We had a wonderful weekend of T'ai Chi. Thanks to Mark for his inspiring teaching, especially for the first weapons day today; these will now become a regular fixture. It was wonderful to see 21 students working together with sword, sabre and staff all afternoon in the airy hall at St Mary Magdalene Church. We hope to have sessions every 4-6 weeks starting in the New Year, the proposed first date will be Saturday 24th January. If you have colleagues who would like to come along, please get them to contact me as to their eligibility. Also, do let me know if Saturdays are not possible for you, as Sundays are also an option. I will post some pictures tomorrow.
As I now appear to be 'Official T'ai Chi Centre Armourer' (!) I will be ordering all the weapons that people need over the next week, so do let me know if you need: sabre, sword, bokken, wooden sword, staff, or any covers / bags. You can find what you need at many martial arts shops, but I get a school discount at some great online places as well as London shops, and am happy to order in bulk.
For the Scottish students: You will not be left out. Mark would like to teach staff and sword to all those who have completed learning the postures of the sabre form. At the next Sabre Workshop in November, half the time will be sabre revision and new postures for those who started this year, followed by staff and sword introductions for the senior students. I will need to order things this week or next, so if someone could do a count up of how many wooden swords and rattan staffs I need to buy, that'd be great. I will get them delivered directly to you.
Wooden red oak or ash swords are about £4-6, rattan (not bamboo - too stiff) staffs are £10-12, I'll have exact prices tomorrow. I recommend starting with a wooden sword, as they are cheap and portable. Metal swords like mine ar about £45, Marli and Damian have lovely 'scholars' swords' which are a little more dear, under £100, Mark has a hand-forged sword, and those can cost between £500-£4000 and upwards.
Finally, London partnerwork days will now be by invitation from Mark only and will happen at least every term. If you'd like to know more about what he'll cover, contact myself or Mark directly. The minimum requirements will be familiarity with basic Ta Lu, Wabu, double push hands, figures of 8 exercises (silk-reeling) and 'step, figure-8, leap' sequences. (Everyone who attended either of the last 3 week-long workshops in Scotland will have covered all these). Some knowledge of the Ta Lu changes, rooting and uprooting and double push hands Wabu would be desirable. If you would like to work on any of these things in 121 lessons so that you can come along, do let me know. People from other T'ai Chi backgrounds will also still be able to join after covering the practices listed above. Mark plans to hold one 'Introduction to Partnerwork' in London some time next year, when there is a suitable group of newer students and those joining us from other schools to warrant a session. During the week-long workshop just passed we really got something going every day, building and deepening our sense of connection, our out-reaching, joining and transforming, as well as working strongly on improving on the external 'technical' front. Mark wants to get something of a similar depth going in one day workshops in London too.
Lastly, the 'Power' training has been postponed until January until Duncan gets back from NYC. Keen students who have at least finished Short Form would be welcome to enquire. Anyway, for now, it's not like we don't have quite enough to be getting on with, what with the weapons froms, The Dance, all the partner work, Heartwork, etc, etc...
I send my love and thanks to all the folks old and new who came to this weekend and created such a creative atmosphere with their good work and enthusiasm. I feel very lucky to have such great colleagues and students: T'ai Chi brothers and sisters.
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