Optimal Tai Chi & Qigong Teaching review

[jonathan.bluestein]

http://www.amazon.com/Optimal-Tai-Chuan ... 1507660316

Should be the first book for new martial arts teachers

In this small booklet, which is very simple to read and quite short, are contained MANY important lessons. These lessons are mostly relevant for people who teach martial arts, and though the booklet was written by a Tai Chi teacher, any martial artist would benefit from reading it (!). It is a book about teaching pedagogy, as relevant to the martial arts - something the majority of martial arts instructors do not learn in an orderly fashion.

What this book teaches the reader is how to pay attention to the wants and needs of the beginner student, whoever he or she might be. By the time we become teachers ourselves, we have usually drifted away from many of these, and have forgotten some altogether. This is of great value for augmenting and improving one's teaching, and even for marketing purposes. I have personally used the concept and ideas outlined in this booklet to improve the way in which I describe my arts to newcomers and on my website.

Most importantly the author, who is a teacher himself of course, ask you, a fellow teacher, some very tough questions on the nature of what you teach, and how you choose to do it. This booklet forces you to tackle aspects of your teachings which you may have neglected, perhaps not purposely, but often because you wanted to avoid them. These kinds of harsh yet important reminders is something that the teacher is unlikely to get from anywhere else, apart from bitter experience.

Though the booklet is a very quick read overall, it took me much longer than expected, because I had to sit down and think matters through every 2-3 pages. The book really grabs your core conceptions of what you do and gives you a friendly shaking so you can re-sort them in your mind.

For one who is open to receive sound and very helpful advice on teaching, whose cup is not full, this book will prove a most useful and honest addition to his library.

[Martin2]

Hey Jonathan,

greatest thx for your review


That one can get e feeling how the book works I added on my blog an example chapter with a topic which might be very interesting for everyone:

General Teaching Concepts for Tai Chi Chuan

http://taichi-philosophy.blogspot.de/20 ... s-for.html

What are your experience with this?

How were you taught?
How are you teaching?
What do you prefer and why?

I am very curious about your experience.

All the best

Martin