Short Form zoom classes with Caro

Our classes are continuing until the end of Autumn term, dates below. All GRTC, TCC and Kevin's Lido students are welcome. 

Here are the remaining classes of term, as I will be away travelling for some dates and cannot guarantee a space to teach, so I thought I would set the dates now. 19th October, 26th October, 2nd November at earlier time of 8.15-9.15am, 9th November. 30th November, 14th December (last class of term).

No class on 16 & 23 Nov, 7th Dec due to travel.

Classes will resume 11th Jan if folks would still like to come along.

Tooting Bec lido pavilion class with Kevin Devine

I have now been along to a couple of Kevin's Wednesday morning classes at Tooting Bec lido pavilion, where he has taken over the class I used to run after I moved back to Bournemouth. It is open to all and covers chi gung, short form and warm ups. Kevin is a great teacher and the classes are lots of fun. They run from 9-10am, just turn up at 8.55am and join in, no experience necessary. 

My Tuesday morning short form class by Zoom is still running all year, with only August off for holidays. Get in touch via www.greatrivertaichi.com if you'd like to join. We are up to 'Fair Lady Weaves at Shuttles'.

Taichi class updates in London, online sessions and Summer Intensive news.

Mark's Long Form Tooting classes are now running at the usual venue Trinity Church Hall on Tuesday nights 7-9pm. Class last 2 hours, there is as yet no partner work, due to govt guidelines. Class costs £15.

Wednesday morning Short Form at Tooting Bec Lido Pavilion is running. Kevin Devine now takes the class after I moved back to Bournemouth. Class runs from 9-10am, all are welcome. Class costs £10 or £8 for SLSC members. 

Tuesday morning Zoom class with me is running each week 9-10am, all those with some experience of short form are welcome. We do warm ups, chi kung and short form. Email me or fill in the form via the Great River T'ai Chi website for the link. Class is recorded and can be watched at any time, £5 live or recorded.

Mark will continue to teach online Short Form in detail, Long Form and Left Side sessions by Zoom for the foreseeable future, at the usual dates and times he has been using since January 2021. Class prices are £10 per session. Some sessions are available recorded afterwards, get in touch with Mark for details. 

The Summer Intensive will run differently this year for 4 days. Please let Mark or me know if you plan to come. All students of John Kells, of his students, Mark, me and of all our students are welcome.

The October workshop in Scotland and regular classes for the Scottish contingent will resume as soon as lockdown has been entirely lifted. Mark will be taking over all my previous workshops, but rather than monthly, will probably be travelling every 6-8 weeks or so, in arrangement with the Scottish students. 

Online and recorded sessions, resources and classes are available on our Dropbox, if you want access, just get in touch with me. 

Personal news: I have been away for a while recovering from the events of May and my hip condition, doing an art residency, and spending time in the woods doing bushcraft and traditional skills. I am not online as much as I was, but do plan to return when I feel able to. I have plenty more essays and pieces to add to the new website blog. If you are teaching a class and want it to be listed on the website, please email me the details. In the meantime it has been lovely hearing from you by email. I am still practising much Heartwork, short form and meditation, and as my hip musculature improves, the more advanced forms and practices can make their way back into my life. For now, all situations in life are good opportunities for practice, whether or not they looks like T'ai Chi, they certainly feel like it. I have no plans to start in-person classes in Bournemouth, despite a host of great venues. I still haven't had that planned sabbatical, as Covid and then the ensuing events prevented it. Perhaps it will happen now. Very best wishes to all from sunny Bournemouth. 

Invitations to Mark's online Short form Class

I will send these out over the weekend as I am still collating the names of those who would like to come along. Everyone is welcome, especially students of students of either of us, and those who want to revise Short Form that maybe has disappeared into a dim corner of memory... Get in touch. 

Also today's Short Form class with me via Zoom is now uploaded to the Dropbox.

Wednesday morning Short Form Zoom class

The last class of term is this week on 16th December and the first class of next year's term will be on Weds 6th Jan 2021. 9-10am, £5. All who have done some Short Form are welcome. We record these classes and upload them to Dropbox if you can't study at the time class is live. We do warm ups, chi kung, Heartwork and Short Form. We are currently looking at Needles at the Sea Bottom. Get in touch to receive the weekly link.

