Recommended reading:

1. Mastery by Robert Greene
2. Steal My Art by Stuart Alve Olson 
3. Moving Towards Stillness by Dave Lowry
4. There are No Secrets by Wolfe Lowenthal
5. Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
6. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
7. The Power of Internal Martial Arts by Bruce Kumar Frantzis
8. The Sword Polisher's Record: The Way of Kung Fu by Adam Hsu

Most martial arts expect a student to reach a 3rd dan black belt standard before training to become an Instructor.
This is a good guideline for tai chi chuan also.

Typically a Tai Chi Chuan Instructor has at least 5 years experience and is ideally a lineage disciple.
They have a serious commitment to home practice and clear evidence of ability in all 13 areas of skill.
The Instructor should possess a stage 2 knowledge of form and be capable of teaching different forms e.g. Yang Cheng Fu, sabre, cane, staff, walking stick, jian (or equivalents).
They should be able to apply every posture of the Yang Cheng Fu form in a wide variety of ways.

After some years of practice your Master may ask you if you potentially want to become an Instructor.
The training will commence with helping out in class.
Simple chores and assistance.

If you show enthusiasm and competence, your Master may commence teacher training with you.
This formal process of learning will take many months, probably even years.
Once qualified, an Instructor should seek Instructor affiliation and insurance with The Tai Chi Union for Great Britain or equivalent body.

To become a Master, the journeyman needs to have put in the hours and have acquired a level of understanding and competence concordant with mastery.
This entails an immense personal sacrifice in terms of time and effort.
Serving the art may sometimes feel like a thankless task; seldom offering financial reward, frequently being second-guessed and taken for granted.
Master-level tai chi chuan is not a matter of new forms and material.
It is to be found in the comprehensive nature of the practice. 
The thoroughness of the understanding. The simplicity, sensitivity, softness and ease of ability. 
Every action should contain the tai chi chuan principles.
All of the exercises, forms and drills are dismantled so that the exponent can examine how and why they operate.
This is a crucial stage of learning; enabling the individual to truly comprehend the art.
Mastery is versatile and complex - demonstrating a broad degree of insight.
It is also remarkably understated.
The exponent becomes lost in the art; yielding to its intricacies, methods, ways and patterns rather than seeking to dominate it.

In-depth concerns must be explored thoroughly: biomechanics, consciousness, consolidation, Eastern philosophy, form, kinaesthetic awareness, martial theory & practice, meditation, proprioception, syllabus design, spiritual inquiry, tai chi principles and teaching methods.

Martial arts are typically just a series of methods and principles designed to assist you in combat.

Tai chi is a little different.
The entire system is concerned with aligning your body and mind with tao; of moving in accord with the way of things.
It is a spiritual discipline.
The self defence component is a side effect of following tao.

Tai chi has more in common with zen, Japanese archery, calligraphy, poetry, oriental flower arranging or Japanese tea ceremony than it does boxing.

The journeyman phase of practice and study will involve a further 20,000 hours of practice.
The equivalent of another 14 years full-time study. 

Most Instructors stay at this level because the logistics of work, family and making a living make it very hard to commit the necessary amount of time to tai chi.
Reasonably, an exponent must start young if they wish to truly Master tai chi.

Sifu Waller overcame this obstacle by quitting his day job and studying full-time for 10 years, practicing tai chi and bagua for countless hours, reading, reflecting, writing about tai chi and teaching classes throughout the week.

The student needs time to digest what they have learned, to consider new avenues and directions.
Although the apprenticeship phase is essentially over, the Master/disciple relationship continues. 
There is still much to learn from the Master.
The Master now watches from a slight distance; allowing the student to find their feet and discover their own proclivities and preferences.
The journeyman should be the equivalent of (or higher than) a 3rd dan black belt in any martial art.
They will understand how to practice the art and be capable of teaching other students.

An Expert will typically open their own class or school.
They may continue to teach on behalf of their Master.
It depends on the individual.
Being a Tai Chi Expert is more than just talent.
You need to put in the work.
The journeyman should aim to make a great leap forward in terms of tai chi skill. 
They must begin to see connections and associations between different aspects of the syllabus.
Taoism, the Tai Chi Classics, martial considerations, biomechanics and teaching blend together in a new kind of understanding that transcends verbal explanation.

The initial apprenticeship stage lasted for the equivalent of 7 years: approximately 10,000 hours of quality tuition and practice.

For the tai chi student this initial phase of learning will furnish the exponent with all the necessary skills for the journey ahead.
Intensive teaching, corrections, study, repetition and refinement are necessary.
Patience is required.

Only the Master can determine when the student has completed this first stage of learning.
At a certain point it will be time for the apprentice to spread their wings and explore the art further for themselves.

There are 5 types of Instructor in tai chi:

1. Health-only Tai Chi Teacher
2. Tai Chi Chuan Instructor
3. Tai Chi Expert
4. Tai Chi Master
5. Tai Chi Grandmaster

Most Tai Chi Instructors are Health-only Tai Chi Teachers.

Very few can teach tai chi chuan. 

Instructors with greater skill are less common in the UK.

Sifu Waller has practiced martial arts for most of his life and is a professionally qualified teacher.
• 40 years martial arts experience
• 23 years practice of tai chi and baguazhang (10 years being full-time study)
• 20 years Master/disciple relationship with Tai Chi Master Peter Southwood
• 30,000 hours of tai chi practice behind him
• Teaching tai chi since 1995
• 3 lineage disciples

Sifu Waller quit his day job to study tai chi full-time for 10 years.
He practiced tai chi and bagua for countless hours, reading, reflecting, writing about tai chi and teaching classes throughout the week.

 Your instructor needs to see how you respond to a variety of challenges.
 Can you handle difficult students?
 Do you work well under pressure?
 Are you organised?
 Can you articulate well?
 Are you capable of conveying complex information in a differentiated fashion?

 The instructor needs a good measure of your character before committing to training you.
 If you are not suitable, then instructing is not for you.
  

Long-distance tai chi instructor courses are absurd.
How can anybody learn the necessary teaching qualities from long-distance learning?
It is simply ridiculous.

Only the most desperate and naive individual would seek to undertake such a course.
The qualification is not worth the paper it is written on.
Any insurance company that provides personal liability cover based on such a course is negligent.

New starters @ £7.50

We offer two beginners classes in Newcastle:

1. Monday 7:00 - 8:00 PM
   - Community Hall, St Andrew's Church, Station Road, Benton, NE12 8AW
    
2. Tuesday 7:00 - 8:00 PM
   - St Teresa's Church Hall, Heaton Road, Newcastle, NE6 5HN

Doors open at 6:45 PM

25% off joining fee until end of February

If you want to try the class, there is no need to e-mail in advance. Just come along.

We welcome adults of all ages. Prior experience is not expected.

New starters are treated as beginners.

We reward long-term membership:

5 years:

1. potentially become an indoor student

7th dan:

1. train to become an instructor in our school

10 years:

1. free annual membership
2. free workshops

20 years:

1. free evening class tuition

New starters @ £7.50

We offer two beginners classes in Newcastle:

1. Monday 7:00 - 8:00 PM
   - Community Hall, St Andrew's Church, Station Road, Benton, NE12 8AW
    
2. Tuesday 7:00 - 8:00 PM
   - St Teresa's Church Hall, Heaton Road, Newcastle, NE6 5HN

Doors open at 6:45 PM