It’s been 5 years since I have seen Shifu. Life moves slowly and flies by. Beijing changed yet also not at all. In some ways things really come full circle in ways impossible to predict. Shifu was in very good spirits, no pun intended. Shiwu is really quite grown up and quite a pleasure. Shimu looks very well.
Beijing and revisiting has so many memories and new experiences it is not possible to convey but it is again a very strong feeling. Unpayable debts, unforgettable connections, and the strange thankfulness for impossible luck.
For 8 days we trained, joked, storied, ate & drank. It was a great time and a lot of territory was covered. We had many returning and some new attendees. Hopefully the wait will not be so long for the next one.
Gongfu can be practice anywhere, even in less than ideal conditions. The dedicated and driven practitioner will not be hindered by adverse locations and conditions, however the value of an ideal natural practice location also cannot be overlooked.
With dates tentatively set we are now in the planning phase of the next Poole, UK Chen Gongfu Jia workshop.
Comments, discussion and expression of interest welcome here, but arrangements should be made through Taichipoole above.
Registration was already close to full at outset of this plan, do make plans early, as Poole is not huge.
Summer 2019 in Poole, Dorset, England.
Tentative dates are June normal session June 21-st-June 24th, with extended session possible to June 26th.
Intensive training in Chen Taijiquan with Master level teacher, Marin Spivack, senior disciple of Chen Yu, and inheritor of the Chen Zhaokui line of Taijiquan Gongfu.
Attendance may be arranged via invitation or application to Chen Tai Chi South UK or Chen Zhaokui Taijiqun association North America. Only hard working serious students will be suited, and commercial teachers, status seekers, or casual seminar samplers looking for an angle to increase their status or profit will not be considered. This family art is actually far too challenging to waste time and effort on those who have no intent or ability to actually train and learn it. For the serious, non-commercial students we welcome you. Although we have a lot of fun, this is traditional gongfu training without the politics, delusion and ego. Thanks for your understanding.
4 days of hard training in this functional system of traditional gongfu that is complex, very rich in detail and both physically and psychologically gruelling, just as traditional Gongfu should be. We will be reviewing foundations and then continuing form, application and drill where we left off last time, with also room to welcome and bring up to speed new arrivals as needed.
A great opportunity to get started on learning the Chen Yu method from a high level expert and most senior representative of the style, outside of China.
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in Marin Spivack’s UK seminar, and thought I should share my experience. Previously I had nearly 6 years of Chen Village taiji experience, and for two months prior to the workshop I was able to train with other practitioners of the Chen Zhaokui lineage. I thought that all of this would prepare me well for Marin’s teaching… (more…)
This August was a wonderful event, exhausting, inspiring, sweaty, bitter, affirming and stimulating. The attendees, around 11-12 of them of varying levels of experience and age all worked very hard and did well clarifying their understandings of the practice methods. Basic practices, form, applications and tuishou were all covered along with jokes in poor taste from basic to advanced levels. Somewhat decadent English food and beer consumption was also practiced.
People came from far and wide locations for this event as well as various UK locations. We will begin the planning phase for a repeat event in the not too distant future.
