Galleries

Fifth Taichiathon Held in Ireland

Posted on by Ireland Blog Editor

Congratulations to all 69 participants of the 5th annual Taichiathon in our national centre in Ballina, County, Mayo, Ireland.

Practicing tai chi sets from 8am – 8pm, eating home-cooked food, drinking pu-erh tea and chatting, strengthens our bodies as well as the friendships we make while participating in this wonderful art of health with friends from the four corners of Ireland. The funds raised will go to a worthy cause.

Here you find small glimpses of us in groups of differing sizes enjoying set after set the whole day long.

We are all looking forward to next year’s event.

Tenth Anniversary of Taoist Tai Chi® Arts in Norway

Posted on by Blog Editor Norway

On the 27th of May 2017, 54 members were gathered in Oslo for a one-day intensive followed by a banquet in the evening to celebrate ten years of Taoist Tai Chi® practice in Norway.

Members were gathered from Scandinavia, Great Britain, Italy and Slovakia. We were grateful to receive instruction from a representative from the European Regional Council, Paul Davies, who is a longstanding member from Great Britain. As we practiced the opening of the set, Paul helped us visualise elastic bands attached to our body to help us feel the elasticity and expansion in the body. He encouraged us to remember that feeling so that we can use it in our daily practice. He also shared a story about his first brief conversation with Master Moy who had pointed him to one of the central aims for his work: “Go and help the people”.

Around 60 people attended the evening banquet. Among them were a local politician named Helge Stoltenberg, as well as family members and friends. During the banquet there were speeches, testimonials and live music and beautiful songs. All together it was a truly special and memorable event.

Celebrating Forty Years at Bathurst Location in Toronto, Canada

Posted on by International Blog Editor
 
This year the Bathurst location in Toronto, Canada celebrates its fortieth anniversary of practicing Taoist Tai Chi® arts in this location.  We are fortunate that Master Moy settled in Toronto, Canada when he came to the west to share these arts.  The first locations where he taught these arts were rented sites and the Bathurst location was the first building ever purchased by the society.  We marked this fortieth anniversary by performing forty sets in a row.  We opened the doors so that we could start our first set at 7:00 am and planned to finish our last set at 7:00 pm.  A leader was selected to ensure we kept on track to perform the forty continuous sets in the allotted twelve hours.  A chart was set up on the mirrored wall to record each set’s ending.
 
Taoist Tai Chi Bathurst Toronto Canada
 
People who knew Master Moy joined those who just started practicing tai chi this year.  One participant stayed from 9:00 am until the last set and more than one person in attendance performed more than ten sets.  At the end of the marathon of forty sets there were approximately forty people who stayed to enjoy a meal and share stories of their experiences at the location.
 
Taoist Tai Chi Bathurst Toronto Canada 
We thank those participants who came from across the Greater Toronto Area to celebrate with us.  The participants at the Bathurst location look forward to the future where we will continue to further Master Moy’s vision and to further the aims and objectives of the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism.
 
Taoist Tai Chi Bathurst Toronto Canada
 
Taoist Tai Chi Bathurst Toronto Canada
 

Awareness Day in Brussels, Belgium

Posted on by Belgium Blog Editor

On Sunday September 25th, we celebrated our Awareness Day in downtown Brussels, in front of La Bourse where, for three years now, we have been giving free introduction classes of Taoist Tai Chi® arts every Sunday from May 1st  to September 30th. Thanks to favourable weather, there were a lot of passers-by and a few of them tried some moves while our members enjoyed practicing together, including sabre, in the sunshine.

 

It’s the Natural Way

Posted on by Hungary Blog Editor

It’s the natural way.

This was our motto at the International Workshop in Budapest in 17-18 September.  With Carmen Capilla’s lead there were 170 members enjoying the benefits of Taoist Tai Chi®. We could all practice to take the time in finding our center, standing up fully or to take the time to open, and it helped us to find our balance much more easily.  Through the deeper understanding of don yu and tor yu we could experience the softness and the inherent simplicity and naturalness of the tai chi movements. Chanting and standing meditation allowed us not only to experience these other internal art forms but through them we could learn more about ourselves as well. We had time to share and discuss these experiences and thoughts with each other. We learned that some of us got 2 cm taller and some felt more opening in the body. Others enjoyed the lightness of weight shifting and found better balance in the movements.  All in all, during the weekend we shared the joy of practicing Taoist Tai Chi®, and that really put a smile on everybody’s face.

Csak természetesen!

Ez volt a jelszó szeptember 17-18-án a magyarországi nemzetközi edzőtáborban Budapesten. Carmen Capilla vezetésével 170 tag élvezhette a Taoist Tai Chi jótékony hatásait.
Ezen a hétvégén mindannyian gyakorolhattuk azt, hogy ha időt hagyunk a közép megtalálására, a teljes felállásra vagy a nyitásra, sokkal könnyebben egyensúlyba kerülhetünk.

A don yu és a tor yu alapjainak mélyebb megértésével megtapasztalhattuk a tai chiban lévő lágyságot, egyszerűséget és természetességet. A kántálás és az álló meditáció további lehetőséget kínált arra, hogy többet megtudjunk a taoista művészetekről, és rajtuk keresztül saját magunkról. Volt időnk arra is, hogy a beszélgetések során megosszuk ezeket az élményeket és gondolatokat egymással. Így megtudhattuk, hogy ezen a hétvégén van aki magasabb lett két centiméterrel, vagy nagyobb nyitást érzett a testében. Mások a testsúlyáthelyezés könnyedségét élvezték és jobb egyensúlyt találtak a mozgásban.

Mindezeknek köszönhetően, a hétvége során közös élménnyé vált a Taoist Tai Chi gyakorlásának élvezete, és ez mindenkinek mosolyt varázsolt az arcára.

Forever Young in Rijswijk, Netherlands

Posted on by Netherlands Blog Editor

8 April 2016, Rijswijk.  For the third time, the seniors committee in The Netherlands organized an intensive spiced with an afternoon delight of playing traditional Dutch games.  Thirty-six members represented the cities of Helmond, Delft, Rijswijk, Voorschoten, Rotterdam, Dordrecht, Weert, Haarlem, Limburg and Chiltern (Great Britain)!

Before the start of the program, one member asked, what is so special about seniors? What is the difference?  One member answered “I think you have to talk louder”.  So during the intensive of Taoist Tai Chi® arts, a lot of emphasis was put on how to improve the donyus and how important it is to do extra work the older you get.  By doing a lot of donyus, members discovered how the body has  to work not more than it should and therefore learning to relax and let go.

In the afternoon, after a delightful lunch of spring pea soup and Dutch pancakes, members stayed to play traditional Dutch games.  Some brought their old childhood pictures and everyone tried to guess who is who.  Each winner of a game got a prize of a bottle of wine.  Another fundraising feature of the day was the sale of shoe bags made by senior members from refurbished old tai chi shirts. Proceeds from the shoe bags is for the Fenway Project.

At the end of the day, everyone went home happy and felt very young after being pampered for the whole day of tai chi, fun, and laughter.