I have been a member of Newcastle Tai Chi for just over four years now. Prior to that I had spent a few years as a dedicated gym bunny with an assortment of personal trainers, but had started to find the whole endeavour a bit mindless and unnecessarily grueling. Having spent several years practising other martial arts in the past, I decided to look around for an alternative and, after some judicious Googling, spent several weeks revisiting Sifu's frankly encyclopaedic website. This sounded ideal.
I came along to my first class and got a warm welcome and a thorough induction from Rachel. None of the customary strutting or posturing from the more senior students either: everyone I met was friendly, approachable and obviously enthused by what they were learning regardless of their level of skill. Given my past experience and my aspiration to start the martial syllabus, I have to admit to feeling a bit bemused at times during those first few weeks. Why was I being asked to hold an apparently untaxing posture for ten minutes? How could such slow, soft movements possibly be of any benefit in defending myself? I persevered. As I gradually learned more of the sequence of movements called the Long Yang form and had more and more opportunities to see Sifu demonstrate the devastating significance behind even the most subtle of these movements, things began to make sense.
Though I feel as though I have come a long way in my own journey with taijiquan, I realise I have scarcely taken the first step towards understanding the art and all that Sifu has to teach. The syllabus he has developed is comprehensive and staggering in its scale, but also tangible and achievable for anyone willing to shed their preconceptions and pursue it. Sifu's teaching is predicated entirely on biomechanics and efficiency of movement. It is also refreshingly devoid of the horses**t and hokum that so regrettably accompanies most supposed tai chi classes these days. Countless times I have found myself confounded by a particular application and convinced it couldn't possibly work, only to find myself exerting strength I couldn't have imagined thanks to one tiny adjustment or subtle shift of perspective from Sifu. I have no doubt that even those students who have only been able to attend the class for a relatively short period of time have emerged with a renewed understanding of their body and its potential.
Add to all this the variety of what's on offer (from girls' nights to tea clubs, workshops to weapons) and we are really very privileged to have such an exceptional class based in the North East.
If you are considering coming along for the first time, don't hesitate. We look forward to meeting you.
(Paul Reynolds)
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