Escape to the Sun

A group of 20 GB members joined around 130 others from all over Europe (and North America) at the International Instructor Workshop in Malaga last week. Two such workshops are held each year in Europe, in spring (usually Spain) and autumn (usually the Netherlands). This year saw representatives from (in addition to Spain and GB), Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Norway, France, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, and the USA.

The venue was, as in previous years, a lovely old seminary on a hill above the city, with beautiful terraced gardens full of flowering plants and shrubs. The accommodation is in small, plain, but comfortable bedrooms (as befits a building usually used for training priests), and the practice hall was cool and airy - though with the numbers involved it did get rather cosy at times. With it being even more crowded at the weekend, we simply moved outside to take advantage of the lovely warm spring sunshine, and practised in the shade under the trees.

The workshop was led by Karen Laughlin and Sean Dennison from the TTCSUSA - Karen being the President of the International Society. Karen and Sean both started training with Master Moy in 1976, and together were able to call on an amazing 66 years of training and experience of the Taoist arts to help the participants, who worked hard and long through the five days of the event, usually continuing after dinner until 10pm.

The Spanish branch of the ITTCS did a magnificent job of organisation, including over 80 people being picked up from the airport throughout the day before the workshop started, and everyone felt well looked after, like staying with family - which of course is what we were doing! The friendly and positive atmosphere never faltered, and the hard work was punctuated with informative and humorous stories, with Karen and Sean offering many insights into how Master Moy trained instructors, not just to teach the tai chi, but also to run the organisation which was his life's work, and how the Taoist virtues that Master Moy lived by are part of the culture and traditions of the Society.















On the Friday afternoon, the participants took time out to go into town and perform a mass demonstration of Taoist Tai Chi* internal art of taijiquan, in the square outside the Corte Ingles, a large department store. With everyone wearing the black Spanish Year of the Ox t-shirt, it was an impressive sight.

All-in-all, the warmth and friendship experienced by everyone contributed to another memorable event which we will be able to look back on and tell many stories about. The setting was lovely, and conducive to hard practice, and the quality of instruction was hugely impressive, leaving the participants to wend their way home with much to digest, reflect on and practise over the coming months - and plan their next workshop!

Saying Hello to the Ox - Part 2

A celebratory dinner was also held at our Western Region Centre, in Newport. The day began with a trip to the butchers to pick up 7kg of chicken breasts, the vegetables having been bought the day before. In the morning the meat and veg was prepared and some Year of the Ox table decorations were laminated. A couple of members had already set the tables up the night before so the main hall was all ready to go.

After a bit of last minute decision making the final menu was, Lemon Chicken, two Mixed Vegetable dishes, Deep Fried Tofu with seasame oil and chilli flakes with satay sauce.

The inclement weather kept some away, but 65 people attended, coming from Caerphilly, Bridgend, Cardiff, Salisbury, Newport and Bristol. Demonstrations of Tai Chi, Lok Hup, Sword and Sabre preceded the meal and were enthusiastically appreciated by those attending. A raffle was held and raised £70 towards the building fund and the meal itself broke even with £90 to spare. Many stayed after the meal to help clear up and to bring to an end a very satisfying day.

Off to a Good Start

Our first big event of the year was an International Workshop held at the European Centre in Colchester over the weekend of 21-22 February. Nearly 200 members attended the workshop, which was led by Sean Dennison from the TTCSUSA, and Carmen Capilla from Spain. Sean is a regular visitor to our shores and, as a hugely experienced instructor who learnt directly from Master Moy over many years, he always ensures that we get an amazing amount of quality input over the weekend. Carmen is also a very experienced instructor and pupil of Master Moy, and President of the European Regional Council, which supports the Society's development in Europe.

Such an event is always a fantastic opportunity to come together and work hard to develop our understanding and practise of the Taoist arts that Master Moy taught. Whilst most of the participants were from GB there were visitors from further afield. A strong Irish contingent was joined by members from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As ever, the company was enjoyable, the food was great, and judging by the long line of people waiting to thank Sean and Carmen at the end of the workshop, people really appreciated the chance to learn from such experienced practitioners.

Sean stayed on after the workshop to run some International Intensives at our homes in Colchester and Maldon, and will be at the Western Region Centre in Newport on Tuesday evening, before flying out later in the week to take a workshop in Lisbon, Portugal, before some of us will meet up with him again in Malaga next week for the five-day International Instructor Workshop, where we will be joined by ITTCS President Karen Laughlin, and instructors from all over Europe.

We will then be looking forward to our three-day international event in May to celebrate the First Anniversary of the refurbished WRC in Newport, which promises to be a wonderful experience, and a further international workshop in Scotland in November. Before that in October we will host a Health Recovery Week at Colchester. This is a truly unique experience, which is the only scheduled event open to non-members. These weeks are an intensive programme of Taoist Tai Chi(TM) internal arts of health, led by experienced health recovery instructors and focusing on individual needs. Participants can be accompanied by carers, and there is a strong support team of instructors and other volunteers, all working to get the most out of the workshop.