On January 12 and 13, 2013, the Czech Republic hosted the first International Taoist Tai Chi Workshop of 2013. Prague was under snow and the outside temperatures were below zero, typical for January. The atmosphere was much warmer inside the hall, where 158 members from six countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, USA and Canada) gathered. The workshop was led by Marsha Eberhardt, President of the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism, with assistance from Martina Pavlovicova of Slovakia and Robert Szaj of Poland, as well as members of the European Regional Council. Marsha explained the meaning of dan-yu and tor-yu, and these two moves really warmed up the participants, particularly on Saturday. The key words of the workshop were “up, down, open, relax.“ We practiced the structure of the moves and we also learned new ways to do the moves in several parts of the set. Besides instruction on how to improve our dan-yus, tor-yus, wave hands, and many other moves, Marsha spoke about the history of the Society, about Mr. Moy and his vision, and particularly about future plans of the Society. She explained how important the concept of completeness is to the Taoist tradition, not only in practicing Tai Chi movements but in our everyday lives, as well, where we should look for balance and cultivate stillness.
It was so nice that Marsha could stay almost a week so that many people had the opportunity to train with her at intensives in both Prague and Brno.
Would have loved to have a attended!