The Guru Trap

The word “Guru” means “dispeller of darkness” in Sanskrit, and in religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism refers to a “spiritual teacher who leads a disciple to enlightenment”. In English, the word has a much broader usage, and anyone who has expertise and high-level skill in any field, from finance to farming, can be called a “Guru”. Sadly, in Mind/Body practices like Yoga and Tai Chi, many knowledgeable and skilled teachers fall into the Guru Trap.

Leading a group of participants through a Tai Chi class requires a healthy self-image. The leader must be comfortable with the movements, and confident in their ability to guide others through them. Painfully shy as a child and young man, it was a terrifying leap off a high cliff for me to lead my first Tai Chi class. Many years and thousands of teaching hours later, I am rarely nervous before a Tai Chi class, be it taught atop a picnic table to eighty children with arthritis at Make Arthritis Stop Hurting summer camp, or behind the walls of the Walworth County Jail.

There’s a risk lurking in self-confidence, especially when sharing Qigong and Tai Chi knowledge and skill. These ancient healing and moving arts are grounded in three great philosophical traditions: Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. In addition to its profound origins, Qigong and Tai Chi’s depth has been understood and expressed in a myriad of ways. For instance, there are at least 58 recognized unique Qigong sets, each containing many different movements. Moreover, each set will be taught and practiced with variation, depending on the teacher, their training and lineage, and often stamped with the guise of being an “authentic traditional transmission”. One TCHI Master Trainer told me that there are more than 7000 cataloged Qigong movements, although I haven’t been able to confirm a source for that number.

Consider the Wu Xin Chi or “Frolic of the FIVE Animals”. It has variations besides the official Chinese Health Qigong Association’s Tiger/Deer/Bear/Monkey and Crane set. Other animals include the Leopard, Snake, Dragon, Mantis, Panther, Horse, Cobra, Bull, Wolf, Boar, Python, Scorpion, Elephant, Lion, Frog, Duck, Dog, Crow, Chicken, Hawk, Turtle, Swallow, and Lizard. Yes, your math is correct; the “Frolic of the FIVE Animals” is based on at least twenty-eight different animals!

In the face of such multi-faceted richness, and most participants’ utter unfamiliarity with Qigong and Tai Chi, an instructor with a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. I have been in classes where the very experienced and knowledgeable Tai Chi instructor rarely taught movements, and instead would ramble through long political lectures, or offer philosophical “insights” into male/female relations. Ironically, the instructor's wife showed up during one class and began unpacking and slamming books around in an obvious marital distress. Another time with another teacher during an instructor certification workshop, the trainer veered off into a discussion of nutrition, staking out bold claims, with neither professional nutritional qualifications nor research studies to support what they were saying. And another instructor once sat me down and cryptically shared the legend of the “47 Ronin” upon learning that I was also attending a different school to study a different Tai Chi style and form. I’m still not sure of the significance of the Legendary Ronin, and I doubt that this trainer truly understood either the prerequisites for loyalty or the rigors of humility.

I don’t share these experiences to be mean, and I certainly talk too much in class too. We all have our faults and limitations, and I certainly have mine, both known and unbeknownst to me. The point is merely that the best Qigong and Tai Chi instructors will spend their time with you sharing their knowledge and love of Qigong and Tai Chi. That statement is a tautology in theory, but rare in practice.

If your Qigong and Tai Chi instructor doesn’t stay in their lane and keep you “moving more and talking less”, well…they might have fallen into the Guru Trap, and you deserve a better instructor.