wayne hansen wrote:Let me say it again there is far simpler and more appropriate exercise for the elderly and those better qualified to teach it
Well, that's the problem with those who approach the training of tai chi as a health(ful) system of physical activity for elderly folks...'teaching'
There is plenty of overlap in the way tjq is (should be) trained, and effective PT for maintenance and recovery. But neither of those training regimens has anything to do with teachers teaching.
What Kelley said about clear short-term markers of progress, whether it's one-legged balance or just being able to touch their toes, or whatever.
If form is tantamount to tai chi, then the exercises should be congruent with what one has set as the markers of progress, and where ability to execute a form is incidental to arriving at those markers. Form is the technique and not the goal. That notion is the inverse of what most 'teachers' think the forms' purpose serves...what, with all the crazy ideas about forms being a menu of applications and techniques.
Opening, or Commencement sequence can (should) be practiced while seated before it's ever practiced while standing. It can and should be tested while seated before it's ever tested while standing. A couple of us have mentioned the idea of testing in this thread already, and it might warrant its own topic, but it's part and parcel of really learning to learn tjq.