TAI CHI VILLAGE Issue 13 4th July 2020
DISCOVER TAI CHI
Welcome to the Tai Chi Village Some cause for celebration! Helen and Val both started classes at Cliffe Castle Park again on Monday and Tuesday mornings. It has taken quite some time to carefully plan and risk assess for us to feel confident to run these classes. Going to press we can only have five participants and one instructor on the site but they have proved incredibly popular with places going fast. As we mentioned in previous newsletters, to keep to the guidance we using a new booking service and payment service via Team Up. This has got off to a great start and nearly 40 people have already joined up. Once people have signed up and given their details they can book subsequent classes quickly and easily. If you have any worries about using online systems please do give us a call as we are happy to help.
Our new online live Zoom classes are off to a fab start too. We feel vindicated with our decision to not jump onto the Zoom bandwagon in March and April. In that time we improved our tech skills and equipment and Zoom improved it's security and privacy. Read more here: Privacy review of Zoom What has surprised both Helen and myself have been the positive comments from online participants on just how much they enjoy being with us in our front room. On occasions the responses have proved powerfully emotional. At times both Helen and I feel a little self-conscious about our humble front room but it's so lovely to know that it means such a lot to so many people. If you haven't joined us online yet you may like this little behind the scenes clip of Helen leading participants with a movement you might be familiar with. If this inspires you we'd love to see you join us online too. Phil & Helen
Bright Planting Castle Park, Keighley by Helen Front cover Border photo by Ehud NeuhausatonCliffe Unsplash Image by Tom (Cliffe Castle Class)
❝Be Water, My Friend. So ends one of the most famous philosophical quotes by Bruce Lee. When he arrived in the USA he signed up to study dramatic arts, philosophy, psychology, at the University of Washington. For many people, like me, inspired by Bruce Lee in the 1970's to explore the Chinese martial arts, taijiquan being one of them, we couldn't help but be impressed by Bruce's philosophical musings. Only later with hindsight and some academic digging did we realise that Bruce had in fact taken quotes from a far older canon of cultural thought from ancient China. (Bowman 2019). Much of Bruce's representations of Chinese philosophy have their origin in the philosophical ideas of Taoism with the semi-mythical figure of Lao Tzu at its head. In Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, water becomes one of the most abiding metaphors for describing the Way or Tao of nature.
It's also offers advice on how to live in harmony with oneself, nature and how to govern. It is in essence a set of aphorisms for Princely rulers living 2000 years ago.
❝Like water, the highest goodness nourishes all things without trying. Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - Chapter 8
In our modern day practice of tai chi for health and wellness we find Lao Tzu's watery analogies rising again, for example, Sun style taijiquan is described as flowing like a great river. As we become more familiar with a sequence, or form, we find the transitions between movements begin to flow together, just like water. So, look for smoothness the next time you practice your tai chi.
❝Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend. – Bruce Lee
P. Bowman, 2019: Deconstructing Martial Arts https://amzn.to/31pm1zG
Photo by Samara Doole on Unsplash
â??Nothing is more soft and yielding than water. Yet for wearing down the solid and strong, nothing can resist it. Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - Chapter 78
Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash
Evening Tai Chi We're really pleased our daytime Zoom class has gotten off to a good start. So much so that we're happy to announce our new evening online Zoom class starting 8th July 2020: Wednesday's 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Book your class here: Bookings via TeamUp We've also created a new programme called Tai Chi for Wellness. It's especially for people who wish to have all the beneďŹ ts of regular tai chi practice but without the necessity of learning and remembering a set of choreographed sequences.
In many ways Tai Chi for Wellness takes us back in time to the origins of the Yang Sheng (Nourish Life) culture in ancient China, recorded around 100 to 350 years BC, see image below. Scholars and historians, such as Dr. Livia Kohn, suggest that the threads of Yang Sheng run continuously from its origins up to modern day ideas and concepts of tai chi and qigong as a mindful meditation that beneďŹ ts health and wellness. We reviewed and recommended Dr. Kohn's book in one of our Tuesday morning live streams on Facebook in March. You can view it here: https://amzn.to/2VHDZtJ
Daoyin tu - chart for leading and guiding people in exercise for improving health and treatment of pain, containing animal postures such as bear walk. This is a reconstruction of a 'Guiding and Pulling Chart' excavated from the Mawangdui Tomb 3 (sealed in 168BC) in the former kingdom of Changsha. The original is in the Hunan Provincial Museum, Changsha, China. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Live Tai Chi Classes
Recorded Tai Chi Classes
Where Can I Learn Tai Chi?
Tai Chi for Wellness Available to buy as a pre-recorded course at: TeamUp or Tai Chi for Wellness Course
Monday's Cliffe Castle Park, Keighley 10:30 am to 11:30 am with Helen Tuesday's Cliffe Castle Park, Keighley 10:30 am to 11:30 am with Val Preston Wednesday's Online Zoom Tai Chi Foundations 11:00 am to 12:00 noon with Phil & Helen Online Zoom Tai Chi for Wellness 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm with Phil & Helen Bookings with Helen & Phil visit: Discover Tai Chi via TeamUp Booking System
Tai Chi Foundations A regularly updated library of Tai Chi lessons including Qigong movements from our dedicate site here: Discover Tai Chi via Patreon Thank you to all our Patreon members. Your feedback recently has really inspired us.
You Can Buy Us A Coffee Thank you to everyone who has bought us a coffee at ko-fi.com. It makes such a difference to know you appreciate our efforts. You can buy us a coffee too if you like?
Do you have a smartphone or tablet device? You may wish to keep track of your bookings via the TeamUp Members app: For iPhone/iPad: Team up on the Apple App Store
GET IN TOUCH
For android phones or tablets: TeamUp on the Google App Store
T: 07528 959091
For more information on all Val's sessions and to book, do go to her website here: Tai Chi & Qigong – Truly Essential
Twitter: @discovertaichi
Facebook: @discovertaichi
Instagram: @discovertaichi E: huntunwellbeing@gmail.com
© DISCOVER TAI CHI™