Mark and I teach T'ai Chi to the people who attend our classes in rooms and outdoors, over periods of hours, weeks, and years, sometimes decades. I know this is old-school. We were both taught at a time when the only resources available as aides memoires were books, the occasional hand-out sheet and perhaps a photo or two. I have friends who are excellent, even famous, T'ai Chi masters or teachers, and they create video resources, DVDs, web channels, many hand out sheets, (but rarely books). The most popular way to show anything these days is of course YouTube. It is possible for anyone to upload any quality of T'ai Chi and for you to 'learn' from it. I have used videos online to remind me when to cork the charcoal burning tin to make artist's charcoal, or how to tie the knots for sword tassels. I have a friend who has refurbished her boat with techniques she learned online with videos, and it has saved her a fortune, this is a great use of an excellent resource.
Mark and I have actually filmed many videos, and there are resources available for any student who needs them. Some students who have emigrated have been able to carry on with their practice with this help. You can bring a USB to class, or I can send a link. The reason you won't find our videos online, and why we don't make a channel with all these resources are numerous. We ask all students not to put our videos or photos online, even though this means perhaps fewer students would hear of us, or we would 'lose out' on advertising revenues... We do not wish to 'enter the competition', a great phrase from the T'ai Chi Classics. Apart from the nice die-cast brooch and a embroidered patch for the annual workshops we have never had any merchandise to sell, though perhaps one day we may make a T-shirt, said Mark, yesterday. The amount of spurious comments about any T'ai Chi content online, indeed anything online, is vast. We would rather folks just did some practice rather than cultivated opinions. Videos of one's T'ai Chi Forms are great to remember what you have already learned, for many people. For me they don't really help at all, I do better with lists and notes, and going to class frequently. So we will not become 'influencers', and gain followers, sell products and be asked for endorsements. Hey ho. We have superb students, who turn up in real time and do actual T'ai Chi, who are a pleasure to teach, and who transform inwardly and outwardly.
The best advice for T'ai Chi, as it is for any truly deep physical instruction where touch is required, is this - find a local class that you like and go along. Compare a few if you can. Go to the one that seems best for you. If there are no local classes, organise one, or get books and videos to start with. T'ai Chi is a martial art, and if studying boxing, you need to get in the ring. Because T'ai Chi forms have become so popular as solo activities, and have benefits as such, there is the illusion that T'ai Chi can be learned from a screen. This may indeed have health benefits, so I will not disparage it. It is possible to learn to move differently without ever being touched by one's teacher. Gerda Geddes, the first Yang Style T'ai Chi teacher to teach in the UK was never once touched by her T'ai Chi master, due to the cultural taboos of her time and place. She had great T'ai Chi, and sent people to John Kells for partner work. However, the full art, which means partner work as well as solo practice, can only be learned with a good teacher over time though touch, pushes, yielding, posture corrections... and as I found out yesterday, a punch in the face (gentle, but I got the point). Some will disagree. Luckily, I am not on Twitter!
Soon, I may make a few Chi Kung clips for a doctor who wishes to make resources available for menopausal women on a new online portal. I am keen to help, as this issue is close to my heart, but I am still thinking it over. One's moving image, online for ever more... I was in bands, but mostly before the era of ubiquitous video of performances. Thank goodness in the one or two that exist I am actually in tune. For most folk I am sure it is no big deal, but tact and the desire for privacy are factors in my ambivalence. I will be interested to know what students think. So let me know your experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment