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.

Saying Hello to the Ox - Part 1

Members across the country have been gathering together to welcome in the Year of the Ox. As usual, this mostly involved eating well and generally having a good time. Over 200 came to the European Centre at Colchester and were treated to a five course Chinese banquet, prepared by our own volunteer chefs.

Guests enjoying the good food, and good company, at the European Centre

Many of those present were not members, but guests or family of members, and for some it was their first visit to the Centre. They were given an impromptu demonstration of the set by some of the members present, and a raffle raised £260 towards buying some nice banqueting chairs to replace our rather old and tired black chairs. The quality of the food was, as ever, excellent, and the efforts of the kitchen team were greatly appreciated by all.

As always with this sort of event, it takes hours of hard work behind the scenes to enable the final production to appear so efficient and effortless. So, a big Thank You to all those involved, both in the planning, preparation and the clearing up afterwards.



The kitchen team sit down after a very long day, to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Happy New Year Part 2

Welcome to the Year of the Ox, which starts today. Various celebrations will be taking place over the next couple of weeks in many branches, though if you were celebrating in the Scottish region over the weekend, you were more likely to be marking Burn's Night, so we hope you all had a good time!

The Year of the Ox is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity, which is especially needed in these times of financial hardship. Such tough times bring us tough choices when it comes to how we use any precious spare cash, and that may cause us to consider whether we should go to that next workshop, or even whether we should keep up our tai chi. This often comes up in discussions when people ask about the cost of workshops, or when they are asked to pay their membership, even if they haven't been to any classes for a couple of weeks.

The answers lie in how Master Moy challenged us to think about what was on offer. When someone once asked him why a workshop cost as much as it did, he asked the person how much they were prepared to pay for their health. The answer was, of course, that our health is priceless, and if we approach it with our Western 'value for money' mindset, then we will not get very far. Similarly, we are a membership organisation, so trying to equate what we pay with the 'amount' of tai chi we get will also fail. Our membership entitles us to as much or as little as we want, but it is also the way that members support the Society, so the principle is about being a member, and not about a money-based transaction.

Workshops are one way that we raise funds - but even so, when you compare what else you might get for the money, improving your health is a pretty good way of using your cash. And they're also such good fun! So if you have your eye on one of the workshops for this year, then you might want to start a workshop fund now to help you get there. We can all make choices about how we spend our money, and maybe if we put aside a little bit each week, instead of buying that extra pint of beer, or box of chocolates, it surprising how quickly it accumulates. It's all about our priorities.

Late Nights and Early Mornings

Last weekend saw a gathering of many of the volunteers who help to run the Society, to work together to deepen their understanding, meet up with old friends, and make some new ones. Master Moy taught us not only how to improve our health through the Taoist arts, but also how to run the organisation that he founded. This was always part of the training that is offered, and the weekend workshop was a good example of that training in action.

Around 75 members came from all over Great Britain, from as far away as Inverness. The intrepid band of travellers from the Highlands & Islands had a long journey, flying into Gatwick, but they were met by members travelling up from the Kent & Sussex branch and brought to the Centre, in the true spirit of helping others.

The company was certainly first rate, but also so was the cooking! A small group of volunteers from the Cambridge branch worked tirelessly through the weekend to keep everyone well fed and watered, and it was very much appreciated.

It was certainly a happy weekend, and we can even forgive the folks who decided on an early breakfast on Sunday morning of barbecued toast, which resulted in a rather rude awakening for those still abed. After all, we might otherwise have missed seeing the wonderful pink and yellow streaked dawn over the heavily frosted car park, whilst awaiting a visit from our wonderful fire service. Still, no harm done, and some even went back to bed!

Everyone worked really hard, and we covered an awful lot over the weekend, but we also found time to choose the winning design for the Year of the Ox t-shirt, so here is a sneak preview - coming to a t-shirt near you soon. Congratulations to Sandra Brandao, who made it two in a row, as she also designed last year's Year of the Rat shirt, which has proved to be our most popular shirt to date.

The Saturday evening session proved especially popular, with groups talking together late into the evening. Many participants appreciated the opportunity to spend 'quality time' with others who fill similar roles, sharing the trials and tribulations, tea and sympathy, but also solutions and support, and much laughter (with only the merest hint of hysteria attached to the latter).

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Having a 'Home' was always very dear to Master Moy's heart. He always encouraged us to strive to get clubhouses so that we could have a place that was our own - somewhere away from the rattle of the Caretaker's keys, where we could relax and enjoy ourselves, take our time, pratice together, eat together, drop in and just hang out. It makes everything feel very different when it's your own place you are using, looking after, decorating, furnishing with your own things, making it a comfortable and welcoming home.

We already have four such homes - all very different. We have the European Centre at Colchester which serves as international centre, national headquarters and local clubhouse. Then there's the newly refurbished Western Region Centre in Newport. A converted telephone exchange built in a Georgian style with a nod to the Chapel with those lovely arched windows.

The clubhouse at Maldon is a substantial converted Church Hall, with lots of room and good facilities, and then there's the Ravenscroft clubhouse in Edinburgh. A smaller, more traditional local hall, which has everything we need to serve the local members.

Now we are on the brink of acquiring a new and equally different clubhouse for Cambridge. This is an industrial unit (see pic), to be converted into a local facility for members from Huntingdon, Godmanchester and the surrounds. We have secured planning consent for change of use, and are currently negotiating a lease agreement (another first for us - we own the other buildings outright).


The local branch has been working hard to bring this dream to fruition, and it's a very exciting time for all involved (and a little bit frightening as well if we're honest - taking on the responsibility of running a building is a real commitment, so the desire has to be strong).

And now Suffolk Branch are hard on their heels, looking at their own version of the industrial unit conversion trick. This is still just a possibility, but it's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it. More on this as it happens.

Happy New Year - Now and Later

Happy New Year to one and all.

We are lucky that, coming from the Chinese tradition, we get to celebrate new year twice - once now and again later this month when we welcome in the Year of the Ox. Our festivities begin on 7th February with a full day at the European Centre in Colchester, beginning with an Intensive, followed by a meeting of the East Anglia Regional Committee and culminating in a Chinese Supper in the evening. In this way, we get to do some taijiquan, look after the running of the Society, and eat good food together - what more could one want?

If you can't wait until then there is plenty to occupy you in the meantime. Next weekend we hold our annual development weekend at Colchester, a big get-together for many of the volunteers who work tirelessly to run the Society. It's a great opportunity to catch-up with old friends, meet new ones, and work with each other towards furthering the development of the organisation.

There are also some workshops to look forward to. If you fancy fleeing the chilly British climate then how about a workshop in Mallorca 24th and 25th of January? or if you don't want to go as far, then we have Prague (17th/18th Jan - and probably colder!), Copenhagen (7th/8th Feb) and the Netherlands (14th/15th) before we come to our own first big event of the year, the International Workshop in Colchester on 21st and 22nd February. These are all wonderful opportunities for members to further their training and meet some lovely people, and generally have a great time. As always, full details are circulated to all classes, so ask your instructor and watch out for the posters and booking forms.