Weapons Practise 2nd May

The next weapons practise session is at the Masonic Hall, Inverurie 7-10pm on Saturday 2nd May. We'll work on straight sword, staff, and sabre. Jasmine tea will be provided and we'll share the price of the hall (£30).

The next session is scheduled for 6th June at the same venue.

Weapons Day

This Sunday in London we will be holding the next weapons day, 1-7pm at St Mary Magdalene Church Hall, Trinity Road, Wandsworth Common. All Great River and T'ai Chi Centre students welcome. Please bring your weapons!

Inverurie, Oldmeldrum, and Turriff classes

Weekly classes at Turriff and Inverurie resume at 7pm on the 20th and 22nd. New beginners will be made welcome.
Scott's Oldmeldrum class continues on Mondays at 12:30 in the downstairs room of the town hall.

May workshops with Mark, Aberdeenshire

The next workshops with Mark are as follows. Each session costs £15 / £10 and the end times are approximate !
Fri 15th 7-10pm: Ta Lu & stepping partnerwork. Main Hall, Kemnay Village Hall. Tea will be provided.
Sat 16th 2-5pm: Long Form
Sat 16th 6.30-9.30pm: Weapons training
Sun 17th 2-5pm: Short Form and partnerwork, beginners welcome
Sun 17th 6.30-9.30pm: Dance (San Shou)

The Saturday and Sunday sessions are at the "Tin Hut" aka Gartly Hall. It's at the end of the Tillathrowie Road, about 2 miles south of Huntly on the A97 / Rhynie Road. There's a map available here.
Please bring some food to share between the sessions.

Caro will contact the students who had 121s booked for her April visit and reschedule for May or June. 121s will be at Davina & Paolo's place.

Sunday 19th April

There will be an extended class this Sunday at Davina & Paolo's.
Tea and cake at 2pm, with an aim to start about 2:30ish. If folk can't make it along until later, then just join us when you can and we'll go on for as long as folk fancy or until the cake runs out.
As the weather is forecast to be fine enough, we'll do some work outside to enjoy the Spring. Bring your weapons of choice !

Thanks to all at Thursday class this week for the feeling in the room as we sent love to Caro through the front heart salutations.

This weekend's sessions

This weekend's sessions with Caro have been cancelled. I have emailed all the senior students personally. Please feel free to email me with any questions. Mark and Caro wil be teaching in may as planned. More details will follow soon.

Tibetan bags and Surrey parrots

I have one more of the Tibetan fabric shoulder bags like mine for sale, from the Fair Trade business set up by my friend from Huntly to aid Tibetans in Nepal. They are ideal shoe and kit unisex bags for class. If you would like one let me know, they are £16 each. Soon I hope to make prototype kit, sword, sabre and staff bags for the supplier, so that they can eventually produce them for us out of their lovely strong traditional stripy woven fabrics. I will post a pic soon.

I was down on the River Thames today and walked from Kew to Kingston along the new National Trial. Despite drizzle, it was a wonderful peaceful day: herons a plenty as well as noisy green parakeet flocks.

A Winter's Tale

I have recently been teaching T'ai Chi to a great actor, Greg Hicks, who is part of the new RSC ensemble and is playing Leontes in their current rendition of A Winter's Tale. I just read a good review of both him and the production in the paper today... well done Greg! Here's a link: http://www.rsc.org.uk/WhatsOn/7291.aspx

September workshop with Caro

I am changing the date of the September weekend from 18th-20th to 4th-6th. I have been asked to play a music festival in Cumbria with my best friend Gemma, who goes under the name 'Woodpecker Wooliams'. I think there's enough notice for no-one to be too put out...

Arcola Theatre

I have recently been teaching T'ai Chi to Emily Bowker, an actor in the Arcola Theatre production 'Lie of the Land' which has just opened in London after receiving acclaim at Edinburgh last year. The character she plays uses meditation, T'ai Chi and yoga to keep an increasingly unpalatable world at bay. Emily herself was doing some great T'ai Chi in 121s and at a class with Mark. However, we also looked at what her character in the play will be doing: 'impersonating' T'ai Chi, ie. inauthenticity! If you go to see the play and feel that her character is practising something a touch fake yet simultaneously extremely earnest, then we will have fulfilled our rather last-minute brief (one week before first night)... Here's a link to the play's website.
http://www.arcolatheatre.com/?action=showtemplate&sid=330

Sunday drop-in class 12th April

The Aberdeenshire drop-in class this Sunday will be at Jim and Betty's in Inverurie. Get in touch if you need the address or directions.

Great River Taichi USA

http://www.greatriver.blogspot.com
This is the link to Barbara Davis and her US school Great River Taichi. We got in touch a few years ago when I registered the co.uk version of the name, which we share for our schools. Barbara is well known as a teacher, editor of Taijiquan Journal and as a translator of T'ai Chi related texts, she's also a good friend of Sam Masich who spoke to me very highly of her. Here's a link to her blog. Her school is 30 years old this year. Congratulations!

Location for Summer Workshop in Aberdeenshire

The weeklong workshop with Master Mark Raudva of The T'ai Chi Centre will be held at Fetternear Hall in Aberdeenshire.
For those travelling to the area, a map showing the location of the hall and some local hotels and B&Bs is available here.
For details of other accommodation options (e.g. self-catering cottages) please contact Caroline or Davina.

Long Form class 9th April

The Aberdeenshire Long Form class will be in Friendship Room at Kemnay Hall on the 9th April. We're back at the Masonic Hall, Inverurie on the 16th for the class with Caroline.