Concerning Placement of Students in Tàijíquán Class

9/1/06

In a tàijíquán class composed of students of various skill levels, what is a good placement of advanced(A) and beginner(B) students? Note that the Instructor is denoted by an I, and is considered a special type of advanced student.

  1. Each B has to be able to see a more advanced student at any time during the form to aid in learning
  2. More advanced students located in areas relative to less advanced students, such that the less advanced student would have to strain and/or 'break' their form in order to view the more advanced student, are not considered ideally placed
Given these conditions, what would a "bird's eye" view of the class look like?

Various classes have shown something like the following layout to be worthwhile

I
A
B
B
B
A
A
B
B
B
A
A
B
B
B
A
A
B
B
B
A
A
A
A
A
A

This graphical example presents something of an ideal in that there are more advanced students than beginner students, which is not usually the case. However, the general idea is the more beginner the student is, the more in the middle of the class it is recommended they should go. This way, they are able to see more advanced practicioners any time during the practice of the form. Mirrors, if not distracting, may aid in doing this.

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