Double Dragon Alliance 2013 Taiji International Tour – UK Trip

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DDA began its 7th International Taiji Tour with a 4-week long tour of the UK.?

 

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This year, Rose Oliver again invited Master Wang Ming Bo on the DDA tour, to teach Taiji,TCM principles & Tuina; plus foundation exercises, fajing, & other related Taiji techniques and principles.?

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This summer, the tour again took in London, Devon, Gloucester, Derby and Manchester, with several weekend workshops and evening seminars organized with the help of DDA supporters and colleagues across the UK.

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Also this summer, frequent collaborator with DDA for talks on Feng Shui & Mayan culture, Mr. Victor Garza, was also invited to accompany Rose & Master Wang for a short trip to the UK, to enjoy his first visit & get an understanding of British culture, enjoy the sights with friends & see some of the famous landmarks related to Feng Shui.

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Victor was invited to give a short talk to Rose’s mother’s association for the elderly in Epping, “The Evergreen Club”, related to his travels around the world, and in particular, the way Feng Shui science governs many of the world’s heritage sights and how it affected our ancient world.

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The association, which has been run by Rose’s mum for many years, offers a social club, friendship & care to the local community in Epping, with a membership of around 40 senior citizens in the town.

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Last year, Rose & Master Wang also gave a talk to the club on Chinese culture, including Taiji, Tuina & TCM, calligraphy & Chinese society.

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The Evergreen members again appreciated the talk on Chinese culture, with one member specially bringing along postcards dated over 100 years ago to show Master Wang, which were from old Shanghai, sent home to England from his great-grandfather many years ago!

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We thoroughly enjoyed our talk again; the senior members had many probing and interesting questions for Victor about Feng Shui and for Rose & Master Wang about Chinese culture.?

DDA’s Taiji seminar tour kicked off again in London, with old DDA friend Danny Fajardo and his family helping arrange the event in Lewisham.?

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This year, we held a full-weekend workshop, with many old friends and teachers like Sheila Gent, Alan McLean (who also brought several of his own students again), Tom Soervik, once again flying specially over from Finland, & Pete Polanyk from London.?

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The seminar touched on joint mobility exercises & body opening exercises, including the joint opening and tendon & sinew elongation series taught by Master Shou Guan Shun on his tour to the UK in 2010, dantian cultivation exercises, push hands, fajing & “hua jing” (dissipating force) training, 2-person sensitivity training and “Grasp the Bird’s Tail” energy & power training.

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The 2-day workshop had a slightly smaller attendance than last year, but gave the participants a chance for much more hands-on training opportunities & advice.

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The Sunday workshop in particular concentrated on much more martial training, especially with work on push hands & fajing, which was very much appreciated by the smaller group of advanced students.

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Thanks again to Danny for all his hard work and efforts in helping to organize the event, and a great big thank you once again to Danny & his whole family for their very kind hospitality & kindness!

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Following the London seminar, Rose and Master Wang travelled to Devon for their weekend workshop in Brixham, taking Victor to Stonehenge and then to Salisbury, for him to sightsee around Bath, Bristol & Cardiff, before heading back to Shanghai.

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Rose and Master Wang first travelled to Brixham, where they held a 2-day workshop at the beautiful heritage sight of Lupton House, with its wonderful grounds and historical house.

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The seminar was once again very well-attended, with over 20 participants, many of whom being old DDA friends and students in Devon & Cornwall, with several very old friends travelling all the way from the Isle of Man and Isle of Wight to take part.

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The weekend focused on joint mobility exercises, tendon stretching and joint opening training, dantian cultivation, four energies “Grasp the Bird’s Tail” training, push hands and fajing training and tuina massage techniques.

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After the Brixham seminar, Rose and Master Wang had a 3-day break in Plymouth, a short distance away from Brixham and a little further around the Devon coastline, staying with Rose’s cousin Damian Davey, who recently came to Shanghai to train with them in Taiji and TCM/Tuina.

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Damian’s home is situated near the historic Plymouth Hoe, with its links to the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British navy and Sir Francis Drake’s famous game of bowls on the Hoe, prior to the sea battle that cemented Queen Elizabeth 1’s reign.

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Rose’s uncle Stephen Davey took Rose and Master Wang to the Plymouth Argyle Football Club on a private tour of the grounds and to see the commemorative mural of the Argyle players over the years, including a large mural of when Stephen was a professional player there in the 60’s and 70’s.

