Like probably all Tai Chi instructors I have been teaching a lot of people who are completely new to Tai Chi – and I have come to recognise that often the “newness” of the experience can be quite mysterious to people – so I have put a few guidance notes on the main website in the hope that they will be helpful for those just starting – click here for notes.
Tai Chi is becoming very popular these days and it seems to me that there is something of the “magic bullet” about the way Tai Chi is regarded – a bit like going to the doctor – “take this course of Tai Chi and everything will be better” – indeed 16 weeks or whatever of Tai Chi classes can have a significant effect – but that really is just the start. The point is to learn the skill of understanding one’s body and using it better so that our own internal systems can heal us and keep us healthy. The concept of Chi is part of that but something that each of us comes to understand on our own. No magic – just hard work and understanding.
I threw this quite mainstream Zen saying to my Sunday class recently – and was rewarded with a brisk and humerous discussion on the evening and then later with a link to this interesting article - what goes around – comes around!
I will be running a short series of 4 beginners classes on a weekly basis at Aromatics Beauty and Holistic Treatments saloon in Baldock, starting on Monday June 13th – time is from 6.00 to 7.00pm. For further info contact Sam at pamper@aromaticsbaldock.com
Tai Chi has grown in the West being practiced as a martial art or as a way of dealing with physical or emotional problems – or for personal development. 
Thanks to the work of people like my own teacher Karel Koskuba and his teacher Master Chen Xiaowang ( shown above making corrections to my own posture ) we are fortunate that Tai Chi in the UK is now sufficiently mature that we can translate it’s workings into terms understandable to those brought up in a western social and educational system. For more info see www.sheffordtaich.org
