Only Teach Smart People

Here’s a little philosophy.Confucius Says.....

I consider all beings intelligent.

Yeah: all.

We all have bodies wired to learn, to adjust, and to change… in good ways.

Treating people as if they’re intelligent inspires growth and fuels creativity. It makes teaching Taiji, martial arts, and healing skills much, much easier. (Hey: who doesn’t like being treated smart?)

It’s easy and it’s fun and everybody wins when we treat people smart.

But Not Intellectually…

Intellectual intelligence gets confusing. Theories and thinking and thoughts about ideas often put up barriers to natural growth. With our internal dialogue, we can talk ourselves out of anything. Or into anything. Or back and forth. We can think about it again. And think about it another way. Or not. Or yes. No. You see?

Do you like being right; hate being wrong? Me too. (I hope I’m right.)

The point is: consider the whole person: body, emotion, actions, senses, and all other parts…smart.

We are much more than our thinking, more than our thoughts.

Bodies are designed to thrive and to learn and to know things, deep down, naturally. I can trust that — anyone and everyone has a unique and provocative way to push for fun and to discover personal power, wily freedom, and tender ways to connect.

It’s Easy To Help

People learn naturally. Treat people like they’re smart and they catch on quickly.

Everyone’s ready to learn how to move, and not many people need overly simplistic methods. If you’re treated intelligently: chances are, you’ll learn faster and have more fun.

I don’t know how to teach Taiji for Dummies.

I haven’t met any.

[Taiji Courses are available now.]

15 Responses to Only Teach Smart People

  1. Erich says:
    10 April 2010 at 7:10 am

    Very true. I’ve taught many people over the years and what I’ve found is that if a student is struggling to learn something then the problem is usually that you are not communicating it correctly for their level of understanding. It’s not that they’re not smart, just that you are using terms and concepts they are not familiar with. There’s nothing better than that ‘ah-ha’ moment when one of your students finally ‘gets’ the point that you’re trying to teach.

    • S.Smith says:
      10 April 2010 at 7:31 am

      Ah-has are awesome.

      I’ve also watched people have an internal dialogue about not-getting it… along the lines of ‘Why can’t I get this?’ or ‘Why am I so stupid?’

      Helping someone change that idea can result in a big learning shift.

  2. day says:
    20 April 2010 at 1:58 am

    Yeah, I had training partners whom I “taught” taiji a bit.

    My problem mostly is that they didn’t practice at home/ by themselves.
    When I train at home, I always check any unusual signal in my body, mostly the knee and lower back/waist. When they hurt like a sharp pain, I know there’s something wrong with my structure or motion. Also, some awkwardness in my body, such as, it may feel weird in crane spread wings posture if I don’t put my right hand higher or lower, etc.

    Secondly, each person have their own learning ability. Scott Rodell’s students have a nice article about this:
    http://www.chinese-swords-guide.com/multiple-intelligences.html
    And another one by karate parctitioner, but I can’t remember where I read it..

  3. S.Smith says:
    21 April 2010 at 4:28 pm

    Thanks for the link.

    I consider everyone “natural learners” (#7 on that list), and I often consider that we all own bits of every learning style. No doubt, of course, some modes dominate in each individual.

  4. day says:
    30 April 2010 at 2:53 am

    Agree.
    To rely on only one learning style, the “teacher” style, is a major cause of “stupid” and “intelligent”. Kinda one sign that the teacher isn’t ready to teach.
    That’s why teaching a handful of people, or “inner door” is good, I guess. More private, more intimate.

  5. S.Smith says:
    3 May 2010 at 7:01 am

    day,

    I agree with you: more private and intimate is better for everyone, teachers and students.

    (The Online Courses that I developed mock that to some degree. I push a say it, see it, do it mantra to spread out the learning styles issue.)

