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DDA began its “2014 International Taiji Tour” in the UK this July, with Rose Oliver and Master Wang Ming Bo conducting taiji workshops in Dursley in Gloucestershire, Manchester and London.
We had the chance to work with many old friends and new on our tour, catching up with Mark Collins, of Cotswold Taiji School; Dave Thorpe of Hyde Taiji Association; and Danny Fajardo in London.
Beginning in Dursley, Mark Collins of the Cotswold Taiji School, co-organized another workshop for his students and guests, focusing on basic foundation exercises, tendon stretching training, joint mobility and pushing hands techniques.
The mixture of long-term students along with beginners always makes for a fun and friendly atmosphere, thank you again to Mark and his family for hosting Rose and Master Wang and for their great hospitality and kindness again!
Following the Dursley seminar, Rose and Master Wang travelled to Manchester to work once again with Dave Thorpe and his students in Hyde, as well as practitioners coming over from Derby to join the workshop.
The always friendly and enthusiastic group were keen to review the tendon stretching and joint mobility exercises, plus work on the dantian cultivation training introduced last year.
Finishing off with some two-person training, it was a great day and wonderful atmosphere. Thank you to all the attendees, especially John Wilkinson’s group from Derby for the delicious cake and support, and of course a very special thank you again to Dave and Carol Thorpe for the continued friendship, support and wonderful hospitality; as well as thanks to Kip Akram, Colin Jefferson and Phyllis for their kindness and support.
DDA’s next stop was in London, where we once again caught up with our dear friend Danny Fajardo and his family for the final seminar on the UK tour.
This year, we were joined by some special international friends and long-term students from Sweden and Norway, Sven Eriksson and Tom Soerevik, who travelled especially to join us in London.
Sven, who studied taiji with DDA in Shanghai for the last few years, is also working with Rose on co-organizing a “Taiji Intercultural Exchange Tour” in Sweden next year.
The London seminar worked on tendon stretching exercises, dantian cultivation, push hands, applications, five element energy cultivation and form corrections.
The group of long-term students included many old friends, like Sheila Gent, Jim Grint, and Pete Polanyk, and was another great, fun workshop with a very friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere.
Thank you to everyone for your support once again and we look forward to seeing you all at next year’s workshop tour; and a special thank you to Danny and his family for all their hospitality and kindness yet again, it was lovely to catch up with you all again!
On the DDA tour this year, it wasn’t all Taiji and TCM; Rose and master Wang also had a chance to participate in more modern exercise systems and sports, watching the Tour de France and its sprint relay through Epping Forest.
The ancient town of Epping was host to the Tour’s sprint section, with a carnival atmosphere in the town, with locals picnicking along the high road sprint route, enthusiastically cheering the peloton and individual cyclists racing through, as well as the support cars and media. Even the local police cars and motorcycle brigade accompanying the cyclists on their route got into the spirit, beeping, tooting and waving to the crowd, and also ‘high-fiving’ the crowd as they passed!
It was a wonderful event and great to see the Tour de France in the UK, the crowds really got into the spirit and it was lovely to see such friendliness and concern for and between strangers, brought together by their mutual excitement and enjoyment of sporting activities and top athletic performances!
Thank you to everyone who assisted and supported DDA’s 2014 UK Taiji workshop tour, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing all our old friends again and meeting new taiji enthusiasts too. We look forward to seeing everybody again in 2015; good luck in your practice and wish everyone a healthy and happy Summer!
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