Tai Ji is an enjoyable way to improve physical and mental fitness unless you learn or practice it in a cult-like environment. Similar as flowers attract both bees and flies, Tai Ji can be hijacked by cults as well. Some Dojos or martial art schools take advantage of people’s desire to learn. They try to brainwash or manipulated students with various cult ‘policies’. I am not joking. I had been in a cult-like Dojo for many years.
How to identify if the dojo is cult? Here are a few warning signs:
- Not allowed students to learn Tai Ji or any martial art outside of the Dojo.
- Ask students to behave in certain ways,
- The chief instructor has absolute authority for everything,
- Request students to do things for his/her own interests without asking any questions.
The dojo I was with showed all the above signs. I didn’t like them. However, I tried to rationalize them away as best I could because I really enjoyed learning Tai Ji, Xing Yi, and Ba Gua. I tolerated the cult as long as I could until to the point I couldn’t stand it anymore.
One method that the chief instructor used to manipulate students was to let students who were considered loyal ‘teach’ the students who were considered less loyal. Some of the loyalists who were entitled to teach couldn’t even get the basic posture right. As far as I could tell, the qualification was not the chief instructor’s concern. The important was the message ’what you could get if you were loyal to me. Initially, it happened only occasionally. One day, the chief instructor decided to let her loyalists randomly teach all levels of students without informing those students before the class. She wanted to do it regularly as a common practice. This effectively deprived students’ right to choose their instructor. It was not fair to students who really want to learn. I questioned her. She was furious. So, I left the Dojo and never looked back.
Tai Ji is a great martial art and enjoyable way to improve overall physical and mental health. It shouldn’t be a ground for the cult. So be aware of the cult. If you see any signs listed above in a Dojo, walk away, talk about your concern to your friends or publically. We deserve and can cultivate a better environment to learn and practice.