Well it’s a hard question; teachers teaching Tai Chi have a tendency to disappear up their own asshole. This is not necessarily their own fault; some students will see the instructor as a God and will believe anything you tell them. I once had a class hopping on one leg for 5 mins for no reason but for my own amusement. (I know what you’re thinking?) I also have had students believe I had the ability to release chi into them and as a result would throw themselves on the floor from the mere touch of my hands. I may have released a fart but that's about it, maybe it was the smell. So if you’re told that your amazing or god like over and over again some people tend to start to believe in it themselves and even an instructor with a little Tai Chi Training can make an average Joe look inadequate, so if you got crap students its not hard to look omnipotent.

Just because a teacher has trained with every Tom, Dick and Harry doesn’t make them fantastic at Tai Chi it might mean that their good at regurgitating what they have heard verbally but can they make it work?

They might be good at doing the forms but can they teach you how to do it and why you’re doing it?

Did the Original Masters of the art have people to learn off or did they teach themselves?

OK a good teacher should be able to:

Explain and convey the principles of the art and how it works and why it works and not just it’s ‘Chi’. Tai Chi works because of the martial and the health aspects. The health benefits are increased when your art is tested, this doesn’t always meanfighting. The class does not need to be a fighting one, but the principles and structure has to be measured against the martial aspects, otherwise it has no substance or as one of my teachers said ‘its got no legs’. Students will happily glide along waving their arms about mindlessly they only start to learn when a little pressure is added. Myself, I’m not happy to let them glide along even if does hurt my wallet. (Hint, hint).

Point out the areas where you are doing Tai Chi wrong i.e. posture, knees etc. Yes doing Tai Chi can be bad for you, arrrr sorry but it’s true.

If you tell them you’re learning a different style or art at the same time it should not matter to them. It will if they are hiding holes in their teaching that might be brought up by the other teacher. Personally I think this is great as you can learnnew things from students, bring up questions that you may have not thought about before or even better find someone better than yourself to learn off.

It probably good idea to make sure the teacher and other members in the class have insurance which normally means being part of a bigger organisation and probably mean they have some level, promotion or vetting scheme, which is good but you are relying on the them to be honest and reliable, which is another issue.

First aid is also a good idea usually any insurance held will be invalid if no trained first aider is present, so if someone pokes your eye out, tuff!