We just love hearing wonderful stories such as this! Ethel Ellen of Springfield, Oregon just turned 100 years old on November 1st! One of the things she attributes to her health and well being is Tai Chi, which she has been practicing for the last 20 years!
As well as staying active with practicing Tai Chi, Ethel also says having good genes has played an important role in her longevity. Her mother lived to 84 years old and her father lived to the age of 95 years old.
Fong Ha (1937? – 2019), a well known teacher of traditional Yang style Tai Chi Chuan, and the internal art of Yiquan (I-chuan) has passed away. Cheung Fong Ha was born in Guangzhou (Canton) in approximately 1937. As a young infant, he was adopted by an affluent family. The Ha family moved to Hong Kong just before the communist government took power in China. When Fong Ha was young, he was very athletic and interested in Chinese Martial Arts.
Fong Ha began learning the Yang style of Tai Chi in Hong Kong in 1953 at the age of 16 from Tung Ying Chieh, a top student of the famous Yang Cheng Fu. Fong Ha studied with Tung until 1958 when he moved to the United States. Fong Ha returned to Hong Kong in the early 1960’s. After learning that his teacher Tung Ying Chieh had died, Fong Ha continued his studies with Yang Sau Chung, who was the eldest son of Yang Cheng Fu. His experiences and interest in the Chinese Martial Arts eventually led him to learn the internal art of Yiquan as well.
Please enjoy the video below which shows Fong Ha teaching Tai Chi push hands to students.
Fong Ha ended up settling in Berkley, California, where he taught the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan and Yiquan for many years, as well teaching nationally and internationally. Fong Ha wrote a book called “YIQUAN AND THE NATURE OF ENERGY: THE FINE ART OF DOING NOTHING AND ACHIEVING EVERYTHING”, as well he produced a video called “STILLNESS IN MOVEMENT: THE PRACTICE OF T’AI-CHI CH’UAN”.
Fong Ha will be sadly missed by the world’s Tai Chi community. Our condolences go out to his family, friends, and his many students.
More than 10,000 practitioners of Tai Chi assembled in Chenjiagou, China, for a spectacular display of a group Tai Chi performance as part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Chenjiagou is often referred to as the “Birthplace of Tai Chi Chuan” and is the home of the Chen family style of Tai Chi Chuan. The once small village has become transformed into a tourist and training destination for Tai Chi enthusiasts from around the world.
Every year, thousands of people visit Chenjiagou to train at one of the 40 or more Tai Chi schools, or to experience the different cultural attractions. There has been a lot of development at the village in the past few years. Visitors can experience the Ancestral Shrine, Ancestral Cemetery, Taijiquan Research Institute, and the Yang Luchan Learning Site.
Tai Chi was featured in an animated movie called “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” based on the hit TV animated kids show. We are starting to see more references to Tai Chi in TV, film, commercials, and even music videos as the art is becoming more popular.
In the movie there is a scene with two of the show’s characters, Cindy and Libby, who are friends of Jimmy Neutron. Cindy is trying to practice Tai Chi in her bedroom while drinking “Purple Flurp” and Libby is asking her what she is doing.
As a practitioner and enthusiast who loves anything to do with Tai Chi, I am always happy when I see Tai Chi Chuan being featured in movies, TV shows, or commercials, even if it’s not good Tai Chi!
Let us know of any movies, TV shows, commercials, or music videos you have seen Tai Chi being featured in!
You can see this great kid’s animated movie by clicking on the image below!
Check out our other articles about Tai Chi in Films and TV!
On the last Saturday of April every year, thousands of enthusiasts from across the globe will gather together in groups to demonstrate and celebrate the ancient art of Tai Chi. They start at 10:00 am locally in their time zones. This year the World Tai Chi and Qigong day will fall on Saturday, April 27th.
Please enjoy this video of the 2018 event held in Greenville, South Carolina. Film maker Valdas Kotovas has been filming the day’s events in Greenville for over 10 years. You can see other excellent works of his on his YouTube Channel and learn more about him on his website valdasvideo.com.
Beginning with the first time zone in the little country of Samoa, the worldwide events for World Tai Chi and Qiqong Day will begin at 10:00 am Somoan local time. The annual event will then move westward through such countries as Australia, Japan, China, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America. The last Word Tai Chi Day celebrations wills take place on the Hawaiian Islands, 23 hours later at 10:00 am local time.
The World Tai Chi and Qiqong Day event began originated in 1999. Tai Chi teacher Bill Douglas organized an event to celebrate the healing benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong. He gathered a group of about 200 participants and demonstrated Tai Chi and Qigong on the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, in the United States.
