Classes 1st & 2nd March

Thanks to Heather the Northern Sabre class will still go ahead on Saturday 1st March 7-10pm in the Friendship Room, Kemnay Village Hall.

Instead of the classes planned for the 2nd March, there will be the regular Sunday class at Heather's from 2:30pm. All Great River students are welcome.

Stained Glass

These stained glass windows were made by a wonderful man here in South London who trained at Chartes and makes the most incredible bespoke glass of all styles and sizes, traditional, modern, for religious and secular uses. John Keenan was also a T'ai Chi student of John Kells for a couple of years, and also studied with Mark.

We met by happy coincidence when I was researching getting these panels made for the large windows in my front room / teaching room. I did not want fabric or blinds obscuring the good northern light I get in there, but wanted to prevent folks peering in during class. It was Mark's excellent idea to have these made, and after a trip to the workshop I fell in love with some hand made glass (all the red and orange pieces, which are coloured using gold oxides) The simple geometric designs are plain so as not to detract from the spiralling flowing panes. As soon as I can afford it I will get wooden frames made to keep them sitting safely and upright. In diferent lights they change completely and totally complement the room and the work that we do in there.

Aberdeenshire classes - Caroline's Visit Cancelled

With great sadness I have had to cancel this weekend due to illness. All regular senior students have been emailed personally. Please let any other folks know who had planned to come along. There will almost certainly be Thursday evening Long Form, Saturday evening Sabre and Sunday drop in classes but the details will be finalised tomorrow and posted here. My sincere apologies for the lateness of this cancellation. I send love and best wishes to those who I have just seen at Mark's workshops and to those who I will see in a few week's time at the week long event.


The schedule for Caroline's visit this week is:

Thursday 28th Feb 7:30-9:30pm Thursday class

Saturday 1st March 2-5pm Short Form
Saturday 1st March 7-10pm Northern Sabre

Sunday 2nd March 2-5pm Partnerwork
Sunday 2nd March 7-10pm Open class - covering any questions, or any aspect of T'ai Chi you want to look at.

121s are at Paolo and Davina's. All classes are at Heather's except Sabre which is now in the Friendship Room, Kemnay Village Hall. Please enter by the side entrance along the path to the right of the hall, not the main entrance, so as not to disturb the other users of the hall.

Workshop

The partnerwork day yesterday was excellent, the best yet. The 20 students were really getting some real T'ai Chi going, sticking, push hands, Ta Lu, all introduced in a flowing and cumulative way by Mark, so that even relative beginners were able to 'pull'...

Partnerwork and applications workshops

I will be assisting and studying at my teacher's workshops from 1-7pm on Saturday and Sunday in Tooting, London. Please come and join us. Details are at www.thetaichicentre.co.uk
All with a little T'ai Chi experience are welcome. Bring a snack, tea is provided. Cost £25 / £15.

Thursday 21st February - venue confirmed

The venue for this week's Thursday class is the Masonic Hall, Inverurie
Many thanks to Alison for arranging the venue.

I have packed the jasmine tea :-)

Skub

Mark teaching John 'Press' last workshop.

Push Hands in Hannover

I have been on a deliberate 'web-fast' (as someone so deftly put it yesterday). Today is my last day, and rather than do another workshop, I have taken the morning off to catch up on email and pack. There'll be time for another free push hands session before I catch a tram, train and finally a plane to come home tonight.

What can I say? I have met some fabulous people. The atmosphere is great and the studios, both at Nils Klug's school and the nearby Kunst Halle are all lovely to work in, really large and light. The whole place is in an arty quarter, and all the events are based in an old bed factory by the river. There are artist's studios, a radio station, cafes and a tango school (melongas every night!).

I seem to be the only person in Hannover wearing bright colours in the street. A woman just stopped me on the pavement and exclaimed how 'shoen' my (Tom Baker in Doctor Who-style) purple coat was and the jist of it that I got was that everyone in Hannover is so boring and wears only brown, dark blue or black! I am beginning to feel this coat has been sprinkled with magic by some previous owner as I get nothing but friendly smiles if I wear it.

