What an inspiring family reunion!

I was looking for photos to use in the article “Master Richard Clear on Internal Push Hands” in my Apple TimeMachine and realized that I first attended the Tai Chi Gala in 2010 as an on-site journalist assigned by Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine to report the event. In recent years, I have felt honored to be invited by the Gala to teach workshops. My involvement with the Gala is relatively short in comparison with many others who have attended the event for more than 30 years.

Grandmaster Jou Tsung Hwa founded the Zhang San Feng Festival in 1977. Beginning in 1984, the event was held outdoors at his Tai Chi Farm for years until his accidental death in 1998. The Zhang San Feng Festival was a major event in the U.S. and attracted practitioners from all over the country and abroad. Jou’s only disciple Sifu Loretta Wollering took upon the stewardship to run the event after his passing and rechristened the event the Tai Chi Gala to honor him and the tradition. This year, the event was held again at Camp Lindenmere on June 1-3 with Jiulong Baguazhang Circle with Dr. John Painter the following week.

The grounds at Camp Lindenmere were pristine with lush grass, lavish bushes, and gorgeous trees. There was a large lilac tree outside my window blessed with blossoming flowers and permeated the area with its sweet fragrance. The weather was pleasant in the high 60’s and low 70’s. A few attendees pitched a tent to enjoy the wonderful setting presented by nature. Wooden benches, Adirondack chairs, and wrought iron lawn furniture were scattered around on the terrace, underneath the trees, in screened porches, or out in the sun and were perfect for attendees to gather and share stories, engage in heated yet friendly debates on the internal arts, and laugh with each other during workshop breaks.

Like all families, the Tai Chi Gala has gone through changes within and grown organically. Many of previous students have long becoming instructors themselves. They are invited to share their knowledge and skills by teaching workshops. This year altogether 15 instructors presented. Sifus Sandra Balint, Robert Castaldo, Richard Clear, Lester Holmes, Violet Li, Ken Lo, Joseph Ng, Erik Oliva, Yancy Orchard, John Painter, CJ Rhoades, David Ritchie, Stephan Watson, Wang Ren-Gang, and Loretta Wollerning offered 30 different workshops, which covered a wide spectrum of the subjects in the internal martial arts of Tai Chi, Bagua, Qigong, XingYi, Wu Mei Pai, Da Chen Quan, etc. The workshops included form learning, practice of martial art applications, and Push Hands. In the past, I tried to cover as many classes as possible. However, with 5 or 6 workshops taking place simultaneously, it was impossible to report on all of them. I changed my strategy. I decided to be a student myself when I wasn’t teaching.

I didn’t have any specific agenda to pick the classes to take. However, I truly enjoyed Dr. Orchard’s class of Daoyin 導引to develop Yi 意(Intention), Song 鬆(Relaxing), and Nei Jin 內勁 (Inner Force) especially since I had a few headaches days leading up to the Gala and didn’t have much rest. With his Daoyin technique, I was fully rejuvenated afterwards. I admire Dr. Painter’s talent to make every learning opportunity fun. His Bai Bu 擺步 class was no exception. In a light-hearted atmosphere, he showed the power of Bai Bu for longevity and self-protection. I have a monkey-mind and can’t concentrate to meditate for long unless it is a guided meditation. Sifu Ren-Gang Wang certainly made me experience something unique when I was quietly standing with other attendees for an hour. Sifu Richard Clear can focus on one small topic and drill it down to let participants to realize its profundity and his workshop of “Internal Skill of Coiling” did just that.

The 2018 Gala was also an intuitive arts retreat and enriched with special workshops of “Kung Fu tea tasting”, “Tai Chi applications in Life”, “Taoist Hand Mudras Work for Health, Wealth, Protection & Inner Peace”, “the Spirit of Chinese Calligraphy”, and “Conversation and Meditation with a former Buddhist nun”. During the long weekend, people could go to a “quiet room” that was furnished with Tibetan singing bowls, essential oils, and mala beads to meditate on their own. But the majority of attendees chose to be active and pushed hands with their fellow Tai Chi enthusiasts on the deck, in the lawn, under a tree, or in the cafeteria whenever they found time.

Merriam-Webster defines family in eight different ways; one of them is “a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation”. No doubt that the Gala participants all possess the love for the internal arts. But I will not call Facebook groups families even though most of them having the same conviction for something. I think a family needs to have warmth, trust, and comfort within it organically. Members don’t need to be pretentious or superficial toward each other. I remember that I was playing a drum and jumping around the campfire like a child during the big bonfire on Saturday night. I was silly and carefree so were others. The 2018 Gala was a fun and inspirational family reunion. I can’t wait for the next year!

(Edited by Doc Luecke.)

Related Articles:

• Master Richard Clear on Internal Push Hands
• Master Ren-Gang Wang on Zhan Zhuang
• Fast Tai Chi is good for fast twitch muscles

Please visit www.VioletLiTaiChi.com for more articles on Tai Chi, Qigong, and healing arts. Share the article on your social media to raise the awareness of the art. Thanks!