TAI CHI NOTEBOOK: A SIMPLE WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR PRACTICE
When you first begin learning Tai Chi, there is a lot to remember. That's why one of the simplest things I recommend to new students is keeping a Tai Chi notebook.
You are learning new movements, but at the same time your teacher may be talking about posture, balance, relaxation, breathing, weight distribution, alignment, and other Tai Chi principles. Everything can make perfect sense while you are standing in class—and then you get home and realize you have forgotten half of it.
I remember that feeling very well.
When I began learning Tai Chi in 1993, my teacher would show me a movement and I would practice it throughout the week. When I returned to class, I couldn't wait to show him what I had practiced.
If I could perform the movement well enough, he would teach me the next one.
One movement became two. Two became three. Slowly, week after week, those individual movements became a Tai Chi form.
Looking back, I think there is an important lesson in that process:
Tai Chi doesn't have to be learned quickly. It needs to be learned patiently.
And one of the simplest things I eventually found to help me do that was a notebook.
There Can Be a Lot to Remember in Tai Chi Class
A good Tai Chi teacher isn't only teaching you where to put your hands and feet.
You may receive a correction about your posture. Your teacher may explain where your weight should be. You might learn something about your hips, knees, shoulders, breathing, or where your attention should be.
Then you learn another movement.
By the end of class, your mind can be pretty full.
The challenge comes several days later when you try to practice on your own.
What exactly did my teacher say about my knee?
Which direction was my foot supposed to point?
Was I supposed to shift my weight before turning or after?
Those little details can be surprisingly difficult to remember.
That's why I recommend something very simple to Tai Chi students:
Bring a notebook to class.
How My Tai Chi Notebook Began
When I first started learning Tai Chi, no one told me to keep a notebook.
My teacher did recommend that I buy The Tai Chi Handbook by Herman Kauz. The book showed a Yang Tai Chi form similar to the one I was learning. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was close enough that the photographs gave me something to refer to when I didn't have access to my teacher during the week.
It was better than nothing, but it couldn't remind me of the specific things my teacher had told me.
Eventually, I decided to bring a notebook and pencil to class.
There was nothing special about it. I simply called it my Tai Chi notebook.
I remember being the only person in class who brought one.
Each week, I began writing down little things that would help me remember what I had learned. Sometimes it was a sentence. Sometimes it was only a word. I might draw a quick picture or use an arrow to remind myself which direction I was supposed to move.
It didn't have to make sense to anyone else.
It only had to make sense to me.
Those little handwritten notes became reminders of things that had seemed perfectly clear while my teacher was standing in front of me but could easily disappear from memory once I was practicing alone.
Write Down Corrections, Not Just Movements
One of the most useful things you can record in a Tai Chi notebook is a correction from your teacher.
If your teacher repeatedly tells you to relax your shoulders, write it down.
If you're having trouble keeping your knee properly aligned, make a note.
If you finally understand something about shifting your weight that had confused you for weeks, record it.
These observations can become much more valuable than simply writing down the names of movements.
Over time, you may even begin to notice patterns.
Perhaps your teacher has corrected the same habit several times. Seeing it repeatedly in your notebook tells you that this is probably something worth spending more time on.
Your notebook becomes more than a record of what you've learned. It becomes a record of how you're learning.
Practice One Thing at a Time
If I could give a beginning Tai Chi student one piece of advice, it would be this:
Don't try to fix everything at once.
Choose one thing and work on it.
Practice it during the week until you are comfortable with it. In the beginning, just memorize the sequence. As time goes on, you will refine the movements.
Tai Chi principles are repeated again and again for a reason. At first, you hear the words. Eventually, you begin to understand what they mean. With enough practice and correction, your body starts to recognize when something feels properly aligned and when it doesn't.
That takes time.
I've been practicing Tai Chi daily for more than 32 years, and I'm still learning. That's one of the things I love most about the art. There is always something that can become a little clearer, more relaxed, more balanced, or more natural.
There is no reason to rush.
What Should You Write in a Tai Chi Notebook?
Your notebook doesn't need to become homework.
Keep it simple.
You might write down:
- A new movement you learned
- A correction your teacher gave you
- A Tai Chi principle you want to remember
- A question to ask at your next class
- A quick sketch of a posture
- Arrows showing the direction of a movement
- Something that felt different during practice
- Something you're having difficulty understanding
- A breakthrough you don't want to forget
You could also write down one thing you want to concentrate on during the coming week.
That's enough.
The real learning still happens through practice.
The notebook simply helps you remember what to practice.
Your Notebook Becomes a Record of Your Tai Chi Journey
Years later, a Tai Chi notebook can become something you never expected it to be: a keepsake.
You can look back and see the things you once struggled to understand. Corrections that once required your complete attention may eventually become natural parts of the way you move.
You can see your progress—not only through the movements you learned, but through the questions you asked along the way.
And you don't need an expensive journal or anything labeled specifically for Tai Chi.
A simple notepad and pencil will do.
What matters isn't the notebook.
What matters is paying attention, remembering what your teacher shares with you, and then going home and practicing it.
That's how my Tai Chi was built when I began in 1993: one movement, one correction, and one week of practice at a time.
More than three decades later, I still believe that patient, consistent approach is one of the best ways to learn.
Your journey, our shared path.™
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