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Stephen and his family also hosted a family party to welcome Rose and Master Wang to Plymouth, with a barbecue in the garden of their beautiful home overlooking the sea.

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Rose and Master Wang also had a chance to sightsee around some of Devon and Cornwall’s most beautiful scenic spots, including Whitsand Bay’s glorious beaches, where the refreshingly cool seas helped cool everyone from the heat wave sweeping the UK in July, plus picturesque Looe, with its traditional Cornish atmosphere, little cobbled streets, beaches and harbor, where the younger members of the town enjoyed “tomb-stoning” or jumping and diving off the quay into the crystal clear waters.

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After their highly enjoyable and successful trip to Devon, it was time to move onto Gloucestershire, with another evening seminar in Dursley with Mark Collins and his Cotswold Taiji group.

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The evening workshop reviewed some of last year’s material related to tendon stretching and body opening exercises, as well as covering joint mobility and internal energy training, plus dantian cultivation work.

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With around 20 participants, including many returnees from last year, the atmosphere was friendly and informal, with lots of hands-on interaction and excellent questions.

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Rose and Master Wang also gave a private tuina class and treatment to Mark and his wife the following morning, to help Mark hone his massage treatments, health advice and therapy to patients in the local area.

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After a very enjoyable sojourn in the south of England, Rose and Master Wang headed to the north for workshops in Derby and Manchester.

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Chris Lewis in Derby was once again helping to organize the workshop there, which this year was a Saturday all-day seminar. The group although small, was very enthusiastic and also included Ms. Lan Lo, from Nottingham University, who came to visit Double Dragon Alliance in Shanghai, taking part in our Taiji classes in Shanghai earlier on in May.

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The seminar covered joint mobility and tendon stretching & joint opening exercises, dantian cultivation, as well as tuina techniques. Due to the smaller number of participants, there was also the chance to have much more individual hands-on instruction, plus some tuina treatments for several of the group.

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The final workshop was held in Manchester, with our old friends David Thorpe and Colin Jefferson, again hosting our workshop.? ????

The Sunday morning class, which was specifically for their students, mainly focused on joint mobility and energy cultivation exercises and balance and mobility work for the more elderly students.

There was also some time for a few of the students to have a treatment with Master Wang at the end of the workshop, which everyone found very helpful, both to watch and to experience!

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At the end of the UK tour, Rose and Master Wang had a chance to sightsee a little around England, with trips among others, to the British Museum, where they saw some beautiful exhibitions of Chinese ceramics and porcelains as part of a private collection donated to the museum; The Victoria & Albert Museum, with its wonderful collection of art and sculptures by artists from around the world; Cambridge with a visit to the universities there, including King’s College’s Chapel, and grounds, St. Jesus’s College, Trinity College’ plus some fun punting down the River Cam; Epping Forest, with a walk through the ancient Oak Forest, reputedly part of the ancient settlements in Roman times dating back over 1500 years when the ancient Briton Queen Boudica, fought against the Romans; plus visits to Harlow New Town, and the 400 year-old Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge in Chingford, which was actually built for King Henry VIII.

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Rose’s parents also arranged a family party at their home, with guests from around the UK, including family members, old friends and old neighbours from Rose’s childhood all having a chance to catch up and socialize and talk about old times, as well as her new life in China.

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There were also opportunities to visit old friends at their homes and for Master Wang to experience western hospitality, with friends from Germany, the Philippines, Britain and Hong Kong.

All together, both Rose and Master Wang had a very happy and successful tour of the UK, with a chance to catch up with family, friends and Taiji enthusiasts from all over Britain.

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Plus, DDA sends congratulations to Rose & her late husband Rey’s Taiji student, Ms. Sally Webb on her engagement and forthcoming wedding in September, we wish Sally and her beau all the best for the future!

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A great big thank you to everyone who helped and worked with Rose and Master Wang and looked after them this year. We are very grateful for everyone’s hospitality and kindness throughout our trip, it was very much appreciated!

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We look forward to seeing everybody again next year and sharing more experiences in Taiji and Chinese culture, as well as fun, friendship and good times with all our family and friends!?? ?

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Thank you to all in the UK for making DDA’s 2013 UK tour so enjoyable.

Rose and Master Wang were in the USA in August for the second leg of their international Taiji tour, where they hosted seminars in Boston, Charlotte, Winston Salem, Atlanta and Chapel Hill.

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Details and photos to follow soon!

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