The most
frequent question I am asked is "Where I live there are no Taijiquan
teachers of the the Taijiquan style X that I want to learn. How do I go
about learning Taijiquan Style X?"
You
always need to learn Tai Chi by observing someone doing the Taijiquan
form you are studying, and listening carefully to their instructions. Fortunately,
in 2015, for most Taijiquan forms, you have from two to ten different
choices of very knowledgeable instructors or Masters who teach the Taijiquan form
that you are learning by means of good instructional DVDs or videos.
Also, for some popular Taijiquan forms there are excellent books or
manuals available for the form you are learning, or very good online
webpages on the form. Sometimes there are VCDs that can be played on a
home computer. Finally, there are some online courses and UTube
demonstrations of the form you are learning.
You are learning the "basics" from a good live teacher and/or a good writer. All Taijiquan is learned this way.
My own webpages provide extensive bibliographies of these many learning resources. I also provide many suggestions and remarks about learning specific forms using DVDs, videos, and books, e.g., Standard 24 Taijiquan Form.
Instructional
DVDs come in NTSC and PAL formats, with NTSC format being used on DVD
players in the United States. If you are purchasing your DVD from
outside the United States it is most likely in the PAL format and will
not work properly on your DVD player. Caveat Emptor.
I
use a small desktop DVD player. My Vzon model, playing the NTSC
format, has a hand held DVD controller and controls on the machine. I
no longer use instructional VHS videos, because you can't as easily cue as with DVDs.
You
want to purchase a DVD that teaches the Taijiquan form. You want an
instructional DVD, not a demonstration DVD. Advanced Tai Chi students
can sometimes learn from a demonstration DVD, but not without much
difficulty. All Tai Chi learners can benefit from a good instructional
DVD that breaks the form down into discrete sections (lessons, blocks)
and provides detailed verbal instructions on how to perform the
movements in each section. Sometimes a section is called a "lesson" and
might include three or four movements of the form. The best
instructional DVDs feature frequent repetition of a movement, clear
voice over narration, the use of different camera angles for showing a
movement sequence, sectional performance demonstrations, and complete
demonstrations of the form from a front and back view. It is essential
to get the narration in the language you use, because it is very hard to
read subtitles and carefully study the the movements visually at the
same time.
Study
each DVD lesson carefully, make notes, memorize the names of the
movements in that lesson, then immediately practice each lesson until
you can perform the movement sequence in the lesson on your own.
Repeat, repeat, repeat!! Don't move on to the next lesson until you can
perform the movements in the lesson you are studying on your own. Give
yourself a little slack and accept being just "satisfactory" at
performing each lesson. Over time you will refine and perfect your
performance.
After
learning the first lesson, then proceed in the same manner to learn the
second lesson. Then combine the first and second lesson and practice
them together until you can perform them on your own. Don't move on to
lesson three until you can easily and smoothly perform lessons one and
two combined. To "learn" means to me to be able to remember and easily,
consistently, and smoothly perform a sequence of movements on your
own. Study Lesson 1, practice and learn Lesson 1; study Lesson 2,
practice and learn Lessons 1 + 2; study Lesson 3, practice and learn
Lessons 1 + 2 + 3; study Lesson 4, practice and learn Lessons 1 + 2 + 3
+4, etc.
As
with all learning the keys are: daily study, careful study, paying
attention, remembering, daily practice, patience, repetition,
visualization, verbal cues, making notes, and confidence. Take your time, don't rush, be patient. The process of learning might take months.
Here are some suggestions from Robert Chuckrow:
"Whereas
a form-instruction video is no substitute for a qualified teacher,
those who live far from any teacher are still better off learning from a
video than if they had no instruction at all. For those who have a
teacher, a video can augment and accelerate the learning process.
Finally, those who have had prior instruction in internal arts should
be able to attain a substantial benefit from a video.
One
method of learning a form from a video is to repeatedly do the entire
form or blocks of the form along with the video. However, this
method is not efficient because there is insufficient opportunity to
reinforce each movement. A better way is to refrain from doing
movement while watching the video. Rather, it is good to choose a
small block of material, watch it a few times. Then, without any major
physical action, visualize the sequence of movements as clearly as
possible. Next, go back to the beginning of that block of material,
and view and visualize it again a few times. Only after clear and
complete visualization is achieved should the movements be attempted
physically.
At
first it will seem extremely difficult to work this way. With
persistence, however, it is possible to achieve a level of
visualization so intense that the imagined movements are almost as
vivid as those seen on a TV screen. The dividends of the process of
visualization are twofold: (1) By subduing the physical aspects of
movement (e.g., balance, coordination, kinetic sense, timing), you can
completely focus the mind on the details of the movement. (2) By
cultivating the ability to visualize and mentally encompass complex
details, you become increasingly able to observe and learn new
movements quickly, especially in situations where it is not feasible to
move while observing (e.g., dreams, teacher showing movements while
the class watches). Referring to the dimension of self-defense, the
more you can observe and mentally encompass the movements of the
opponent, the greater the advantage achieved."
- Robert Chuckrow, The Tai Chi Book, YMAA Publication Center, Boston, MA, 1998, pp. 119–120
