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!
