Chapter

6

Be Prepared: Your First Day of Class

In This Chapter

In this chapter, you learn what to wear to do T’ai Chi. Yet beyond fashion concerns, this chapter prepares you mentally, emotionally, and physically for your first day of class. Even those currently involved in T’ai Chi will find these mental and emotional insights into T’ai Chi challenges helpful.

This chapter also provides you with many ways to get the most out of T’ai Chi training by describing class structure, explaining what is expected of you, and clarifying terms you may encounter in class.

Choosing Your T’ai Chi Wardrobe

Ultimately, you can do T’ai Chi in any kind of clothing, but certain clothing is suggested for class. Typically, T’ai Chi students wear anything they want, but wear something loose enough to move freely in. The rest is often up to you. The most common T’ai Chi suit is a T-shirt and sweat pants. Spandex or body suits, although not prohibited, are not typically worn in T’ai Chi.

If you practice T’ai Chi at the office, know that longer dresses can make it more difficult for an instructor to see your posture or leg placement, but don’t skip class just because you have a longer dress on that day. Also, even though everyone will likely be wearing office clothes, they should kick off their heels. If you go from the office to a studio or community class, or if your company holds classes in an exercise area, bring some sweats and tennis shoes to change into.

Some studios, especially martial arts studios, may require more formal attire. If so, they will direct you to a martial arts supply store that sells the appropriate garb, or the studio may provide it.

What footwear you wear depends on the location. Tennis shoes are fine for most T’ai Chi classes. However, some studios that offer T’ai Chi, such as martial arts or yoga studios, require bare feet. It’s not advisable to wear only socks in these studios because socks can be slippery. If you need arch support and attend a class in these locations, you may be able to wear tennis shoes that have never been used on the street or Chinese kung fu shoes. These nonstreet shoes will not damage the floor, but check with the instructor before purchasing them.

OUCH!

The only hard-and-fast rule all instructors follow on footwear is that you cannot wear heeled shoes. Heels are hard on your back, make balance difficult, and change the way your whole body moves. If you’re doing T’ai Chi at the office, just kick off your heels or bring tennis shoes if they feel more comfortable, and the best tennis shoes are the ones with lower heels.

Class Rules and Internal/External Hygiene

T’ai Chi has very few external hygiene rules, but internally, it’s good to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally by letting go of some myths about yourself and exercise classes.

External Hygiene and Class Rules

Unlike most other martial arts, T’ai Chi usually requires no contact between participants. Therefore, hygiene rules are pretty much like those for daily life.

However, it is important not to wear heavy cologne or perfume into class because it might be overwhelming to others during the deep breathing you do in T’ai Chi. Also, leave jewelry at home, especially jangly jewelry.

The last and most important rule is a combination of external and internal hygiene. Cell phones must be turned off! This is very important, because in most T’ai chi or QiGong classes you’ll experience calming meditative states that will come in layers of deepening. Each external distraction will lift you, and all your classmates, backward out of this deeper state of mind, thereby erasing progress and causing the teacher to have to go back and regain that depth.

My teacher extolled us to think of our T’ai Chi or QiGong class and personal practice as a “sacred space” where we don’t allow the world’s rat race to intrude. This creating a “sacred space” in our consciousness is a powerful part of both T’ai Chi and QiGong, and as you nurture this space, like a garden it will grow out into all aspects of your daily life, making all aspects of your world more sacred places. After 30 years of personal exploration using T’ai Chi, QiGong, Yoga, and other mind-body arts, I have begun to realize that each sliver of each moment is sacred. This life is the only game in town, and it’s here for us to play with and enjoy. The Chinese call T’ai Chi a return to childlikeness. Children are mesmerized by life experiences. We can be, too, but we have to leave the rat race outside our classes and home practice.

