New weekly class in Tel Aviv

Tuesdays, starts 13 May 2008 — 6.30-8pm

At Bet NoMind, 7th floor of 55 Dereh Begin, Tel Aviv.

The class will concentrate on chi-kung & heartwork exercises, the Tai Chi Short Form (Cheng Man-ching), and partner work. The chi-kung develops energy and gives us the opportunity to practice the basic principles of Tai Chi: relaxation, sinking, turning, single-weightedness, etc. The Heartwork, based on the figure of eight, develops a more subtle, dynamic and spirited interaction with the world. The Tai Chi develops flow, grace and co-ordination, as well as bringing in some of the deeper principles: yielding, sticking, ward-off, etc. It is taught a little each week, gradually building up the complete Form. The partner work allows us to co-operate with another person in order to speed up the process of understanding (internalizing).

A video of Cheng Man-ching performing his Short Form can be seen here.

Please email or telephone Steven 054-2332066 for more details.

"Step like a cat"  Tai Chi Classics

For me Tai Chi is about developing depth & breadth of soul by containing & managing conflict. The battleground is always the body – ultimately the only thing we have, and the manager is always the heart – the centre of love & connexion. It isn't about reconciling opposites or complimenting one energy with another; it is about having the heart & sense of humour to allow different worlds and different dimensions inside the same space. Almost an act of tolerance, not for moral reasons, but because it is the only way I have found to get the heart to keep on breaking open and spilling into life & existence.