Teaching in Mallow last night, and being quizzed by students who couldn't quite understand, I remembered that when I first started teaching, the advanced students would often tell me afterwards that I had given too much information. It really all depends on whether the teacher wants to create a space and experience dominated by words, rational explication and technicalities, or one oozing and dripping with energy, softness and mystery. Of course to create the latter the teacher much possess these qualities herself and must be strong and confident enough to draw these qualities (which are inherent in everybody and everything) out in/of their students. There's always the temptation to say a lot, partly because as a teacher you're often on a roll – the stimulation and stress of the teaching experience has forced you to a new and clearer understanding yourself which, being a generous person you are inclined to share, knowing as you do that sharing brings things together. The problem with this is that what's generated by the session may be particular to that session and may not be deep enough to have any relevance after the session has finished. The rational process is beautifully but dangerously generative – it extrapolates and interpolates into all sorts of areas and arenas it's not really qualified to go and can give a feeling of knowing to the ignorant. But this is only ever tinkering or scratching a surface, and will never lead to significant change or ego reduction (softening), it'll simply clutter the mind with clear shiny objects. Clarity is as much a curse as a blessing.
The teacher is also tempted to over-teach because she knows that a reasonably high proportion of those present are either not going to practice at all or are sufficiently stupid to practice the wrong thing given half a chance, and so whilst the teacher has their company and attention she struggles to make things as clear and straightforward as possible. Again, clarity is a curse.
My teacher always used to say to me, “I can't do the work for you, and even if I could, I wouldn't.”
Concentrating too much on postures and techniques will intimidate some and satisfy others in the wrong way. If anything give too little rather than too much (stay connected to your energy and resist the mind's temptations) – that way you allow the student to go away and find out for themselves through their own work and practice – discovery being an empowering experience. If the students don't do the work or do it wrong then you have to understand that that is their choice – they actually choose to be lazy or stupid – usually by being distracted by something else. These choices have been made very early in life – certainly before Tai Chi. To change this in students is well-nigh impossible. I've seen my teacher try every trick in the book to wake people up and still fail. That is one of the reasons he stopped teaching publicly – he realized students were using him as a spiritual crutch rather than a stimulus to deeper work. For the student to change they must really want to (with every particle of their being) – even then it's difficult. That change will then happen through grace, which the teacher encourages through their own work and dedication and consequent ability to draw energy and connectedness into which ever space they inhabit. What's important is that you have done the work yourself, as teacher and student, and are well prepared for the teaching – that is, connected and energized.
The teacher is also tempted to over-teach because she knows that a reasonably high proportion of those present are either not going to practice at all or are sufficiently stupid to practice the wrong thing given half a chance, and so whilst the teacher has their company and attention she struggles to make things as clear and straightforward as possible. Again, clarity is a curse.
My teacher always used to say to me, “I can't do the work for you, and even if I could, I wouldn't.”
Concentrating too much on postures and techniques will intimidate some and satisfy others in the wrong way. If anything give too little rather than too much (stay connected to your energy and resist the mind's temptations) – that way you allow the student to go away and find out for themselves through their own work and practice – discovery being an empowering experience. If the students don't do the work or do it wrong then you have to understand that that is their choice – they actually choose to be lazy or stupid – usually by being distracted by something else. These choices have been made very early in life – certainly before Tai Chi. To change this in students is well-nigh impossible. I've seen my teacher try every trick in the book to wake people up and still fail. That is one of the reasons he stopped teaching publicly – he realized students were using him as a spiritual crutch rather than a stimulus to deeper work. For the student to change they must really want to (with every particle of their being) – even then it's difficult. That change will then happen through grace, which the teacher encourages through their own work and dedication and consequent ability to draw energy and connectedness into which ever space they inhabit. What's important is that you have done the work yourself, as teacher and student, and are well prepared for the teaching – that is, connected and energized.
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