Apologies for no class last week. I was unwell and had an appointment. Luckily, there are many recorded classes for you to do when I am not there, including a special one with all the syllabus, and very little talking by me at all!

Tuesday class is running this week, and news

Just a quick post to say that Tuesday class in Tooting is still running this week at Trinity church hall as usual, 7-9pm. As soon as we hear from the hall as to whether class may legally continue or not in December, I will post it here. Please come a long if you can for our usual socially distanced session, as perhaps we will not see each other for a while after that.

Zoom Short Form classes on Wednesday mornings will continue each week. 

I have been asked to start an online total beginners Taichi class and am probably going to do it. I am just waiting for a filming space here where I live to become available, which a neighbour has kindly offered me. More on this soon. 

Love and best wishes to all.

Tooting outdoor T'ai Chi meet up news

I have just uploaded today's lesson to the Dropbox for those studying Short Form, or those who would find it useful. Talking to the class, the problem of 'mirroring' or not mirroring is tricky, which way are we facing? and so on. These problems arise when we have not been able to consolidate things in person in class, by moving together as a group, and getting the forms in our body mind and muscle memory. It is important to remember how challenging it is to learn online something as rich and complex as T'ai Chi, and that you are all doing really well. It's good to get the body moving, and many of the benefits of T'ai Chi simply come from doing the movements, as best we can.

However, to help move things along here is a possibility. The lido pavilion is still not available for classes. Zumba is running outdoors at the pool, but rain is always possible, so it's not an option for me to regularly hire the outdoors space there on a Wednesday morning. However, I am now back in Tooting on Tuesday evenings to study and assist with my teacher. I could certainly spend an hour doing T'ai Chi in the park near the lido carpark. It would not be 'a lesson' (this is not allowed by the park authorities). However, we can do socially distanced T'ai Chi together, in our warm clothes. It would be great to see whoever came along, and for you to get the form back in your bodies. Then we could discuss ways forward to meet outdoors in person. Perhaps someone will have a suitable garden with a side entrance. I am sure something will turn up. Of course, as I am the opposite of a hard marketeer, I do not even have everyone's email addresses from class, being firmly of the 'if they want to come, they'll turn up' school of thought. So if you are reading this and know that old colleagues from the class are not in the Whatsapp or email list, please let people know about this blog post and the planned first meet up next week. All Mark's students are obviously very welcome too.

If no one turns up, I shall do a form, then head to my brother's for tea! Here's the details.

T'ai Chi Short Form informal meet up session 4-5pm, 13th October 2020, within sight of the lido carpark, wherever the ground feels not too boggy! It will run unless heavy rain falls. I will find a good spot... Wrap up warm, especially hats or ear-warmers, bring a flask of tea if you like! We'll make plans for future sessions and outdoor venue. Wear a mask if you like, we won't be touching and will keep 2m distanced. Any contributions will be entirely up to you. See you there!

London and online classes

I am back from the woods and looking forward to seeing folks at Mark's class tonight.

Tuesday class continues in Tooting, 7-9pm, with social distancing measures. Feel free to wear a mask too if you prefer. Hand gel is available and we have plenty of room to stay apart yet work together. It's really been great sticking together in our movements as a group. Sure, it doesn't make up for not being able to push hands and touch, but still it's great to outreach and work together like this. Class costs £15 / £10 concs.

Thursday class at Hampton Court 7-9.30pm is available but needs booking by phone or text in advance. If three people book the class can run. Get in touch with Mark to book it. Class costs £15.

121s are always available in person or on Skype with Mark. Cost by arrangement. 

The Wednesday morning Zoom Short Form class is open to all my or Mark's students. Just get in touch and I will send you the link by email and Whatsapp. The class is uploaded onto our Dropbox afterwards, so it can be used later. Either live or recorded, the weekly classes cost £5. I have just uploaded a lesson which includes warm-ups, chi kung set, 5 elements, front heart salutation and a full short form, File is called 'Zoom Short Form Lesson 2020 09 30'. There is minimal speaking and no teaching, so you may well find it a nice relaxing change! It is perfect for use as guided timing for an hour of solo or group short form level practice. If you download it for use with others, please let me know, as our videos are only for use within the schools.

