Survived
No more T-Days. *nods to herself* No more T-Days. No more T-Days. Done. Over. Kablooie. Ugh. Even though I really only gave one lecture today, I feel wiped out. The fact that this was the very last time I have this horrid schedule helps a bit. The problem, I think, wasn't so much that there were four lectures to give; it was that I was pretty much "on" for 10 straight hours, with less than an hour break at any point. The closest thing I got to a break was my office hour from 11 to 1, but mostly I was still working then. I think if the 1:00 class had been at, say, 11:00, with all other things equal, the schedule would have been okay. Maybe.
Next semester, on MW I give three fifty minute lectures, TTh has two 75 minute lectures, and Friday has one 50 minute lecture. That's more doable, though I'd prefer it if the TTh were either both in the morning or both in the evening. *sighs* Now I have a stack of makeup tests to grade and a stats final to write. The other finals are all written by the course coordinators.
Also next semester, I'm planning to try and run a taiji intermediate course at that Whole Health Cooperative place. I finally called the woman who runs the place this afternoon. It's a reasonable rate. If I charge $8 per lesson, I need four students to make a slight profit each time. Of course, I'm offering them a discount if they come help out with Melissa's beginning taiji class. Besides helping Melissa, that will also get them re-exposed to the basic principles now that they know enough to pay attention to them.
Right, coherency leaving. Time to sign off.
2 comments:
Idaho is too far away, otherwise I'd sign up for the class. What would be a good criteria for hunting for a joga or taiji instructor? Any suggestions for a beginner?
:)
With yoga, my advice would be to ask to sit in on one class and see if you like the atmosphere. Avoid teachers who push the body into positions without asking, though. You can tear muscles and tendons that way. Good ones will occasionally push on the body, but gently and with the student's permission.
For taiji, I'd ask about the teacher's lineage up front. Mainly because someone who's serious about taiji will know exactly what you're asking and why. I'd be suspicious of a teacher who doesn't even know what a lineage is, less so of one who recognizes the term but isn't sure what his own exact lineage is.
As for mine, I know one of the direct lines: Don Schurman, Kayo Robertson, Benjamin Lo, Cheng Man Ch'ing. Don actually has at least one other line going back to Cheng Man Ch'ing, but I never remember the other names.
Beyond that, look for one with a good atmosphere. There are some very competitive schools out there, very much into push-hands competitions. It's hard to do good taiji with a competitive attitude. Not impossible, just difficult.
Hope that's at least somewhat helpful. ^/^
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