After becoming a student for years, a few friends asked me to teach Tai Ji. I rejected profusely, citing some lame excuses e.g. not ready, not good enough, do not want to mislead etc. Of course, being friends, they have the normal comeback for each of my excuses. I think the fact that I’m not charging for the class gives a strong incentive for them to try out Tai Chi for the first time!
I did think about why I didn’t want to teach in the first place. Those reasons cited were actually true. And yet, something is nagging at the back of my mind about each of these reasons.
1. I don’t feel I’m ready to teach.
Then it hit me that I will never be ready. Or to phrase it differently, I can never be ready as I am ready now. There will always be excuses down the line that will make me feel that I’m not ready – the timing is not right, I don’t have time, I’m tired etc. It sounds very much like the top 10 excuses for not training!
2. I don’t feel I’m good enough.
Also, I will never be good enough. There will always be someone better than me, but the question is, am I good enough for them?
3. I didn’t want to mislead them
I didn’t want to mislead them, the way I saw some of the teachers misled me! But without those misleading twists in my Tai Ji path, I wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the good from the bad. So in a way, meeting these teachers did help. Somehow, the dots are joining.
So…
The student hence became a teacher, to all 3 students in the first lesson. 
They did try to rope in some other friends, but no one were as keen as them, yet. Maybe after the first class, more will turn up, and better still, none will turn up! Will see how this goes. Watch this space!
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6 Comments
Hi Shang,
1. You will never be ready. None of us are. MA is not like getting a teaching diploma that certifies we are ready to teach. Even if you win an MA competition it still doesn’t mean you are ready. So the best thing to do is just jump in and be damned with the rest
2. We are never good enough. Fact of life is that there are always someone better. But then its better at what? For teaching fitness most people can do that. I had one student who was teaching taiji for health after getting an instructor’s licence but can he teach taiji as a martial art? You bet he can’t. So as long as you know your limitation that’s fine. I know I can never do Ling Kong Jing so I never make claims on that
3. If you mislead them you wouldn’t be the first. Just go around schools in SG and you’ll know what I mean. But here is the interesting fact – most students won’t know they are being mislead because they won’t know better. Which is why its up to us to post info to educate students so they won’t fall into the same trap
Anyway if the lessons are free, they shouldn’t very well be complaining should they?
Good luck to being a teacher. Its another way of learning too!
Thanks ZMS for confirming my doubts.
Initially, i titled this post as “Student becomes teacher becomes student”, just to reflect your last comment – teaching is another way of learning. I’ve decided to split it out coz i’m sure there’ll be lots more to come on the learning part!
hi shang, come along to the gathering and you can exchange notes with other instructors. gilbert also assists master rennie chong in teaching
I think your situation is a whole lot better than the usual – someone aching to be a teacher, and not really all that interested in learning the art in the first place. Are you familiar with the type I mean?
@ZMS: That will be good, but i’ll need some time to collect some notes first.
@Rick: Know what you mean. Most I’ve seen will just fall apart in the long term, unless the audience like the teacher not for his/her skills, which I have also seen! It’s a good social ground.
hi Shang, i am checking to see if there is any interest for people to meet on 9 Aug morning at Botanic Gardens for a “get to know your push hands” gathering – ZMS
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