How to Become a Tai Chi Instructor

Tai chi is an ancient Chinese art that involves a series of self-paced, gentle physical exercises. The trick to performing tai chi well is to make the movements flow together seamlessly with perfect balance. Teaching tai chi can be very rewarding because you can help your students achieve better balance, reduced stress and greater agility. Follow these steps to become a tai chi instructor.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Master the art of tai chi. You can watch DVDs or videos to learn the basic moves, but taking a live class will be most helpful. See what tai chi does for you and decide whether you want to teach it.

2. Take a teacher certification course for tai chi. There are many levels of certification, ranging from short-distance programs that allow you to be a Tai Chi Easy teacher to 200-hour programs. Go to the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi website for more information on these levels of certification.

3. Contact your local YMCA or community school to find out if you can teach a tai chi class. Many community schools encourage people to suggest courses and to teach them. This is a good way to get started as an instructor.

4. Continue to improve your skills. There are many opportunities to improve your skills by attending workshops and taking classes on your own. As you get better, you will also begin to develop a following of students.

Tips & Warnings

• There are many styles of tai chi, including chen, sun, hao and zhao bao. As an instructor, you will probably want to learn about as many of these styles as you can, but you will want to specialize in one of them.
• Although distance courses can be tempting, you should spend some time in front of an instructor so that you can receive correction if you do some movements incorrectly.

Resources

• Find teachers and educational programs on the Institute's website.
• The Easy Tai Chi site offers an online certification program.