Getting the Most Out of Class


	Getting the most out of class

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Class

Classes provide an opportunity for both practice and learning. The student works through known material, receives corrections and refinement, and is also exposed to new material and insights.
In order to capitalise upon the learning opportunity, it is important to arrive early and have an enthusiastic attitude. If you struggle to remember things, consider taking notes.

Work in ability groups

Sometimes Sifu Waller notices that form and partner work groups are not really working together, with many students doing their own thing. Aim to work together more as a group.

Form

Section 1 of the form is split into 4 segments for learning purposes. Aim to work in a group with other people who are studying the same segments.
This means that teaching assistants have only 4 groups to assist and people with get much more attention overall.

Partner work

Partner work for students is split into ability groups. Again, aim to work in groups relative to grade, and on the same topic as one another.
This means that teaching assistants students have only 3-4 groups to assist and people with get much more attention overall.

Home

Tai chi was never meant to be a weekly exercise. Ideally, it should be trained daily. Students do not need to set a lot of time aside but there should be some commitment to training between classes.

Resources

Our school provides a 800 page website and DVDs to assist in home study. A reading list is also offered. Making use of these opportunities can help to increase your understanding considerably.

Tai chi

Training once a week in class, then going home and doing nothing is perfectly acceptable if this is how you want to train. But remember that martial arts training always involves hard work.
If you attend irregularly and do not train at home, your progress will be slow. You will struggle to overcome ingrained body habits.

Getting your money's worth

Given that you have paid for lessons in tai chi, why not get the most out of your investment? Martial skills will not become natural and instinctive unless you practice them regularly.
Weekly training is not frequent enough: train at home between lessons.

Don't be lazy...

Students who are seeking to use tai chi in combat cannot afford to be lazy. One repetition a day of san sau takes 30 seconds.
There is always time for practice. It is a matter of individual priorities.
Peter Southwood asserts that students are often lazy but seek to blame the instructor or the school for their own lack of progress.

Workshops & boot camp

A 90 minute weekly class is not very long; and many topics are addressed in the course of an evening.
Workshops provide an opportunity for supplementary study. Complex drills and exercises required focus.
The entire workshop explores a single drill. This intensity of practice leads to significant improvement.

Grading

Grading offers you corrections, tips and pointers.

Feedback

Feedback is regularly sought by Sifu Waller. The purpose of feedback is to tailor how and what we teach accordingly, and to use any positive statements to promote the class.

It's your school

Taking an interest in the school is in your own interest. You are actively working towards keeping the class up and running, and you are taking responsibility for the school.

Responsibility

Responsibility is the key theme of this page. The more you make something your own responsibility, the more involved you are in your own situation.
Instead off being a spectator, you are actively doing something. Your instructor cannot give you tai chi. Only you can do that. It is your body, after all.

Get involved

Students are often asked questions by e-mail or encouraged to attend extra-curricular activities. We also need help promoting the class: whether physically in person, or on-line.
The more you involve yourself in the school and the art, the more it becomes a part of your life and not just a weekly class.

Good examples

Students who make strong progress through our syllabus are the people who train a little every day and attend as many lessons as they can manage.
They pass grades regularly and show a good school spirit.

Seeing an old man who wanted to take up philosophy but was embarrassed, Socrates said to him, "Don't be embarrassed to become better at the end of your life than you were to begin with."

(Thomas Cleary)