Raising the Roof, Letting in the Light in New Scottish Regional Centre

As we enter 2012, attention has turned to waking the sleeping giant, renovating the interior of the Scottish Regional Centre on Marionville Road in Edinburgh.

Raising the Roof

Previous owners had removed  all the ceiling tiles and electrical cabling, leaving  an array of grid pieces and light fittings set low over the entire space of the main hall. A few weeks ago, two enthusiastic teams set about removing these. This has opened up the roof space and revealed the roof structure and the ducting of the old heating system, which it is hoped will be able to be brought back into use.

Bringing Down the Walls

During the years that the building has lain empty, plasterboard lining the walls has suffered water damage and needed to removed. While doing this, windows that had been boarded up have been revealed, allowing in more natural light. Happily, the structure behind the boards seems largely unscathed.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be Taoist Tai Chi if we didn’t have the occasional tea break.

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Chinese New Year Banquet at the European Centre, Colchester, Great Britain

Over 300 people greeted the Year of the Dragon with a Chinese New Year supper during a weekend workshop at the European Centre in Colchester, Great Britain, on January 21–22.
 
After a rousing lion dance, people enjoyed a sumptuous sit-down meal of 8 different dishes. At the end, two members of the GB Board who are based in Scotland gave a talk and slideshow detailing the progress of the newly purchased regional centre on Marionville Road, Edinburgh.
 
They thanked the International Board for their support and announced that their first workshop will be held on March 10–11. The evening rounded off with a quite spectacular firework display that lit up the Colchester building.
 
The supper was part of a weekend workshop led by Tony Kwong. He took the 275 participants through the foundations and then it was danyus and toryus, with a focus on relaxing with good form. On the second day Tony focused on the first few moves of the set. People worked hard and came away feeling energized, and that they had learned a lot.
 
For Siv from Norway, who has been practising Taoist Tai Chi  for just one year, it was her first visit to Colchester. She didn’t expect the New Year meal, it was a welcome bonus.
 
“But I did expect to have fun,” she said. “Everyone gets so nice from doing tai chi all day. The place was just filled with good vibrations.”

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The weekend of January 21 and 22, 2012, the Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Branch held demos in the park as part of Stratford’s Winterfest. Many people visited the park for the festivities and enjoyed our hourly demonstrations of the set. Local members had a great time, many commenting how fun it was to do Tai Chi in the “fresh” winter air.

Tai Chi in the Snow in Stratford, Ontario

The weekend of January 21 and 22, 2012, the Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Branch held demos in the park as part of Stratford’s Winterfest. Many people visited the park for the festivities and enjoyed our hourly demonstrations of the set. Local members had a great time, many commenting how fun it was to do Tai Chi in the “fresh” winter air.

Hospitality and Tai Chi Await at Sarasota Guest House

On the grounds of the Sarasota, Florida, branch, you’ll find something a little different: a Guest House. Members and their families and friends are welcome to stay right next door to the Sarasota Center. The Guest House has three bedrooms and two full baths, and it comfortably sleeps six people. It is fully furnished, with a full kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry room and Florida room. Dishes, cooking utensils, sheets, and towels are all provided.

Staying at the Sarasota Guest House means you can enjoy the beautiful Florida sunshine, take a short drive to Gulf of Mexico white-sand beaches, and still walk over to a Taoist Tai Chi class any day, right next door.

Located south of Tampa Bay, Sarasota has a vibrant arts community, shopping, outdoor activities and many types of restaurants. Visitors can fly into the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) or Tampa International Airport (TPA).  There are three other Taoist Tai Chi branches in the Tampa Bay area, within a 1 ½ hour drive of the Sarasota Branch. During your stay, you’ll be welcomed warmly by branches in St. Petersburg, Brandon, and Dunedin, as well as Sarasota.

For information on availability of the Guest House, please contact the Sarasota Branch at sarasota.fl@taoist.org.