There are many World Tai Chi and Qigong Day events across the globe are usually organized by the different local groups and schools of Tai Chi or Qiqong. To join an existing World Tai Chi and Qiqong Day event, or register your own event, you can visit the official World Tai Chi and Qigong Day website.
Country western music singer songwriter Jim Lauderdale has featured himself performing Tai Chi in his newest music video.
Tai Chi has been a hobby and passion for Jim Lauderdale for more than 20 years. He has attended regular summer camps held by George Xu, studied with Michael Tse, and regularly travels to China every few years to train with a Tai Chi masters there. When Jim Lauderdale is at home in Nashville, he can often be seen practicing Tai Chi in a local park in the mornings.
I’m delighted to say that my new song “Listen ” is out this week. I wrote it with Buddy Cannon. It’s about the humility and wisdom that often comes with age and experience. The film clip was directed by Jeremy Dylan on location in Sydney, Australia. Just before making the video, I spent a week in China, learning the Yang family style of Tai Chi. I’ve still got a ways to go with refining it, but I thought this particular style of my practice would go well with what we are saying in the song. The majestic Blue Mountains were definitely a wonderful place to practice!
Jim Lauderdale – Facebook post
Jim Lauderdale had also performed Tai Chi in an earlier music video from 2007 called “This Is The Last Time I’m Ever Gonna’ Hurt”, where there were a couple of snippets of him doing Tai Chi.
It is a real pleasure to see Tai Chi being featured in mainstream media such as music videos, commercials, television, and feature films. I look forward to seeing more quality Tai Chi being represented in these types of venues.
Don’t forget to check out our other Tai Chi Videos!
Tai Chi master Gin Soon Chu passed away on March 18th, 2019. He was a disciple of Yang Sau Chung, who was the oldest son of the famous Yang Cheng Fu.
Gin Soon Chu first started learning Tai Chi from Lai Hok Soon in Hong Kong in 1956. After his first teacher’s death in 1964, he then began training with Yang Sau Chung, who was also teaching in Hong Kong. Gin Soon Chu moved to the United States in 1968 and opened the Gin Soon Tai Chi Club in Boston, Massachusetts in 1969 where he taught the traditional Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan for 50 years.
Gin Soon Chu taught the Yang style of Tai Chi to many students in Boston, and from across the world, with many of those students who are now teaching the art to others.
Vincent Chu and Gordon Chu, the sons of Gin Soon Chu, both learned Tai Chi when they were young from their father. Vincent and Gordon carry on the teachings and traditions of the Yang style of Tai Chi Chuan as they have learned from their father, Gin Soon Chu.
Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Gin Soon Chu, as well as his many students throughout the world. The funeral will be held at 11am on Monday, March 25th at the Wing Fook Funeral Home located at 13 Gerard Street in Boston.
More information about Gin Soon Chu and the Tai Chi school he founded in Boston can be seen at http://www.gstaichi.org
In the sixth and seventh episodes of the third season of the hit television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we get to see the characters Angel and Buffy practice Tai Chi (or some version of it).
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a popular television show which aired from 1996 until 2003. It was based on the film of the same title from 1992. The series starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy, and featured David Boreanaz as the the Vampire called Angel, who became the romantic love interest of Buffy.
“True To Life – Taiji Beneath The Surface” is a wonderful short film by William Jobling which features Pamela Hiley, a British Tai Chi instructor who is living in Norway.
The film is structured as a guided meditation into the spirituality of the Dao, exploring subjects of breathing, balance, defence, neutralising conflict and moving beyond polarity. It also discusses Pamela’s ideas on moving beyond religion and into a more profound connection to what it is to be a spiritual human being.
From the website of the Norsk Taiji Senters.
The footage of the film in Norway was shot on the premisses of the Norsk Taiji Senters located in the centre of Oslo, as well as on Tron Fjell. The footage filmed in China was from part of a trip to China which was organized by the “Beijing Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries” together with “Norsk Taiji Senter”.
To see more about Pamela Hiley and the Norse Taiji Senter, visit the website of the school at https://www.taiji.no.
To see more of the wonderful work of filmmaker William Jobling, please visit his website at https://williamjobling.com.
Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo (1927 – 2018), a Tai Chi teacher who has had a great influence on many North American Tai Chi practitioners passed away on October 12, 2018. He was 93 years old. Originally meeting Tai Chi master Cheng Man Ching as a patient of Chinese Medicine, he soon started learning Tai Chi from Cheng.
Ben Lo went on to become a greatly skilled teacher of Tai Chi Chuan. He eventually settled in San Francisco, and opened up a Tai Chi school there. He taught many practitioners of Tai Chi from all over the world, and his influence will be felt, and missed by all those who had the chance to meet him.
Our deepest condolences go out to the family of Ben Lo, as well as his many students throughout the world.
