Golden rule:

Be positive and banish all negative self-talk. Many of us have a tendency to beat ourselves up if we can’t remember the moves straight away. Being hard on yourself won’t help you to learn; be kind instead! Replace any negative thoughts with, “I can remember this”, or something similar. Everyone “gets it” sooner or later.

Ideas for class:

• Watch your instructor like a hawk, or perhaps like a white crane. When you are at home, you focus on your hands, but when learning something new at class watch your instructor as much as possible. There are always many subtleties about the moves to pick up if you are looking carefully. If you don’t have a good view of the instructor, move around until you do, or ask the instructor to move to different positions in the room.
  
  
• Ask questions. Instructors love questions! Don’t wonder in silence - you can be sure that someone else will be wondering the same thing, so speak up.
  
  
• Get into the habit of counting all the repeated moves like the brush knees, repulse monkeys, cloud hands and jade ladies. You can follow your instructor at class, but at home it’s easy to forget how many you’ve done and to find yourself facing the wrong direction.
  
  
• Consider purchasing one or some of the learning aids produced by the College. Many will be familiar with the CD of Senior Master Eng Chor talking through the Yang form as this is frequently used in classes, but this is very useful for home practice as well. There is a DVD, a booklet that includes the Lotus and Levels 1 and 2, and there may even be some very old posters of the postures still floating around some of the centres. Talk to your instructor about what may be best for you.

Go to the park lessons:

It’s wonderfully reassuring to see that everyone else looks much the same as you when doing tai chi. It’s also valuable to be taught by a different instructor every now and then. Practicing tai chi outside under the trees with a big group of others is really very lovely.

Ideas for practice at home:

• Make notes that are meaningful to you. Simple bullet points with the names of the moves may be enough to trigger a memory, or you may prefer detailed instructions. Write notes as soon as possible after class while the information is still fresh.
  
  
• Visualise the movements while sitting quietly, or even while doing the dishes.
  
  
• Rehearsing in the mind is hugely beneficial - sort out the moves in your head before getting up to practice them. This is especially good for moves that you find physically strenuous! Repeat them twenty times in your head and three times in the flesh. Before sleep is a good time to visualise the routines.
  
  
• Finish off with something you know well - like a few shibashi and breathe deeply for a very nice prelude to sleep.
  
  
• At home you can do two different styles of practice: the quick run-through and the more formal longer practice. Do the quick run-through as soon as possible after learning new material and repeat as many times as possible in the few days after class. Treat this as separate from the longer practice where you can include the limbering up exercises and chi kung before your tai chi. If you have made notes, read them before starting your practice.
  
  
• Remember: be positive and relax! Just enjoy the flow and grace of the tai chi moves.
  
  
• There is always next week at class to sort out any moves that you are not confident with.

- Suzette Hosken (Doncaster Centre)