Two Ways to Learn with the New Taiji Academy Online

Learning Tai Chi can be challenging! 

I've not taught for more than a quarter of a century and have seen all kinds of students move through the curriculum - retirees and young pups, active athletes and people in recovery from injury or illness, and all kinds of learning styles!

Each of these people will go through the process of study in their own way, and in their own time.  Until now, though, its rare to find a school that really thinks about the learning process itself!

That's what I've tried to do with the Taiji Academy Online - create a school in which the process of learning is a chief concern, and thus much of the confusion associated with learning an art is dispelled.

This morning I wanted to share with you two ways to use the material in our course that's in progress now - on the Five Element Taiji form.  The modules for learning are broken up into about 20 minute segments.

I've chosen this because it's the IDEAL length of time for a beginner's daily practice - about three times each week.  Throughout the years, advising people to spend about 20 minutes, three times each week, I've noticed students succeeding and thriving in their learning of the material - and reaping the benefits.  This time period is not so long that it becomes intimidating, but not so short as to be ineffective - it's just right!

An advantage of the online learning model is that you don't have to have an in-person teacher with an ideally timed and located class  - you can just practice wherever you are. 

This enables folks to develop their daily practice and to gain the peace and empowerment that come from it - according to their own unique availability!

So, the first way to use the course material is to just go along with each segment - about three times per week!  Go through the warm up video if you have time, or just skip right to the tai chi lesson if you're in a hurry.

The second way to use the material is a little more traditional.  20x3 = 60, so if you wanted to, you could practice along with all three sessions in a row and basically have for yourself an hour-long class.  Then repeat this as many times as you wish!

As we move forward, there will soon be a LOT of material up on the academy site - short forms, long forms, qigong, and even advanced internal arts principles.  I'll regularly pop in to give advice on how to navigate it all, but for now these two styles can give you a basic orientation.

Stay tuned, as well for our first LIVE meeting, and bring your questions!