Get in touch if you have any requests of this for Mark or myself to record. Thanks for your continued study, contributions for our teaching, and all round goodwill. See you soon. 

Zoom Short Form class with Caro resumes tomorrow morning

 I have just sent out the invitations by email and whatsapp. Let me know if you'd like to join. Details on the right hand sidebar on the full web version of this blog. See you tomorrow! Caro

Classes this autumn with Mark and Caroline

Mark is waiting to hear back from Trinity Church to see if classes can go ahead on a Tuesday night in Tooting again, and under what protocols. We should know very soon and will post here as soon as possible. 

121s with Mark resume next week and you can book one by calling and texting him direct. If you don't have his number, just drop me a line at caroline at greatrivertaichi dot co dot uk and I will send it to you. Small groups are also possible in Mark's T'ai Chi studio, which is easily kept clean and is not used by anyone else. If you are already meeting up with a couple of T'ai Chi friends, and would like to book a session for up to three of you to study together here, that's totally possible. Just get in touch. 

I will be moving home next week, so for the foreseeable will not be teaching 121s. The Tooting Lido Pavilion class is sadly still not resuming, as the space apparently does not meet the correct ventilation requirements (bizzare, as its huge doors and windows literally open onto the poolside). The space is currently being used for storage and pool staff so they can have socially distanced breaks. Perhaps after the public swimming season ends, and only SLSC members can use it, fewer staff will be present at one time and the venue can resume its movement classes and kids' events. I hope so. It was a lovely short form class. 

Meanwhile I will start teaching this class online again starting next Wednesday 2nd September 9-10am, as planned. All students of Mark and mine are welcome to join in this hour-long class comprising warmups, chi kung, Short Form and questions. We look at a new posture each week or two. We are at Golden Rooster stands on one Leg. The class costs £5 and is also available afterwards on the Dropbox for those who cannot attend at 9am. I hang out online for 15 mins afterwards for those who have any questions or who would like to catch up and chat. I can't tell you what room will be the background yet, but wifi gods allowing, it could be my new boat...

Aberdeenshire classes are subject to different rules, and the instructors will post here when they have details. Very best wishes to all who read this. Mark is doing really well and is almost completely recovered. Thanks for all the good wishes. Caro.

Online class details Wednesday 24th June

I have just sent the joining details out to everyone on the Whatsapp and email groups. If you would like to join the class on Zoom 9-10am each week, but do not yet have the details, let me know, and I will send the details to you. This week we are looking at Golden Rooster.

Zoom class resumes 9-10am Weds 10th June 2020

See you in the morning for class, all GRTC and TTCC students welcome. The link will be here at 8.40am

Week off last week for personal reasons, looking forward to being back tomorrow.

Today's 9-10am Short Form lesson

Thanks to all who came. The lesson will be available to download from Dropbox soon, and I can also email a link. The good news is a student reminded me to press 'record' this week, so it's the whole lesson, hurray...

Class today

Thanks to all who came to class today, it was lovely to work with you and see your faces. See you next week for more Short Form. Today's class is available as a download on the Dropbox. However, I forgot to press record until 5 minutes in, so you'll need to do the first 4 warm ups on your own! More soon.

New Short Form class up on Dropbox

Today's class is uploaded onto our Dropbox, just get in touch if you ant me to email you the link to the Zoom recording, if you can't access Dropbox for some reason.

It was a lovely class, lots of warmups, five elements, chi kung, Short Form, and a new posture: waving hands in clouds.

See you soon. Be well.

Meet Humphrey, my neighbour.

Joining the Zoom class on a phone

This blog displays differently on various devices, and on phones it may not be possible to see the link and the sidebars. Blogger is an old platform and although there are many newer better ones, we have been here so long, over 15 years, and have so much written here already, that we have not yet migrated elsewhere.  If you wish to join class by smartphone, I recommend accessing this blog on a pc, copying and pasting the link and password and emailing it to yourself. Then you can open this on your phone as normal. Hope this helps.Call or email with any issues as I am keen to help those who want to join but have had technical issues.

