"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
Hello mr.Garofalo
ReplyDeleteMy name is Slavko Majkić and I like to say that your blog is verey helpful and interseting. I also learn tai chi from instructional video or DVD and Its not easy as it seem to be. I don have personla teacher but I participate some seminars, classes...to uderstud first basic of tai chi and then with these knowlge I start to learn form video. You can se my 24 form and wudang sword form wich I learn completly from video clips at www.katanateamslo.blogspot.com. Also I add your blog to my beacuse I thing you have a lot of knowlege about internal martial arts.
Best regard from Slovenija
Slavko Majkić
I think videos can be very helpful if they cover the exact forms you learn. For example, my teacher has DVDs of him doing all the forms he teaches. They are not professional quality, and they only have one angle (the front), but they have been very useful to me, especially when I was first learning the forms.
ReplyDeleteSome DVDs and VHS videos are excellent instructional media. I am thinking of DVDs by Jesse Tsao, Jiang Jian Ye, and Paul Lam. They teach, step by step, lesson by lesson, in detail, slowly, and carefully. We now have plenty of UTube demonstrations of forms, and these can be very useful, as John says, for working on the exact forms you are learning from a teacher.
ReplyDeleteMike
In the absence of a live instructor, I feel that videos or DVDs are fine, especially if the form is all you are interested in. Perhaps some of them are better than others at teaching detail, but they still lack the ability to give useful feedback and fine instruction. Ultimately, though, they probably work best as supplemental material to live instruction.
ReplyDeleteExcellent information. I recently started learning Tai Chi. I am so glad I found your site. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnother way I use videos to learn is I write down what I am seeing. Be describing the movements with the written word I am expanding the clarity with which I see what is happening. After I write in freehand the movement descriptions I type them up. When I type them I really see where I am confused. This is a fair amount of work, but it beats traveling hours away to a class in some big city, or flying even farther. After I have the written information looking clean and clear, I print it out on acid free paper and file it in a 3-ring binder. Not only is it available for review, but it is there on solid paper in case there comes a time when electricity and technology are not so easy to come by. Whether this is in my lifetime or later, or ever, I don't know. I'm just backing up the information in the most basic way possible. Robert Bates, http://www.funwithqigong.com
ReplyDelete