Three-year Taijiquan Instructors Course.

Course Aim:
To study Taijiquan in depth and to train students to a professionally competent level in the teaching of Taijiquan classes.

Entry Requirements:
  The course will be suitable for students at intermediate/advanced level with at least two years Taijiquan experience.

First date:
     Sunday 22nd February 2009 10:30 - 17:30 at Fawley Court

The course is designed to accommodate diverse Taijiquan forms by concentrating on unifying principles and by distinguishing principles of different styles, and therefore it is not necessary for students to have all studied the same form. However the main emphasis will be on the movements of the original Chen style form (Laojia).

Each year there will be eight days (dates will be given later), three individual lessons and a residential weekend.

Course Outline

At the completion of the course the students will have gained both a practical and theoretical understanding of Taijiquan and its many aspects.

During the course the students will:

• study the movements of the body in Taijiquan form (any form will do)
• study the principles of Taijiquan
• do comparative study of principles as manifested in different styles (Yang, Chen, Wu, etc)
• study Push Hands (Tui Shou) techniques and their applications from both the technical and energy aspects
• study Push Hands 'energies'
• learn to make a distinction between Taijiquan as a Martial discipline and an Art
• appreciate and learn to use the therapeutic aspects of Taijiquan and related Qigong practice
• understand Qi, its different manifestations and its relation to the western medical view
• study Taijiquan classics
• study the origin of Taijiquan and the history of the main styles
• learn the most popular Chinese terms and their transliterations (Wade-Giles and Pinyin)

Each course lesson will include a theoretical part and practical work of a general nature with individual help given where needed.

Included in the course are six individual lessons which will consists only of practical work with close attention to detail and intensity not possible in a general lesson. The work done in individual lessons will not be included in the final assessment and students will be expected not to discuss it among themselves. Explanations will be given at the start of the course.

For those students interested in teaching Taijiquan, it is recommended that they take City and Guilds 730 F.E. Teachers Certificate course at a College of Further Education.

Students will need to wear clothes and shoes suitable for Taijiquan practice both indoors and out of doors, and have a pen/pencil with a writing pad for making notes.

If you would like to know more, or you are not sure whether the course is for you, feel free to telephone on 0118 979 2556 to discuss it with Karel or Eva before coming to your decision.

Tutors:

Karel Koskuba has been studying Internal Martial Arts and Qigong since 1978, and teaching since 1984. Karel is the head of the Chinese Internal Arts Association and leads both the Taijiquan Three-Year Intructors Course and the Qigong Three-Year Practitioners Course. He devised and wrote the Taijiquan and Qigong-based exercises for the Battle Hospital, Reading. He gives regular seminars on Internal Martial Arts and Qigong in UK and abroad.

Eva Koskuba has been studying Internal Martial Arts and Qigong since 1982 and teaching since 1986. She teaches (and organizes) on both the three-year Intructors Taijiquan course and the Qigong Three-Year Practitioners Course, and was the head of the Battle Hospital project teaching Taiji and Qigong based exercises there. She gives regular seminars on Taijiquan and Qigong in UK and abroad.