Online short form classes will continue indefinitely

Hello, hope this week sees you all well and thriving, even under the unusual circumstances. Tomorrow's short form class will run as usual from 9-10am, and all past and present students of Mark's or mine are welcome, as are any students of students, so feel free to pass this info on. The live class runs via Zoom, and the details and password are posted at about 8.40am each Wednesday morning in the box to the right of this post.

Speaking to some of my over 70s students after class last week, I heard that some are going to need to self-isolate beyond any summer relaxing of lockdown restrictions, and so would not be able to return to Tooting Lido class even when it could restart. So I have decided to commit to an online short form class for the foreseeable future, so that no one goes without the chance to practice and learn T'ai Chi. For now, we'll continue in the Wednesday morning slot, and if and when the Tooting class resumes, we will find another suitable time and day of the week. At that point I will also keep the in-person and online classes in sync, as regards what postures we are looking at, for instance, so that folks can easily move between the two formats, or indeed do both, depending on their isolation requirements. I hope this will give you a little continuity and community. Live classes cost £5 (concs available).

I make recordings of each class and put it on the Dropbox each week, these may be useful to get a practice going, or if you miss a class. If you use these, I would hugely appreciate a £2-£5  contribution, for the time and work involved. These are interesting times for Mark and myself regarding livelihood, as everything we both do (T'ai Chi, art teaching, music...)  requires us to be in close contact with people in rooms. Thanks so much to those who are continuing to pay term fees, making one-off contributions for resources, or who are attending classes online or 121s. We are glad you are still practising.

I am not currently taking new students, but depending on how UK life proceeds, a beginners online class may occur. We shall see. Long term advanced students are encouraged to book a 121 Skype session with Mark, which are proving to be helpful, as well as very funny as Mark says he still sometimes speaks to the screen as though it's a long distance call in the 1970s...

Best wishes and love to all. Feel free to get in touch. I will post some lovely nature photos soon, as swans, trees and plants take up much of my time, these days.

Next Short Form Zoom class is Wednesday 15th April 9-10am

All regular students of any level are welcome to attend this class, which is the online version of the Tooting Lido morning class. We do warm ups, five elements chi kung, front heart salutations and short form, as the partnerwork is currently off the menu...

The link will be to the right of this page in the dedicated box by 8.30am. Just turn up to the meeting and put your box on audio mute with the video on. We take regular breaks to unmute and have questions, etc. There is also time at the end to hang out and chat. Cost is £5, details in the box. If you have lost your income then any amount you feel you can afford is fine. I will record the session.

Thanks to all those who have contributed to Mark and myself for the video resources, by the way. We both really appreciate it. We will film a new version of the Front heart Salutation this week, and try to have something new for you from him each week. He is also doing 12s via Zoom, Skype or phone and video. Get in touch if you want one.

There are more chi kung resources each day at www.instagram.com/greatrivertaichi this week we will finish the Five Elements and then start the T'ai Chi warm up set one move each day. This is a free resource available for all, to help with the isolation. Feel free to share it with friends or family.

I do hope you are all doing OK. Love from the river, Caro and Mark.

Aberdeenshire January workshops

The first workshops of 2020 with Caroline in Aberdeenshire are this weekend, 17-19th January. All sessions, except weapons, are at Balvack.

Friday 6:30-9:30pm: Weapons, Fetternear Hall - entry via the "front" door not the kitchen
Saturday and Sunday sessions are 1-4pm & 5:30-8:30pm.


The price is £20 (concessions £12) per 3 hr session. Please bring food to share on Saturday and Sunday. Get in touch with your instructor if you need travel directions or feel free to contact me with any other question.

Turriff class term dates

The new term at Turriff starts next Monday, 13th January at the Baden Powell Community Hall.

The Short Form class is 6:45-8:15pm and the standard price is £50 for 6 weeks. Concession or weekly prices are available on request. The Long Form class continues until 8:45pm for a small additional cost.

The class is not currently open to beginners. If you have previous T'ai Chi experience and would like to join or re-join the class to study Short Form or Long Form, please get in touch with me to discuss suitability. email davina [at] greatrivertaichi [dot] co [dot] uk

The term will run until 29th June with a break on 6th & 13th April for the Easter holidays. There will also be no class on 4th May.