In so many ways! First, it’s a course designed by a professional educator that focuses on creating training that “sticks.” Most training doesn’t succeed in creating change because there’s no coaching after the fact. Tai Chi Transfers was created in a way that gives feedback in real time in the actual care environment.

From a physical perspective, I cover things that just aren’t talked about in your usual ergonomics class. The martial art mechanics I’ve learned over forty years of study have given me a blueprint for effective, safe, and powerful movement of the body regardless of a person’s size.

In your usual ergonomics class, employees learn a very limited number of concepts and – if they’re lucky – practice them once or twice. Then they go back out on the floor and continue doing what got them injured in the first place. Instead of this, Tai Chi Transfers teaches simple key principles that affect all body movement, and follow-up coaching helps to ensure that knowledge is retained and properly executed.

If anything, that's a lowball number.

A widely cited figure from a national survey of roughly 1,000 hospitals indicated that, on average, a worker's compensation claim related to patient handling cost $15,600. A large portion of this ($12,000) was for wage replacement.

For claims involving lost time from work, the average cost can be higher, around $22,300.

Replacing an injured nurse or caregiver is very costly, ranging from $27,000 to $103,000 per nurse, due to recruitment, hiring, training, and lost productivity.

So, $40,000 is actually the conservative number for replacing a nurse, with $125,300 on the high end.

Ergonomics are a physical activity, and that requires a physical presence. For the same reason that you couldn’t do physical therapy properly via Zoom or learn Olympic gymnastics over Teams, I can’t evaluate someone’s body movement properly without seeing and feeling what they’re doing.

If I’m going to make this worth your time, money, and effort, it has to be done in person.

After the initial training is complete, however, I will build on instructors’ knowledge with online training in the Level 3 continuing education courses.

There are three levels of training, and each builds on the last to ensure that training remains at its most effective over time.

Everyone starts at Stage One: here, I come to your location and teach your employees how to implement this information. This level includes:

1. A four-hour intensive training with your staff at the beginning, and a two-hour recap to finish.
2. 10 hours on the floor with your staff providing immediate feedback and coaching.
3. Access to supplemental materials for ongoing review.

Cost: The cost for this Stage One two-day training package is $5,000 + travel expenses if outside of the city of Tucson.

Level 2 will help you maximize your investment by certifying employees from your company as trainers in my system. You’ll get:

1. An additional two days where I’ll be on site providing training for up to three employees of your choice.
2. In-depth explanation of the techniques
3. Methods for teaching the program and testing participants
4. Basic teacher training on how to present an effective lesson
5. I will attend and give feedback while they train others on the second day of this stage.
6. They will also receive support from me via Zoom, phone, or email for the duration of their one-year certification.

Conditions:

1. I don’t guarantee certification as a result of taking this course. If someone cannot teach the methods correctly despite all of my efforts, putting them forward as a trainer is irresponsible and dangerous. Someone failing to certify is not grounds for a refund, though I will do everything in my power to get people through the course, including retesting at no additional charge.
2. Those who wish to go through Stage 2 are required to take Stage 1 first. The courses build on each other and Stage 2 doesn’t work without the grounding of the first stage.

Cost: the cost for this course is $5,000, + any additional travel costs outside the city of Tucson.

Without ongoing education and coaching, training and good habits tend to slip. Those who sign up for Stage 3 will be have access to a 1-hour Zoom class each month where I will review principles at the instructor level and answer questions that have arisen. This provides ongoing education over and above the support offered in Stage 2.

Conditions:

1. Participants must be currently certified instructors in good standing.
2. This is a charge per site, not per person. For example, if you have three trainers at a particular particular location, they may all attend for one low price.
3. I will offer at least two sessions per month to better accommodate schedules.

Cost: the cost per site is $150/month to have access to this training.

The levels are designed to be cumulative, so trainers will need to learn Level 1 themselves before they learn how to teach it in the certification class.

Over the course of 20 years leading all company training for Watermark Retirement Communities, I created training for every position in the company, from line staff to the C-suite. I wrote in-person and online training, and coordinated job-specific training for tens of thousands of employees.

I started my martial arts training in 1984, over 40 years ago. Since then, I’ve earned black belt ranks in Aikido, Japanese jujutsu, Kenpo, Japanese sword, Tae Kwon Do, and two forms of Karate. I currently hold a seventh-degree black belt in karate with master level teaching certifications in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. I am the head of the Karasu Budo Kyokai organization, and I’ve been teaching my own programs for over 20 years.