Teaching question

[Fred Claus]

The ATCQA requires the following for certification as a practitioner.

1. 150 hours of training
2. Two letters of reference

To become a certified instructor you need
1. 200 hours of teaching
2. Three letters of reference.

They say the certification helps you when getting a job as a Tai Chi instructor. My goal is not to work as a Tai Chi instructor. I am looking to offer classes to local seniors at the senior center free of charge though my nonprofit. Knowing that I ask a question.

Since I'm not charging and I'm not working in a job for someone else, do I even need to be "Certified"? Is the piece of paper required at some point to teach or is it just a confidence and recognition thing?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

You would only need to be certified if the place you are looking to train requires it, or possibly if you are saying that you are an ATCQA instructor (and even that might not be true).

 

[Fred Claus]

You would only need to be certified if the place you are looking to train requires it, or possibly if you are saying that you are an ATCQA instructor (and even that might not be true).

Thank you. I have been doing tai chi so long I meet the qualifications for a practitioner, but I never documented it. I guess I will start documenting in case I want to be certified later.

 

[Appledog]

Since I'm not charging and I'm not working in a job for someone else, do I even need to be "Certified"? Is the piece of paper required at some point to teach or is it just a confidence and recognition thing?

You do not need certification from the ATCQA. The ATCQA has absolutely no authority to certify anyone for Tai Chi. I'll edit my original post and just say that "letters of reference" are also meaningless -- what you need is an authorization to teach letter from a recognized master of tai chi, who has a recognized lineage in Tai Chi. What that means I will leave aside for now.

If you have ONE of those and the ATCQA does not immediately certify you then I would question the validity of their existence. What the ACTQA should be if anything is a vetting organization for people who do not have the time to go and look up and understand who is and is not a recognized master with a recognized lineage. They can not and do not have the authority to provide such a letter (i.e. a discipleship letter) in and of themselves.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I have been doing tai chi so long I meet the qualifications for a practitioner, but I never documented it. I guess I will start documenting in case I want to be certified later.

You may want to ask a Yang Taiji instructor the following questions:

- What's the difference between "diagonal flying" and "parting wide horse mane"?
- What's the application of "needle at the bottom of the sea"?
- What's the application of "slant body down"?

 

[mograph]

Depending on where you want to teach, once you present a certification, they might ask "certified by who?" ... or "ATCQ who?"

It's more about the qualifications requested by the specific organization where you want to teach, IMO, and they all seem to require that you learn there if you want to teach there ... not unreasonably.

Ji Hong has these requirements: link
Tai Chi Foundation is here: link
Paul Lam's group is here: link

If there are no requirements, or if you already have them, then a letter of recommendation, awards, referrals, previous experience, will act as credibility enhancers. They might give you an edge over someone else.

If you want to teach at the local centre, ask them what they expect of you. You might just need a St. John Ambulance certificate, in case someone has a heart attack or something. Maybe a personal trainer certificate.

Hey, my elderly mother teaches at the local community center, because she used to be attached to the Taoist Tai Chi Society / Fung Loy Kok people who taught there at one point, a number of years ago. Sort of. But when the TTCS/FLK declined to continue teaching there, the center asked Mom to continue to teach seniors there. She has no certifications of any kind, just experience teaching at the center. Basically, she keeps the old folks moving.

But as far as I know, there is no overarching Tai Chi certification body in North America recognized by organizations outside itself.