Zoom Tai Chi for Beginners, Two half days with Nina Zeldin

What is Tai Chi for Beginners?

Dr Lam and his team of tai chi experts composed this program, based on the most popular Yang style 24 Forms Tai Chi, to be learner-friendly. The Beginners set gives students an easy-to-learn format that leads to a solid foundation. The program takes learners on an enjoyable journey to better health and harmony through the power of tai chi, building in steps that incorporate warm-ups, Qigong, stepping exercises, foundation movements, and exploring the connections between movements. It is both a safe and a satisfying program.

This training has two parts, a self-paced online portion and a live interactive portion. The Self-Paced Instructor Preparation Package (SIPP) is a self-paced virtual program containing essential material plus instruction in the basic movements to train effective and safe instructors. All you have to do is follow the sequence with Dr Lam’s video guides for every step. Complete the quizzes at the end of each unit to move on, and at the completion of the SIPP you download your Certificate of Completion to send to the Master Trainer.

After completion of the SIPP, you are ready for the live interactive instructor training workshop to be eligible to become a Tai Chi for Health Institute (TCHI) board-certified instructor. All TCHI Master Trainers around the world can conduct this workshop as listed online at the Tai Chi for Health Institute (tchi.org) website. The listing will indicate whether it is offered on a virtual platform or in-person, and how the hours (minimum of 8) are distributed into 1 or 2 sessions.

The live workshop is very personal. The Master Trainer will work with you to answer your questions, help to improve your tai chi, and ensure you can teach the program safely and effectively. There will be discussions, practice sessions, and sharing of skills and knowledge, Question and Answer portions, and, most importantly, personal interaction. The Master Trainer will give you feedback on what you did well and how you can improve your tai chi and teaching skills and connect you to the Tai Chi for Health Institute (TCHI), fellow instructors, and Senior Trainers and offer continual support.

Reasons to Come

• To work with Dr Lam’s Master Trainers to learn the 6 Easy Steps and the program.
• To learn a program based on Yang-style tai chi for your existing and new students.
• To learn new perspectives to help improve your tai chi
• To be introduced to a proven teaching system that will improve student retention
• To improve health and harmony
• To be a part of the Tai Chi for Health international family.
• To earn instructor certification in this program

Requirements

Anyone with or without prior tai chi experience can attend this workshop. However, preparation is mandatory.

By the Completion of the Workshop you will:

• Know the Beginner’s Yang style set at a deeper level
• Understand how tai chi improves health and relaxation
• Have learned how to teach this program effectively and safely
• Have improved your tai chi skill and knowledge
• Have learned how to attract and retain more students

About the Creator of Tai Chi for Beginners

Dr Paul Lam is an Australian family physician and tai chi expert, and a world leader in the field of tai chi for health. He is a well-recognised teacher, and the author of several books on tai chi and health and best-selling instructional tai chi DVDs. Over five million people worldwide practise a Tai Chi for Health program every day. Dr Lam is one of the most sought-after tai chi teachers, having trained thousands of instructors. Many travel around the world to attend his workshops.

NB: The Master Trainer authorised by Dr Lam to conduct this workshop is named on this workshop page.

Registration and Preparation

When you register for the live interactive training, your Master Trainer will send you a link to enrol in the prerequisite online SIPP course and confirm how its cost is handled. Depending on the workshop, the SIPP is either included in your workshop fee or offered to you at a 30% discount, USD 56 rather than the standard USD 80. You complete the SIPP online, in your own time, at Online Tai Chi Lessons (onlinetaichilessons.com).

The SIPP must be completed before the live interactive training. Allow 25 to 70 hours or more, on your own schedule, then forward your Certificate of Completion to the trainer to qualify for the live interactive workshop. Please enrol as soon as possible, since it must be finished before the live portion. You will have access to the online SIPP material for three years, and your Certificate of Completion is valid for two years. You will find it a great support to your teaching.

In addition to completing the SIPP course, reading the Teaching Tai Chi Effectively book before the workshop is required. Depending on the workshop, the book is either included in the workshop fee or offered to you at a 20% discount. The Details section of the workshop page explains how the cost of preparatory material is handled.