The only time I saw my teacher get angry in all the years I studied with her, was when I took a cell phone call during a class. In my classes now, I tell my students, “You can only leave your cell phone turned on during class if you are expecting an organ transplant; otherwise, they must be turned off.” You want this time in group or class to be a special time, a time to let yourself completely unplug from the world.

Internal Hygiene—A State of Mind

Cleansing the clutter from your mind, heart, and body is the most important thing you should do before attending your first—or one hundredth—T’ai Chi class.

In the long run, T’ai Chi will help relieve allergy problems, but if you have serious allergies and are heavily medicated, it may be helpful to lighten up on the medications before T’ai Chi if your medications make your balance more difficult or make it harder to focus. However, never adjust your prescription medication without your doctor’s approval.

If you haven’t tried acupuncture for your allergies, now might be a good time to try it. It can be a terrific nonpharmaceutical way to alleviate allergy symptoms with great results. Acupuncture treatments cannot harm you, but they can enhance your clarity or balance. There are also some proven dietary approaches to allergy issues. More on TCM’s diet tips later.

T’ai Chi and Massage Therapy

T’ai Chi is like an internal self-massage, as it is meant to loosen the mind and body and increase internal awareness (see preview of Chapter 11’s Moving QiGong Warm Ups Excerpt on the Web Video Support’s Moving Qigong Is Internal Massage for more on internal awareness www.idiotsguides.com/taichi). Tension disconnects the mind from the body. But, in addition to T’ai Chi and QiGong, you may find it very complementary to begin massage therapy and to continue it for the rest of your life as well. Most good T’ai Chi teachers will advocate massage therapy as part of your T’ai Chi training, just as many good massage therapists will recommend T’ai Chi to their clients. You also might find that massage therapy is helpful in relieving chronic problems such as allergies. T’ai Chi and QiGong work from the inside out, as massage works from the outside in, to expedite and deepen your internal looseness.

SAGE SIFU SAYS

Resistance to Change Tempts You to Drop Out

T’ai Chi helps us change. Our minds and bodies get accustomed to the way we have always done things, even things that are not really good for us. Therefore, on a subconscious level, parts of us resist good changes that T’ai Chi fosters because we don’t want to let go of the way we’ve always been. Part of us likes to be a “couch potato” and doesn’t like the way T’ai Chi is getting us more involved in an active life. Resistance to change may manifest itself in many ways and may …

• Cause you to scold yourself, to tell yourself you are too clumsy, too un-coordinated, too slow, or too tired to do T’ai Chi.

• Tell you T’ai Chi is for other people who are better, smarter, stronger, or more coordinated than you are.

• Have you think the teacher doesn’t like you or T’ai Chi is dumb and useless.

• Have you believe it would be much more fun to watch TV and eat potato chips tonight than going all the way out to your T’ai Chi class.

• Tell you, “You’re already too far behind; don’t go back there,” if you miss a class.

If you hang in there long enough, however, you will discover that after nearly every T’ai Chi class, you will feel much better than you did before going. If you become conscious of the voices of “resistance” and see them as the debilitating illusions they are, you will be more likely to stick with T’ai Chi.

“Wrongness” Is Our Culture’s “Resistance”

Your T’ai Chi progress will be held back by something that affects our entire culture. If you understand this, it will take a great deal of pressure off you and your instructor. Most Western students are obsessed with learning the T’ai Chi movements “perfectly,” and this causes them stress, which slows their ability to learn and enjoy T’ai Chi. In fact, we often convince ourselves that our attempts to learn are so “imperfect” that it is pointless to continue with our study.

What you will discover is the judgmental voice or thought that plays inside your head, the one that negatively judges your skill or actions, is an energy knot or tangle in your energy body, psyche, and heart. As you progress through your T’ai Chi or Qigong journey, this knot will flare up from time to time and cause you to doubt yourself, or to doubt the value of your practice, or often to doubt the value of your teacher.

