Body

I’d been fascinated by martial arts since I was a child, but none really hit the spot when I tried them. Then I came across a book about Tai Chi Chuan.

Today, Tai Chi is most famous as an exercise system. But I read that this was just a by-product of its martial core, that it was originally conceived as a formidable method of self-defence. Sadly though, at the schools I subsequently went to visit, everyone was just practicing for health and the instructors told me that the martial side of the art was long lost.

But I refused to believe that there wasn’t someone out there somewhere who was still a Tai Chi Fighter. Eventually, I found what I was looking for - in Hong Kong.

He was the last remaining Grandmaster, Cheng Tin Hung, a man known as “The Tai Chi Bodyguard”. He, and his top student, Dan Docherty, a former vice-cop in the city, had both used the art extensively on the street for self defence as well as winning mixed martial arts competitions across Asia. I immediately signed up and started training.

Tai Chi is a martial art that relies on brain rather than brawn and embodies the principles of Taoism, teaching non-resistance, flow, and using the opponent’s force against them. It also delivers huge benefits for health, drastically improving agility, strength, and flexibility, while also boosting respiration, circulation, and the immune system. As an added bonus, it helps with mental health too - regular practice makes you calmer and more focused plus there are dedicated meditation techniques.

A couple of decades later, I am now a certified Master Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong Instructor in the Practical Tai Chi Chuan International lineage. I offer both individual and group classes, either in-person or online - click below to find out more!