    I also like your vision that teachers ought to know how to teach in other modes. I’ll go another step to say that learning in uncomfortable modes sometimes helps the message go deeper; in other words, though I’m not an audible learner, using audible clues helps me break learning patterns, discover errors, and wake up just a little more. ;)

    • day says:
      9 May 2010 at 9:52 pm

      Oh, no offense, Steve.
      I was talking about modern academic learning, university etc. They give good grade to those who do excellent on exams with no concern about the students’ learning mode and condition.

      Also, the assumption that everyone is the same and should be treated equally. I doubt Pres. Obama could formulate Theory of Relativity, or Steve Hawking could compose Symphony No.5.

      Let’s face it, we’re different in that manner, I’m not Newton, though I realized Newton Laws for psychology when I was 14. He’s a genius at physics, maths, philosophy etc, while I just had a crappy teen life.

      And I mainly learn taiji from dvds and books, so I’m not against your online courses. I believe those who can learn from it will learn a lot from it.

      • S.Smith says:
        17 May 2010 at 3:34 pm

        No offense taken. And I think the intimate approach is the only way to really get deep down into any art.

  6. loonsong says:
    18 May 2010 at 12:16 pm

    What about the student that has real cognitive issues from thyroid and fibromyalgia….who wants to learn but the pressure of the air effects that learning process? I don’t know whether to watch weather and just not go to class when these presssure systems are around are to go and encounter the awful blank slate times when nothing will come in, sequential information as it is….a diffficult one for the fibromyalgia patient. But I so want to learn the whole form. Any ideas. I am not stupid but on some days I appear to be and it can be frustrating I am not sure what my teacher feels of it. Even on good days I take in information at a rate much slower than the average studen, I require more attention or I come away with nothing…..
    loonsong

    • S.Smith says:
      12 June 2010 at 2:12 am

      The short, simple answer is: go slow and trust your senses. Find people that appreciate your pace.

  7. Steve says:
    28 May 2010 at 9:20 am

    Yeah, I had training partners whom I “taught” taiji a bit.

    My problem mostly is that they didn’t practice at home/ by themselves.
    When I train at home, I always check any unusual signal in my body, mostly the knee and lower back/waist. When they hurt like a sharp pain, I know there’s something wrong with my structure or motion. Also, some awkwardness in my body, such as, it may feel weird in crane spread wings posture if I don’t put my right hand higher or lower, etc.

    Secondly, each person have their own learning ability. Scott Rodell’s students have a nice article about this:
    http://www.chinese-swords-guide.com/multiple-intelligences.html
    And another one by karate parctitioner, but I can’t remember where I read it..

    • S.Smith says:
      12 June 2010 at 2:02 am

      Practice is important, but your very intuitive way of understanding and trusting your body is a great key to getting better.

      Thanks for the link.

  8. kevin bryant says:
    5 August 2010 at 5:54 pm

    i like your blog. good thoughts and to the point, not wrapped in guru-speak. as the yeungs say “just enough”

  9. Paige says:
    12 November 2010 at 9:28 am

    Hi Steve,

    First visit to your online home here. Nice.

    My first teacher would often tell me how difficult/impossible tai chi is to get right (which I then took as criticism). It was a real block in my practice as I lacked confidence that I would ever *get* it. Lucky for me I was persistent in trying despite the impossibility.

    But now as I teach I know that what is/was difficult for me is not necessarily difficult for someone else as they will have challenges in completely different areas (One teacher told me getting to Fair Lady threads shuttles was a common spot in the 103 form to hit a wall)

    Loonsong – you are wise to recognize your own energetic makeup enough to adapt to it.

    We all are intelligent and the beauty of tai chi practice is that it helps us to refine our innate intelligence and gain balance and adaptability that then flows into all aspects of our being.

    • S.Smith says:
      12 November 2010 at 4:59 pm

      Paige: Fair Lady Cranks the Crazy Shuttles is a tough pose sequence, no doubt!

      Welcome…good to hear from you.