My teacher warned us this would happen, and it did, and trust me, it does. She called it “resistance.” I described this in detail earlier in this chapter, but it bears repeating. It is the mind and body’s tendency to resist change. As T’ai Chi and Qigong expand your world, a part of your consciousness will want to recoil back to older, more unconscious ways of living and behaving. It will try to get you to give up this mind-expanding journey you have embarked upon. Just by recognizing this dynamic, it will help you to not only stick with T’ai Chi and Qigong, but to smooth out these tangles of thought we are often unconsciously manipulated by that hold back our evolution on many levels and in many areas of our life. See Web Video Support’s Qi Is About Letting Go.

OUCH!

T’ai Chi will show you on a very basic level that you are never “wrong.” You are growing and learning how to do things better and better each and every day of your life. T’ai Chi is simple enough to use the very first day of practice, but its richness is so subtle that you can refine your T’ai Chi movements for the rest of your life. Therefore, you don’t need to “perfect” the first movement before learning the second. You learn a layer of the movements, and learning that layer changes who you are and how you function. Your new and improved self can then learn the movements at yet a deeper, subtler level, and so on for years and years. T’ai Chi leaves you in an endlessly blooming state of perfection.

Attending Your First Class

When entering your first class, you probably aren’t sure what it will look like, how to treat the instructor, or what is expected of you. So let’s look at these expectations one at a time.

Mainly, you will be expected to relax and enjoy yourself. You will also have a little homework, but as you’ll see, this could be the best homework you ever had.

How to Address Your Instructor

You have several possible options for addressing your instructor. The safest way to find out what is right for the class you enroll in is to simply ask the teacher how he or she would like to be addressed. The formal Chinese term for T’ai Chi teacher is Sifu (pronounced see-foo), meaning “master of an art or skill.” However, many T’ai Chi classes in the West are very informal. Most instructors simply go by their first name.

If a Chinese teacher asks you to call him Sifu, this is not because of an inflated ego. Actually, this is a great compliment. This means he considers you a worthy student, and that is an honor.

Class Structure

T’ai Chi is informal, and each class is different. Some classes begin with a Sitting QiGong exercise, using chairs forming a circle. For this relaxation exercise, the instructor will likely lead the group through an imagery exercise as she sits quietly with her eyes closed. Other classes will not use chairs and may begin with a standing relaxation exercise, also with the students’ eyes closed. Still other instructors may begin the class by leading students in warm-up exercises without first practicing a QiGong or relaxation exercise.

OUCH!

Once relaxation exercises are done, the physical class structure will probably have students staggered throughout the room, facing the instructor. The instructor usually faces the class, which forms lines throughout the room, giving each student enough space to swing his or her arms without striking another student. However, smaller, more informal classes may form a circle. An instructor may alternate facing the class or demonstrating the moves with his back to the class. He might also move around the room to give students different angles to see from.

If you’re in a class that’s formed in lines facing the instructor, find a place where you can see what he is doing. Many large classes will have advanced students to help, and you can watch them if you can’t see the instructor. If you can’t see what’s going on, ask questions or change places. Be clear about your needs. The teacher wants to help you understand the movements, but in a larger class, he may not know you need further explanation. Don’t be afraid to speak up.

The following list gives you an idea of the process a T’ai Chi class might go through; however, each instructor has her own format:

• Sitting or Standing Relaxation Exercise (if your class performs this).

• T’ai Chi warm-up exercises—gentle, repetitive movements that prepare you physically and mentally for T’ai Chi (many warm-ups are moving QiGong exercises and are discussed in detail in Part 3).

• After warm-ups, the instructor may teach individual movements to practice, or if she teaches by exhibition, she will begin performing the entire T’ai Chi set and you will be expected to follow along.

• Your homework is the movements themselves, although it is highly recommended to begin using the QiGong relaxation exercises at home for your own health and pleasure.

T’ai Chi usually does not require anyone to sit or lie on the floor; however, some instructors may have warm-up or cool-down exercises that require it. If you are unable to do so because of an injury or physical limitation, discuss alternatives with the instructor.

