My third teaching session – only one student. I must be really boring my students! When my teacher commented about a student who didn’t turn up, he made a comment which I didn’t fully appreciate at the time. He said:
“for students who can’t turn up, they should actually tell me in advance out of courtesy…”
For my students who didn’t turn up, I actually had to ask if they were coming, just to realise only one could make it that day.
I wonder if it’s because the classes are free and hence less appreciated than paid-for classes. My initial thought was to make them pay at least a little bit so that they have a financial stake in the class. And I was planning to donate the proceeds away just as an added incentive for turning up for classes.
I voted against it to see if any students will turn up in the first place. Will see how this goes. But somehow, learning Tai Ji IS boring, until you get the “joy” of it. While performing just to show them the full form, someone commented on how I was “enjoying” it. He had a hard time describing what he saw.
I guess it’s a compliment in a sense, although to the trained eye, I’m probably still quite some way off! The more important point is, how to make a Tai Chi class more interesting. Some people like being shown the applications, some like the fact that they’re learning something, some like the social aspect of it, some treat it as a form of dance choreography – once you get the movements, you have learnt Tai Chi.
For starters, I guess I have to cater to all tastes, just to get them through the “door”. If you have any other suggestions on how to make a class more interesting, please suggest away!
If you think this is worth sharing, do share it with your friends. Thank you for reading.
Related posts:
4 Comments
hey shang, my advice to you – never teach for free.
another advice – if you charge too cheap students will come as and when they feel like it. i charge by the hour and in the hundreds but the serious student will show up. those who can’t pay or don’t want to pay that high, i recommend to go elsewhere.
but those who come i teach very indepth and go home on a high with a head chokeful of info that will take them years to digest.
if you want to make class interesting the best way is to teach drills followed by push hands. in this way the students can see some payoff right away. but its not a good way to teach taiji but it keeps them interested.
if you want to focus on teaching form, then show them something ordinary that they can’t do. for example doing a 360 backflip is difficult but can be done with training. try showing a simple pushing movement that can unbalance them no matter how hard they try to resist. show them how effortless it can be. better still do it standing on one leg. once their interest is piqued tell them that this can be learned and mastered through the form and then show them all the small details in the form that teaches them the principles to do this. most of the time you only have to tell them 1 or 2 before their mind cannot take it because the complexity of the simplicity is too much for them to digest.
now you see the advantage of a gathering? you can swap points with other people……..
Thanks for the plentiful advice! I’ll be sure to turn up for the gathering one of these days, been pretty busy lately, but i still try to blog in the wee hours…
Man, I’ve got the same frustrations as you. I teach (aikiod and judo) in a small dojo at my home. I teach for free but can’t get more than 1-2 consistent students at a time. Even when I get 6-8 signed up at the same time they drag in and out and never show up at the same time. I’ve thought about the same strategy as your comentator – charge exorbitant amounts – but havent gotten there yet.
hi shang, i’m organizing an informal gathering on 28 Jul at either Botanic Gardens in the morning from 0800-0930 hrs or later at Bras Basah Complex from 1100-1230 hrs. interested to come along?