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Spring Rolls & Danyus in St. Petersburg

The St. Petersburg Branch had a couple of exciting days following the International Workshop in Dunedin this past weekend. On Monday we hosted a Spring Roll Rolling event that brought out over twenty members to learn how to make Spring Rolls. Tony Kwong and Sean Dennison stopped by to visit the assembly line during the event. We rolled 400 spring rolls to be used at our lunch the following day and at our up coming New Year’s banquet. On Tuesday we hosted the the New Graduates Intensive that was led by Tony and assisted by Sean. Some 110 people worked on their Tai Chi for three hours and then enjoyed a wonderful lunch prepared by members in our kitchen.

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Dunedin Workshop Off to a Great Start

More than 170 members have gathered in Dunedin, Florida, for an international workshop this weekend. Tony Kwong is leading the instruction with help from Sean Dennison and others. The first day began with a set and work on the standing jongs. Lunch included a celebratory cake to celebrate the first anniversary of the branch’s new building. Stay tuned to the blog for more details on this great weekend.

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Surprise Visitor Stops by Nova Scotia Branch

Santa was making the rounds in downtown Truro, Nova Scotia, on Thursday, working on “naughty or nice” categories before his big run this week. Thanks to our new store-front location on the main street, he  saw us through our big window and just dropped in—told us we were now really easy to find! We promised him we were all working on our toryus and danyus every day, and he said if we added snakes, we would easily make the “nice” category. We’ll see.

 

They’ll Take Manhattan: NYC Workshop Attracts Record Participation

The final set

More than 80 participants descended on the Big Apple from the U.S. and Canada, from as far south as the Arizona and as far north as Edmonton, Alberta, for our recent workshop. The roster of guests included Dave Frame, president of the Taoist Tai Chi Society of Canada, and Fraser Smith, president of Canada’s Western Region. The workshop was led by a quartet of the Society’s international directors/instructors: Karen Laughlin, Marsha Eberhardt, Sean Dennison and Judy Millen.

The weekend was a moveable feast, with evening sessions at the Tri-State Branch’s main location on West 29^th St. and day sessions at DANY Studios in the heart of Midtown. Our focus was (surprise!) improving and refining the danyu and toryu—the (not-so) secret tip? Push from the feet!—plus ways to do repulse monkey and wave hands. Many of us dined together at two memorable restaurants: Chelsea Chinese Restaurant and Chef Yu’s. Our Kitchen Raffle raised approximately $600 to help renovate the Denver Branch’s kitchen. And sales of our new t-shirt, celebrating the merger of the NYC and NJ branches, as well as the yeard of the dragon, raised money for local branch activities.

But it wasn’t all fun and danyus.

FLK Workshop and Immortal Lu Shrine Enlivening in Sarasota

Forty-six members from the USA, Canada and Costa Rica gathered in Sarasota, Florida on the weekend of December 3 & 4, 2011, for a Fung Loy Kok workshop led by Jim Nicholson from Vancouver, B.C., along with co-leaders Karen Laughlin and Sean Dennison from Tallahassee, Florida. Saturday morning, workshop participants and other members from the Tampa Bay area chanted in ceremony to enliven the Immortal Lu shrine, followed by a Jai vegetarian luncheon for all members. Following an afternoon of tai chi practice and a good night’s sleep, Sunday morning brought us to a ceremony to bless the Hospitality House, as we had blessed the Center the day before. (TTCS USA is fortunate to have a separate guest house on the Sarasota property that is available for all TTCS members and their families to use if they wish to visit the area.)  The Immortal Lu Lighting Ceremony followed. This ceremony includes the lighting of 36 candles on the shrine, set out in the shape of the Chinese character for “light”, visible in the accompanying pictures.

We were fortunate to have beautiful Florida weather for the weekend, and several participants enjoyed “Bagels and Tai Chi on the Beach” Sunday morning, prior to the formal program.

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