SAGE SIFU SAYS

How Are T’ai Chi Movements Taught?

T’ai Chi forms involve a series of choreographed martial arts poses that flow together like a slow-motion dance. How these movements are taught can vary. Some classes are taught by example, meaning the instructor will lead the group all the way through the entire T’ai Chi form and the students mimic until, over time, they remember all the movements.

However, many classes are taught for different levels. In these classes, the movements are broken down into one or two movements per class. If you are an average learner, these classes are preferable. It’s much easier to learn one movement at a time and practice it all week than it is to try to assimilate an entire T’ai Chi form. It’s easier to memorize movements in smaller bites. Realize your learning will be much easier if you don’t miss classes, because for each class you’d miss, that would make the learning bites get larger. View the Web Video Support’s What Live T’ai Chi Class Instruction May Look Like to get a feel for how movements may be broken down in classes.

To help you get the most out of your classes, review the following points on how T’ai Chi is taught or might be studied:

• Warm-ups and relaxation techniques are usually repeated weekly, but you will benefit if you practice these every day on your own.

• You must learn and practice the actual T’ai Chi movement of the week on your own that week.

• Each week a new T’ai Chi movement will be added to your growing form or repertoire.

• The form will get longer and longer each week until you learn the entire form.

• Long forms of 20 minutes take between 6 and 8 months to learn.

• Short forms of 10 minutes may take 2 to 6 months to learn, depending on the instructor and the form.

• Advanced students often repeat beginning or intermediate classes for years to refine their performance of the T’ai Chi forms.

• Advanced students may serve as assistant instructors in class.

In addition to the preceding points, also understand that in most classes T’ai Chi is taught in three stages:

1. The movements are learned.

2. The breath is incorporated into the regimen by learning an inhalation or exhalation that’s connected to each movement.

3. A relaxation element or awareness of the flow of energy through the body is learned. Although the first step offers many benefits from the first day, the benefits get richer and deeper with each level you learn. This last element involving an expanding internal awareness will deepen within you for years and years.

Advanced students may be asked to assist new students learning the forms for the first time. T’ai Chi, like all martial arts, is based on a mentoring system. Assistants will usually teach the first of the three stages of T’ai Chi instruction.

SAGE SIFU SAYS

Yes, There Is Homework Involved

T’ai Chi class exposes you to the movements, but then you must practice those movements at home. There are two ways to look at this: either as another burden on your life’s full plate or as a chance to take a break and let all the weight of the world roll right off your shoulders.

The very first movement you learn on the very first day of class is a fantastic QiGong relaxation exercise that, if you do it in the right frame of mind, can help you begin to dump stress. If you do the T’ai Chi movement only to prepare for the next T’ai Chi class, it won’t be that relaxing. However, if you breathe deeply and let every muscle of your body relax, allowing the burdens of the week to roll off your shoulders each time you practice the movement, it’ll feel great! Refer to the T’ai Chi Learning Can Be a Relaxing Qigong Experience on the Web Video Support to see how the first movement can be used as a relaxation therapy, even as you learn it, by including deep, full breaths. Learning in this spirit can make all the movements become relaxation therapies even as you learn them (more on deep breaths in the Web Video Support’s Let Breath Flow Your Movements).

OUCH!

To learn T’ai Chi, you will need to practice at home. But we learn T’ai Chi because it feels good, so why wouldn’t we want to practice something that makes us feel good?

T’ai Chi Etiquette

Most instructors are happy to get questions during class. The rest of the class, or at least some of them, are probably facing the same uncertainties or challenges you are. A good instructor has been studying many years and may not remember all the challenges new students have, so your inquiries help him help you as well as the other students in class.

If your questions are criticisms of the format or structure, it would be best to offer them to the instructor personally after class. The instructor may not be able to fix it, but he may explain why it is done the way it is.