How To Find A Good Teacher
A reader wrote to ask how to find a good teacher.
It’s an important question because the teacher plays a more prominent role in Tai Chi than he or she does in most athletic or artistic disciplines. Whether you are learning baseball or Tai Chi, three factors will determine the level you reach: your natural ability, your degree of commitment and the quality of your teacher. But unlike baseball, Tai Chi entails a body of knowledge accumulated over centuries. And much of that knowledge is subtle, involving “internal” exercises requiring precise coordination of body mechanics, energy movement and mind intent.
It’s been said that it’s better to search 10 years for a good Tai Chi teacher than to train for 10 years with a bad one. That’s not to say a student can learn only from the very best teacher. Students can learn a lot from teachers whose skills are not at the highest level, just as they can learn much from other students. What matters is whether what they learn is correct and in compliance with the fundamental principles of Tai Chi.
One reason lineages are emphasized in Tai Chi is because they document the transmission of core teachings from one generation to the next. Tai Chi is a living art, with each generation standing on the shoulders of the one before it. Some in that chain of transmission have been towering giants who made great contributions to the art, while others have merely passed along the knowledge they received, which is itself a crucial contribution. But the world of Tai Chi also includes its share of charlatans.
So a good teacher is important. But how do you find one?
For starters, do some online research about Tai Chi, get input from friends or acquaintances with experience in Tai Chi and check out as many teachers as you can. Do you like what you see? Is the teacher teaching what you want to learn? Do you get a comfortable and inspiring feeling from the teacher and his or her students?
A martial art should build health, provide a self-defense capability and be aesthetically pleasing. But teachers often emphasize different aspects of the art. What most interests you? Can you learn that from this teacher?
Choosing a teacher is complicated by the fact that it can be difficult for the untrained eye to distinguish between good Tai Chi and bad Tai Chi. But even if you choose the wrong teacher, don’t despair. You can use the knowledge you have gained from your mistake to find a better teacher.