The Dragon's Head Blog

The Resident Volunteers and Staff of the International Centre wish all a healthy and safe 2016! Volunteers Réal and Chris are enjoying putting the finishing touches to the sugar shack and educating young visitors on the maple syrup project. With the woodshed completed, Jesse is on a well deserved vacation.

It is a tradition in the Netherlands to eat “oliebollen and appelflappen” on New Year’s ​Eve. People prepare them at home or buy them in special shops. Why ​not make them in our own centre in Helmond? So we did. A team of volunteers made hundreds of them. The quality was praised by those who […]

    It started with a good idea. We bought a lot of white socks, started knitting and collected some other things. We then invited the participants of the Haarlem location to come on Thursday afternoons to make a family of snowmen. We had a lot of fun making them while Christmas music was playing […]

Participants from across the Atlantic Region assembled at the regional centre in Halifax on December 5, the weekend scheduled for the holiday season program. We practiced and learned together Taoist Tai Chi® arts throughout the day.  In the evening the participants were joined by their guests to enjoy a wonderful ten-course banquet. Our dynamic emcee […]

On Friday evening at the European Centre in Colchester the weekend’s activities began with chanting the “Ten Thousand Bhuddas” sutra for the Autumn Moon Festival. This was followed on Saturday morning with over a hundred participants taking part in our last intensive of the year. Everyone joined in with the karaoke dan-yus singing “Jingle Bells” […]

The Western Region Centre in Newport, South Wales, held a Christmas party with an unusual twist this year. A High Tea was organised with finger sandwiches of ham, egg and cucumber followed every possible type of cake, including mini eclairs, lemon drizzle cake, Christmas Cake, mince pies and lots of mini chocolate cakes along with […]

December 5, 2015, 47 participants and guests of the Newfoundland Branch hosted our annual Silent Auction and Cake Walk fundraiser. After the regular continuing Ssession, we enjoyed soup together, all the while bidding on the multitude of silent auction items. Sprinkled throughout the event were ‘cake walks,’ where people paraded in a circle to the […]

On December 19, 2015 two representatives from the Windsor Branch spoke on a local radio station promoting Taoist Tai Chi® arts.   As a charitable organization the FLK Windsor Branch was invited by the station to do three programs this year.  The station covers all of the Windsor – Detroit area and beyond and has a very large […]

Here are just a few of the generous people who contributed to the Colchester Food Bank this Christmas. The food bank support people in need in the local area. The local branch that organised the collection wish to thank everyone for their kind donations – we weighed in at 193.7 kg, which gave us a nice target for next […]

After a morning of practicing Taoist Tai Chi® arts 130 Windsor branch participants and families shared a potluck lunch and holiday season celebration.  Music supplied by Windsor Banjos provided a festive background for lively conversation, dancing, and children’s crafts, as we waited for the much anticipated visit by Santa Claus.  The annual food drive for […]

  After attending the the Lok Hup workshop at the Fenway, I travelled, via Miami, to the Caribbean island of Aruba for the First Anniversary of the centre there. Irena the President and other members told me about how they had raised funds for the new building over the last 17 years. They all seemed so […]

Coming to the International Centre in Orangeville as a volunteer, I didn’t know what to expect or what I would be doing for the next six months. It only took a couple weeks for me to be pulled into the FLK Archive Project. Since I’m currently living at the International Centre, Southern Ontario seemed like […]

The International Center Florida continues renovations.  Now renovations have begun on Building C. The terrazzo floor located on the main floor is in the process of being resurfaced. Building A work continues with framing crews working throughout and a portion of the patio wall was removed to make access for the new ADA (Americans with […]

On the 14th of November, with an intensive and a banquet, we celebrated in Sopron the 10th anniversary of the founding of the first club in Hungary to practice Taoist Tai Chi® arts. Members from all five locations (Eger, Győr, Budapest, Fertőszentmiklos and Sopron) were represented among the 108 participants who took part in the […]

We celebrated this banquet on Saturday, October 17th, 2015. As usual, the final preparations began in the afternoon with people helping to set up and decorate after sharing lunch together. Around 70 guests started gathering at 5.30pm, including many special guests like several doctors who have been recommending us to their patients, and the board […]

With an Intensive in the morning followed by Potluck lunch our evening meal was prepared by Aberdeen Angus, Highlands and Islands and Edinburgh participants. Guests were greeted with a very palatable non-alcoholic punch and canapes around the Christmas tree; the tree was set up by the Friday morning class. A delicious meal with all the […]

International Center Florida Construction Update for the week ending Dec 6, 2015 Roofing has begun! Photos below are of the NW wing of the International Center Florida. New window openings are being prepared to accommodate hurricane resistant windows. 1st floor structural repairs are continuing on the first floor. Three teams of carpenters are working in the […]

Des participants de plusieurs sections de la Région de l’Est (Canada) se sont déplacés pour la Journée des aînés qui a eu lieu vendredi dernier à Longueuil. Parmi la trentaine de participants présents, plusieurs ont constaté à quel point ils avaient réussi à travailler plus en profondeur après une journée de tai chi, comparativement à […]

L’emplacement de St-Hubert (Région de l’Est) a reçu, trié et distribué aujourd’hui près de 200 kilos de fromages pour leur levée de fonds annuelle de coffrets-cadeaux, juste à temps pour les Fêtes. Plus de 175 coffrets ont été achetés et la levée de fonds totalise 1 675 $, bravo aux participants qui avaient l’air ravis […]

For Ireland’s 3rd Tai-chi-athon in Ballina 71 participants gathered together throughout Saturday 29th November in a constant cycle of sets. Working together in harmony we benefitted ourselves whilst raising funds for our International centre in Florida.