The teaching that I have encountered has been top-notch and varied across a wide range of studies. For instance one can look at joint locks and chin na, fan form, listening and uprooting skills, five elements energies within the form, basic peng-lu-ji-an and their intrinsic qualities, staff, sabre, opening and closing the joints in partnerwork, grounding, and so on and so on. In the afternoon there are also courses, but the big room in the Kunst Halle is free for push hands. This ranges from the gentle to the robust but is all sincere and from what I experienced, extremely good natured. Occasionally Nils has had to ask some of the blokey blokes to tone things down in the main hall, and this is just one of the ways he makes it really welcoming for the less experienced here. Knowing how much time and energy it takes to organise a week for my teacher's events, I have total admiration for Nils and the smooth running, great food and rota of teachers that he puts together. It is not surprising people always seem to come back each year.

Too soon to list the best moments of the week... The excellent teacher Sam Masich (who's own teacher for 10 years was Master Jou, author of the excellent 'Tao of Taijiquan') asked me for my highlights last night. Hard to say. On a T'ai Chi front, Lauren Smith's wonderful session and the chance to work with a (then) stranger on a wonderful subtle listening / uprooting exercise. After 14 years of Kung Fu and only 1 of T'ai Chi, my partner was so sensitive and perceptive, both in finding my root and in knowing when I 'had' him through the tiniest movements, and was a pleasure to work with. His teacher is Fernando Chedel, who I did not get a chance to work with due to a clash of sessions... I have to come back next year just to get a chance to push with Alex, as we ran out of time.

What also jumps to mind is when Sam Masich asked me to partner him demonstrating Ta Lu as it seemed no one else present knew it. One set was like our own, and the reverse set was identical in principle, of course, but totally reversed in direction of stepping. All my years of sticking and listening, both to my teacher and every T'ai Chi partner were of huge value to me at that moment as I bypassed my head and all its thinky confusion, stuck to Sam and let him 'drive', as I have done with Mark so many times when learning something new. In the relief of putting down mental interpretation, there was a period of quiet alive body-ness. Sure, I wasn't doing any major returning of energy, or looking for ways in to the other's centre, which one does in a practice that's familiar. I was pretty glad to be upright, stepping, and connected... or even just remaining on my own two feet!

On a social front, so many things have been great. Connections with particular people. The chance to speak lots of french again with the wonderful teacher Theirry Alibert and his student Katrine. Swapping T'ai Chi tales and Ta Lus with James from USA. Singing along to Amazing Grace with him, Sam and Henk one night, then improvising all together around 'The Wind Shakes the Barley'. Watching Simon (Clear Sky Tai Chi, Brighton) and his student Will doing 'Monkey' and 'bear' energy to Theirry and Katrine over too many cherry beers at Kalah Bar...

I will write more another time soon, as I have done almost two hours and am itching to get away from the vitual world to the one of flesh, blood and bone... heart, energy and spirt. Ronnie has asked me to write something for T'ai Chi Ch'uan magazine again about this week, so I'll post that here soon.

I hope all who read this have had a good week of T'ai Chi. I can't wait to share some of the stuff from Hannover with students and class mates soon.

Saturday Night at the Sabre

Hi guys- you know who you are-
Anyone who fancies supper/meal (of whatever ethnic persuasion) before/after sabre practice , please let me or Heather know.
And, as well as Davina's lovely jasmine tea there will be builder's tea, addict's coffee and fat lovers' funcy pieces!
Love to all, Ev

Sabre Saturday

There's a Northern Sabre practise session this Saturday 16th February, 7-10pm at the Masonic Hall, Inverurie. Jasmine Tea will be provided.

Aberdeenshire class, Sunday 17th February

The Sunday drop-in class this week will be at Paolo and Davina's from 2:30pm. All Great River students are welcome.

Yesterday was warm enough to teach outside all afternoon. Jontahan is learning Nortern Sabre with me, so we appreciated the space. The plum blossom next door has been out since 4th February.

Janet uprooting at the weekend workshops.

Hanover / Hannover

Which ever way it is spelled (different on several maps...) I am going there on Saturday morning to attend the 8th International Push Hands Festival for 1 week. It isn't a competition and there are classes and lots of time to practise with many people. I am a little nervous but also excited. I will know two or three people, probably, but am travelling alone. I am not sure if I will get email whilst away, so if you need to get hold of me, text my mobile, number available on my main website.

David Knight is taking my Wednesday class while I am away.

Thanks and well done to all my students in Scotland. Mark and I had a great weekend of workshops.