Board Certification

Following successful completion of this course you will be required to register to become a Tai Chi for Health Institute Board-certified instructor before teaching the program, if you are not already a member. One two-year membership fee of AUD 99 covers Board Certification for all your Tai Chi for Health qualifications, and you will then be listed with your certifications on the TCHI website. To learn more about membership benefits, see How to become a certified instructor.

Clothing

Wear loose comfortable clothes and closed flat shoes suitable for exercise.

Tai Chi for Health Program Updates

At this workshop, instructors have an opportunity to update their other Tai Chi for Health certifications. Let the Master Trainer know in advance that you are interested in updates. Additional fees apply.

Continuing education credits

The Tai Chi for Health Institute is an approved provider of continuing education with the American College of Sports Medicine and other professional bodies in the USA, Australia and Korea. See Partnerships and accrediting organisations for the current list and the credits available for this program.

This Instructor Certification course includes the new Self-Paced Instructor Preparation Package (SIPP). Completion of the online SIPP portion is required PRIOR to the April Zoom portion of the workshop. You will enjoy this valuable resource to prepare for the April workshop as well as to support your teaching in your first year. The online SIPP materials will continue to support you as a new instructor. You will have access to the materials for 365 days.  

The SIPP package must be purchased by you separately, well in advance of the April Zoom training. It is normally $80 USD, but you will receive a 30% off coupon code after processing your registration, significantly reducing the price to about $56.

The live interactive portion will be held via the Zoom platform on Saturdays, April 12 & 19, 2025, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm EST.

A brief “tech check” meeting will be held on April 5, 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm, to be sure you are familiar using Zoom and can be seen head-to-toe. 

During the live instructor training workshop, we will review the material from the SIPP lessons and practice all the movements. Participants are expected to be able to perform the sequence of movements from memory, so follow along with Dr Lam on the SIPP lessons and practice each section until you can perform the movements from memory before moving on to the next section.

Your preparation helps ensure that you become certified at the end of the training. Those who are not well prepared may require additional practice and meeting(s) with the Master Trainer to meet the certification standard.  

After the April training, each participant will meet with Nina for a one-hour, one-on-one Zoom meeting. This is an opportunity to ask questions and polish your forms. Participants who meet the requirements of the program will receive and instructor certificate. If you have not met the requirements, Nina will work with you to meet them.

Following the training, those meeting the standard for Instructor Qualification will be invited to join the Tai Chi for Health Institute.  Your membership provides Board Certification to teach this form.  

The fee for the Self-Paced Preparation Package portion of the training is $56 after applying the coupon code you will be sent after your registration and payment are received.  If you pay prior to registering, the fee will be $80. It is best to register and pay for the course and use the coupon code, as refunds will not be processed later. This purchase will be made online via the link you will receive. 

After your registration and payment are received you will also receive a 20% discount code to purchase the required Teaching Tai Chi Effectively book from taichiproductions.com. 

The fee for the April live, interactive portion of this training is $275, payable by check to Healthy Acadia, P.O. Box 1710, Ellsworth, Maine, 04605 or by credit card. If paying by check, please reference “April 12 & 19 TCB” on the memo line. If paying by credit card, you can call Nina at 207-667-7676 (office) or 479-1206 (cell) or use this link: https://www.healthyacadia.org/pay. If you use the link, please write “April 12 & 19 TCB” in the “Payment for” box. 

Participants who successfully complete the training will be invited to become TCHI Board Certified Instructors. Membership provides the license to teach the program and many other benefits. Standard Membership is 40 Australian Dollars (approximately 25 USD) per year. 

As a member of the Tai Chi for Health Institute, you will be listed in the TCHI Instructors’ Directory, which includes a full-page profile and location-based search. Other benefits include discounts on instructional materials and workshop fees.

All instructors are required to update their qualifications every two years to refresh their skills and knowledge of the program.

If you have further questions, please check our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

There will be a $50 administration fee for all cancellations. No refunds after March 27, 2025. If you find you cannot participate in the February training, you can move to another of Nina’s 2025 TCB workshops.

Virtual on Zoom.

Nina Zeldin

nina@healthyacadia.org

207-667-7676 (office) or 207-479-1206 (cell)