Nowadays most who join a Taiji class consider themselves good students if they attend class regularly, and serious if they pay for extra private lessons. So let's get a few things straight. A student, in my book, is someone who studies, and all study is largely homework – solitary practice. A serious student practises – as much as they can – and they wouldn't miss a class for the world. And in an ideal world there are no private lessons – they do more harm than good – bolstering an already excessive ego and demeaning the teacher. A good student has achieved a miracle: they have fallen in love with the work to such a degree that it has taken over their life, for better or for worse. They are the future masters, or, as my teacher would say, masters in waiting.