6th & 7th February, 2016

Sue Lewis

Boot camp?  It sounded exhausting. But tai chi sounded good. And cultural indulgence?  Well, that was just up my street.
 
I was with friends from the Chi Clinic in Cheam, but I had never been to Faye and Tary's HQ in Telford before so everything was new. Inside the Centre, the Dragon Hall at the back was decorated with red lanterns and a large paper dragon, and sixty Tai chi students from all over the country were milling around, chatting and catching up with old friends. It was good to see some of the people I went to China with last year.

After a welcome by the ever-cheerful Tary, we divided into classes, led by some of the Deyin instructors.  John Smith was taking the Tai Chi 8 step form in the small hall but I chose to take part in Diane Brindley's interesting Specialist Postural Stability session, which included exercises from the Falls Prevention programme used by the NHS.  It showed me how important it is to maintain your balance, especially in old age.  One in two people aged over 85 will have a fall, often meaning broken limbs and hospitalisation. I found this statistic both shocking and sad.

For the next session there was Tai Chi Fan with Angela Howarth, but I opted for Vicky Ahern's class on Weight Distribution and Finding Centre. She introduced us to her Tai Chi Essentials - a set of simple but elegant qigong exercises which have tai chi principles at their core. She has designed these to be accessible to all ages and levels of fitness, and to require very little space in which to practise. This class complemented and extended the previous session on balance and was very well received.
After lunch, Carol Gascoyne was leading a workshop on Health Qigong, Yi Jin Jing for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but I chose to stay in the Dragon Hall and take part in Nicola Day's Qigong for Mindful Meditation. Nicola made it look effortless, but this was more challenging for me, with a lot of stretching and twisting, concluding with a period of standing meditation. I was really glad that my instructor had introduced me to standing meditation in our weekly qigong classes back in Cheam because otherwise I might have been doing falling down meditation.

All that meditation left me feeling very mellow and in need of a lie-down. But there was no chance of that. It was the final session of the Boot Camp and we went out in style with Tary's class on the martial applications of Tai chi. I didn't think this would appeal to me but I found it fascinating and fun to attempt with a partner.

That evening there was a get-together to celebrate the imminent Chinese New Year, with a traditional Lion Dance and dancing and kung fu from the children who use the Centre. There was a beautiful dance by Grace Tong, and a vibrant display of Tai Chi Fan from Vicky, Angela and Kumiko. Carol's Team Derby gave us a moving Qigong medley which was set to "Lift me up". There was an intense demonstration of Southern Praying Mantis style by Tary, and a breathtaking, whirling display of Wudang sword by Faye. And, as if all this wasn't enough, there was Chinese take-away, too!

The next morning we got a chance to indulge, not only with a bit of a lie-in at the hotel, but also culturally. We were treated to a fun Mandarin lesson with Faye, practising our tones, and had a go at Chinese calligraphy. And then it was time to head home with much to think about on the train journey back to London.