Well, I just went through Taiji Week 1 Class 1 and I would like to share some thoughts. First, I think that going back to basics was not stepping backwards but stepping forward. I did learnt more than a couple of things! So, after years of practicing, this was no wasted time at all. I have been trying to take my Taiji "to the max", so my first movement is rather small, but I feel it change through the session (I followed the normal stance, but tried the smaller one sometimes). Second, the sessions was... simple(!?), but physically demanding, although I suppose not as much as future sessions can become. Now, a couple of suggestions: Could you give the name of the movement as you teach it. I find not not easy to get the names right after the books at your site (I just did class 1, don't know if you do in later classes). Second, sometimes you engage in rather lengthy explanations, could you tell us what to do while you give them? Do we stop and listen? Do we continue the practice? Looking forward to next sessions...
Hey Mate, glad you enjoyed lessons 1 :-)
I think I do generally say the name of the postures, at least I try to, so you'll probably find I start using the posture names in the next lessons, not sure if I missed some.
With the long explanations, the best thing would be to listen, since if you try to go through your form while listening you'll probably end up either not really hearing what I'm saying or not performing the moves very well.
That said, if you've been training for a while now and feel that you can run though the movements well with out having to think about them, then you could do this while you listen.
It really depends on how well you can multi task :-)