Here's a good example of why you can't believe everything a martial arts "master" tells you. Read the story.

And here's another tip. If you're associated with a teacher who puts other teachers down and criticizes their skill--walk away quickly. There are so many insecure people in tai chi. There's absolutely no reason to spend 10 seconds worrying about the level of skill of another teacher. The teacher in the story at the link above was known for criticizing other teachers. He hated competition.

There's a lot of really bad tai chi out there, and when I meet tai chi people who obviously have been suckered by teachers who don't know what they're doing, I show them a few things so they can see what they're missing. But I try very hard not to badmouth the teacher personally. I've heard so much of that over the years. I hope you're not part of it, and I hope you don't tolerate it even if your teacher badmouths someone else.