There are 3 options in current use by members regarding accreditation. However, only the first provides for accreditation as Tai Chi Instructor. The others require professional study in a designated health or fitness field before adding the specified Tai Chi module to enable the delivery of classes related to that field. These instructors are not ‘Tai Chi Instructors’ but have been accredited to conduct professionally ‘approved content’ Tai Chi classes.

1. The Australian Coaching Council introduced the National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (NCAS) to regulate instructors /coaches of sporting bodies such as the martial arts. In the case of Tai Chi this is via membership to the authorised body: the Aust. Kung Fu (Wushu) Federation (AKWF) which is responsible for running the only official Australian Tai Chi Instructor Accreditation course. (NCAS).

The Australian Sports Commission through its subsidiary the Aust. Coaching Council (ACC) introduced the NCAS to provide for "accreditation" of sports- including martial arts/tai chi - teachers to ensure professional updating, client -safe environments ,and ‘classes’ that were conducted ethically, lawfully and with respect to best business practice. The NCAS is therefore a regulatory program which provides regulated instructors.

The Accreditation Course is not a coaching course in Tai Chi forms as with the other programs available. It is a specification of pre-requisites which allow application for participation in an accreditation workshop/seminar. This  workshop covers coaching/teaching /instructing (all interchangeable)  methods, business considerations and risk management processes with a Chinese WuShu (martial Arts- including Tai Chi) emphasis. Following the workshop there is a workbook / computer interactive to fill out on coaching methods/processes and also a video to submit of your class in process.

The pre-requisite for course entry is 5 years of Tai Chi study under suitably qualified instructor/s who vouch/s that you have obtained the necessary skill for teaching purposes. Where there is no teacher to sign off the Sports Specific (Tai Chi ) component for you, you would need to submit that you were the most senior (experienced) in your group with support evidence of the forms you've learned, the amount of training you have had and the teachers who have provided this.

A minimum of 1 year teaching experience as an assistant is also necessary and can be undertaken within the 5 year period or after the accreditation course, but the certificate would be withheld until both requirements are finalised.

An option is the ‘Remote Persons Course’ which does not require attendance at a seminar.

NCAS Accreditation needs updating every 4 years and insurance is increasingly dependant on currency of accreditation, which is invalidated if membership with AKWF lapses. ALL TCAA members are associate members of AKWF and do not need to take out separate memberships in order to become accredited. Updating consists of attending the workshop as previously, to pick up any newly available information.

Risk minimisation strategies are the current focus. You can access their website www.akwf.com for further info.

2. FITNESSNSW conducts accreditation of Fitness Instructors and Dr Paul Lam’s approved Tai Chi course is offered as an elective module within this framework. I am not up to date with the exact requirements of the Certificate course for Fitness Instructors, and suggest contacting Fitness Institute Australia in NSW for information. However this course does not provide "Accredited Tai Chi Instructors". It provides "Accredited Fitness Instructors" approved to conduct the registered class content of Dr Lam’s Tai Chi Course. The eligibility to take Tai chi classes and qualify for insurance is dependant upon keeping their fitness certificate conditions current.
3. Dr Paul Lam’s Tai Chi Courses specified for teaching in the health fields relating to Arthritis / Diabetes . These are specific Tai Chi content for the areas named and ascribed for use only by current practising professionals, such as physiotherapists. As experience in Tai Chi is limited to the course content, the accreditation is similarly restricted and may not be sufficient to gain insurance outside the original professional qualification. Such professionals have been certified by Dr Paul Lam in conjunction with the particular Health Foundation to conduct classes as Accredited ‘Tai Chi For … Instructors’ only.
4. A future option, may be available: the Sport and Recreation Training Australia agency proposed TAFE / VET course for Fitness Instructors. It has been suggested that the F/I could gain accreditation as ‘Tai Chi Instructor’ by completing a similar requirement as that provided by the Martial arts industry. (The current recommendation put forward by TCAA). The basic Tai Chi units would be elective units within the certificate or possibly added later to increase the range of modules offered by the individual fitness instructor. This is still in approval pending mode. TCAA has assisted in these discussions, but the decision rests on acceptance by AKWF and SRTA’s recommendation to proceed. I believe the course content issue is still unresolved.

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