Review of 2013

2013 has been a very exciting year with the business going from strength to strength. Lots of new classes starting. Some of which have come and gone but there are plenty which are going strong. As well as teaching in the South of the city, I have spread my wings to Crosby in the north of the city and taken on two established groups who unfortunately lost their teacher last Christmas. It was potentially a little nerve-wracking taking over from someone else but both groups made me very welcome and I think they are well used to my way of doing things now. Some of them from the Thursday group even took part in public demonstrations during the summer in aid of Freshfields Animal Rescue Centre.

In January we held our annual fundraising event at St Charles Church meeting room. This was to prove to be our last time at the meeting room after ten years of Tai Chi classes there. We moved to a new venue down the road which was much bigger and gave us more space to develop and expand as we needed. The fundraiser was in aid of the Macular Society in memory of one of the students who had died some months before. We raised over £400 and a good morning was had by all.

At Chinese New Year we were asked to take part in the Chinese Martial Arts festival being held at the World Museum over the weekend. This was a fabulous show of different martial arts from schools around Liverpool, brilliantly put together by Mike Dunn of Liverpool Karatejutsu. We showcased last each day which was a great way to finish the whole day off.

April was a busy month as I attended my first Qigong Instructor course with the British Health Qigong Association (BHQA)and qualified in the Dao Yin Yang Sheng Gong set. It was a great four days albeit a bit nerve-wracking on the final day when we were all assessed but well worth it.

Later in the month the school welcomed a delegation from China who came and did a session on the Yi Jin Jing set. A thoroughly enjoyed session which was attended by 18 Qigong enthusiasts.

The following weekend we held our first World Tai Chi and Qigong Day in the Festival Gardens. This was the end of four months hard work with fellow instructors from England, Wales and Scotland. It was a fabulous day and we made the local press as well.

In June we had our annual day out. This year we visited Port Sunlight and one of my students Harriet Gilmour, who had just qualified as a blue badge tour guide, gave us a great day out by showing us around the village and after lunch a tour of the art gallery including some interesting stories about some of the paintings. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day. Well done Harriet:)

The classes in the summer continued as I eagerly awaited my trip to China. I had booked this with Tai Chi Link Travel. These trips are organised my Master Tary Yip who has many years of experience in delivering excellent trips to China for Tai Chi and non Tai Chi enthusiasts. A group of 21 people who didn't know each other and were from all corners of the country plus three wonderful ladies from Australia, had the trip of a lifetime. I was away for 20 days and experienced a wide variety of Chinese landscapes, food and history. It is a trip that had a big impact on me and along the way we did plenty of Tai Chi and Qigong too, including a day at the Renmin University in Beijing where Professor Li worked for 40 years. I highly recommend Tary if you wish to make a trip to China. While I was away I kept an online blog which can be viewed by clicking here. There are lots of photos if you are interested in having a look.

After that things go back to normal and the classes continued through till Christmas week. During that time I was fortunate to work with year 2 children at Dovedale School. I taught there for four weeks and had a fabulous time with the children. This year also saw the start of new out door class at Festival Gardens. This takes place every Tuesday morning at 9am and to date we have been very fortunate with the weather although now we are having to wrap up very warm but it is a fantastic experience doing Tai Chi outside and I love it. 2014 looks to be another good year and I will post shortly things that I have planned so far for the new year.