dynamic
process.
The depth of the teaching is determined by the
knowledge-level and aptitude of the teacher:
Instructor
- an instructor can perform all aspects of the curriculum
skilfully
- they can observe, identify and correct faults
- easily comprehensible examples and
illustrations can be provided
- a scientific approach demonstrating
correct/incorrect methods is evident
- the basic principles of the Art are
evident
- full differentiation is apparent
- martial skill is thorough and comprehensive
- questions can be addressed with relative ease
Expert
- the material is much more familiar (at least 10,000
hours of experience)
- 10,000 hours of continued
improvement, insight
and development
- a far broader degree of context and
understanding is shown
- biomechanics, martial
skill, The Tai Chi Classics and Taoism are
intertwined
- adroitness with 36 Strategies,
The Art of War, The Book of Five Rings is
evident
- The Tai Chi Classics are the primary
resource for highlighting the nature of the Art
- The Way and Its Power is frequently
referred to and readily demonstrated
- Te is fully understood
- lessons concerning jing,
13 postures, neigong,
chin na, shuai jiao,
weaponry, self defence and
meditation are all immediately to hand when
teaching
Master
- every aspect of every
exercise,
form, drill and application is fully understood
- the subtle nuances, the
relevance, the
interconnectedness of all things, the significance of the
seemingly trivial
- a broader cultural and historical
richness is evident
- complex physics principles are rendered
straightforward, comprehensible and apparent
- applications look more like 'sleight
of hand' rather than brawling
- the training is subtle,
understated, with no need for
aggression or
competition, no need for
reciprocity or validation
- a high-level communicator
- can cope with any question or uncertainty with a
gentle ease
- possesses the ability to reverse-engineer/dismantle the Art
Big differences
An instructor essentially reproduces and passes on what they have been
taught by their instructor. No particular initiative is required. Just
aptitude and teaching skills.
By contrast, an expert can not only perform the material very well - and
teach - but they possess a
significantly better awareness/understanding
of the principles underpinning the
Art.
A master is a whole different deal. They have developed new
material/exercises. They have developed innovative new methods for
deepening knowledge and skill. They have created a syllabus.
They may even have published some of their insights on-line or in a book or
magazine articles.
Context
Teaching and not-teaching ultimately comes down to
context.
An instructor understands taijiquan from a broader
perspective; they know why things are done.
The student may know what is done, but they do not
understand how or why well enough to be
teaching anyone.
Page created
9 August 1999
Last updated
07 November 2018
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