After going to the gym for most of my adult life, I was looking for a different kind of activity to help me recover from a prolonged illness and for general health/fitness. After some soul-searching (and a few episodes of Kung Fu), I decided to take up studying internal martial arts, something I'd always been interested in.
Amin Wu: March 2015 - Present
I had been curious about Taiji as taught in mainland China and, in the
fall of 2013, I had the chance to find out for myself by taking a
Yang-Style 24 Form class from Sifu Amin Wu.
Sifu Wu has devoted her life to studying Taiji and has made a career out
of teaching it. She is passionate about her art and is highly skilled
at both its practice and its instruction. Sifu Wu is not only a pleasure
to study with but she is also one of the finest people I've met.
After the 24 Form class concluded, I continued to study with Sifu Wu
briefly but had to stop due to time constraints. In the Spring of 2015,
after about 8 months off, I resumed training with her and continue to.
Forms:
- Yang-Style 24 Form
- Combination 32 Form
- Competition 42 Form
- Combination 48 Form
- Chen-Style 18 Form
- Chen-Style 36 Form
- Wu-Style 13 Form
- Wu-Style 45 Form
- Wu-Style Traditional (93) Form
Taijiquan Tutelage of Palo Alto: May 2011 - December 2015
I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area of in the fall of 2010 and
practiced on my own for a while but soon realized I needed to find a
good school. A friend of mine recommended checking out Taijiquan
Tutelage of Palo Alto (TToPA).
TToPA is a community-based school where the instructors have come up through the system. They teach Yang-Style Taiji (Dong Family) and I Liq Chuan.
My first class was an eye-opening experience. While I had been studying
Taiji for over 2 years, I had no idea how to apply what I knew and the
folks at TToPA unbalanced me effortlessly.
When I first started attending TToPA, I focused on Taiji but eventually
trained I Liq Chuan as well, both of which were great experiences.
Forms:
- Yang-Style Slow Form
- Yang-Style Fast Form
- Yang-Style Dao Form
- Yang-Syle Jian Form
- Dong Family Form
- I Liq Chuan 21 Form
- I Liq Chuan Butterfly Form
William C.C. Chen: October 2009 - October 2010
After studying with Alex for a while, I wanted to get more exposure to
Taiji so I ended up going to William CC Chen's studio for additional
classes and refinement.
Master Chen is a legend in the Taiji community and what can I say about
him that hasn't already been said already? He is a genuinely good person
who continues to refine his teaching methodology to make Taiji more
accessible. He taught the classes I took with the assistance of his kids
Max and Tiffany, who are also really good people. I'd still be taking
classes with Master Chen and Alex if I hadn't moved to the west coast.
Forms:
- Yang-Style 60 Movement Short Form
- Yang-Style 128 Movement Long Form
Alex Hing: April 2008 - October 2010
On April 12, 2008, I took my first Taijiquan class from Alex Hing at the China Institute in NYC. At the time, I had been
attending the China Institute to learn basic Mandarin and I saw that they had a Taijiquan class - that was the start for me.
Alex is one of William CC Chen's senior students. He is both charismatic and passionate about teaching Taiji as a part of daily
life - I always had a really good time in Alex's class and it helped me keep things in perspective. I also made
several good friends in his classes that I continue to stay in contact
with.
Forms:
- Yang-Style 60 Movement Short Form
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