Health knowledge made personal
Yes. If you want to get close to 100% of the benefits.
Videos and books are ok as supplements to an actual teacher but a live teacher will be able to detect the incorrect movements/postures and esplain exactly what you are doing wrong and also answers your inevitable questions.
Tai Chi and Chi Kung are very precise disciplines and there are many subtleties that only an experienced and adept teacher can point out.
Movements that seem simple are usually quite complex, subtle and the student will not be aware of what they may be doing wrong.
Done absolutely correctly you will get close to 100% benefit; doing it 50 % correctly you will get 50 % benefit...Done totally wrong you get zero benefit.
So with tapes and books you will probably gain anywhere from zero to 30 % of the possible benefits, depending on you natural skill, dedication and amount of time spent daily. These disciplines are not meant to be done casually-- one needs real dedication, devotion and absloute focus and daily practice.
With a qualified teacher most beginning students get about 70% to 90 % benefit...
It helps to read the theory behind the culitvation of chi... it also is a great advantage to combine sitting meditation with Tai Chi and/or Chi Kung... this exponentially increases the benefits and speeds up your progress.
Based on your circumstances, I recommend you work with a teacher on an infrequent basis. Take a lesson with a qualified teacher and learn a few basic moves, start with Qigong. Get the teacher to correct and critique you...then practice.
It's not ideal but at least you will get started.. then later on join a group..there are inexpensive classes at most community centers.
Good luck!
What they are talking about is "most videos."
My teacher is a grandmaster and lineage holder.
Together we have created the best, most detailed
tai chi instructional video ever. Although we have
not brought the video to market on a wide scale,
we are rolling out a program to let video-students
send us videos to correct the movements, as Shaman
(above) suggests. I am willing to send you a free copy
of it just to prove my point. E-mail me your address
at tommy@FuTaiChi.com; and to seriously have your
mind blown, check out Master Fu on my YouTube
channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TransMun
"Tai Chi is first grade; Ba Gua is tenth grade."
www.FuTaiChi.com
You can't get the total benifit without a teacher but doing tai chi with a video is better than not at all. I suggest you get good books and videos and stay committed to regular practice. Always keep your eyes open to find a good teacher. You might fnd that there are a lot of different styles of Qigong. You should be careful to find a qualified teacher in this area. Some practices if done incorrectly can do more harm than good.
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Posted by R.Killinger
I'm looking to learn Tai'Chi, well actually QiGong since I was told QiGong is the root of Tai'Chi.
Issue is, I'm not really in the position to attend classes or hire a personal teacher, due to my location and circumstances.
I'm not looking to attain the highest tier, just enough to practice daily for meditaiton and light exercises to follow workouts at the gym.
Is a teacher absolutely needed for these goals? Or will books and dvds suffice?