TAI CHI: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LEARN? |
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When people ask me "How Long does it take to learn Tai Chi?", they usually mean: How long does the Tai Chi Form take to learn? My answer is to stress that the Tai Chi Form is just one component of Tai Chi. In a class, we may practice partner work, breathing, we may drink tea, practice yielding and we might tell some jokes, play around with weapons, ping-pong balls, bamboo canes or anything else handy. My point is that we don't just practice the Form. Tai Chi consists of more than its famous sequence of postures practised on parks on misty mornings.
YES BUT HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LEARN THE FORM?
(Sigh). Do you know that there are over 120 different Tai Chi Forms? And that they vary in number of postures from 10 to over 200. Which Form length precisely are you referring to?
(Sigh). Do you know that there are over 120 different Tai Chi Forms? And that they vary in number of postures from 10 to over 200. Which Form length precisely are you referring to?
THE BENEFITS OF TAI CHI BEGIN THE MOMENT YOU START
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Remember this: although the old Forms may take a while to learn, (Unless you learn this 10 Step Form) the benefits of Tai Chi (good posture, deep breathing, better co-ordination and relaxation) begin the moment you walk into a class, pick up or book or sign-up for an online course.
This learning curve continues for as long as you practice Tai Chi. In fact, one of the important lessons you learn at the start is that there is no "arrival". The whole art is a study in slow journeying. |
TAI CHI IS ALL ABOUT THE PROCESS
Over the decades I have been teaching, I have seen students reach high levels of Tai Chi, despite not being able to memorise long Tai Chi Forms. They have gained skills in yielding, adapting, co-ordination, patience, breathing, balance and developed much greater tensile strength.
So try and focus less on length, and more about just starting. Tai Chi is not about getting somewhere or finishing at a set point in a timeline. It's a process. If you are really keen to "learn" a "Form" straight away, then I normally start students with the 10 Step Form - the short course that teaches the most important and basic postures in a simple flowing sequence that is learned over 10 weeks (or 10 days - it all depends on you).