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Dear
all,
In the first newsletter of the new western year 2005, Gary produces the
taichido.com end of year report, January this year being the final month of
the Chinese Year, which (as he explains) has significance to us
here. I would like to end the year of the Monkey with a sad and
heartfelt sympathy for all those affected by the tsunami, and by my
amazement at the response in aid that the 'Joe public' of the world put
their governments to shame. May your gods go with you. Hopefully the
year of the Cock (Rooster) will be more auspicious.
The
report talks about Gary's unique (and perhaps idiosyncratic) practice of
not taking tai chi classes, but instructing individuals, and on a number of
what makes up the now very complez arena that is taichido for us.
You
can peruse back
issues of the newsletter on the taichido website.
Best
regards, Mark
webmaster taichido.com, taichidoshop.com, editor
Taichido Newsletter
I began the last months newsletter by
pointing out that it was the thirty-sixth or third birthday issue - and now
with this one it is my pleasure to celebrate another notable anniversary
and wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year because this, number 37, will be
the last to be published in the Year of the Monkey. The next will be the
first in the Year of the Rooster which begins on 9th February.
Notwithstanding
the occurrence of Xmas and New Year holidays here in Europe, it is not just
by coincidence that most anniversaries connected to taichido occur at
around about this time of year.
I
founded Southampton City Dojo, the forerunner taichido.com on Valentines
Day (14th Feb.) 1996 - that's nine years ago. This day happened to be
Valentines Day but its personal significance to me was that this was also
the day of The Lantern Festival.
The
Lantern Festival is held (in the east) on the first full moon of the new
year and is particularly associated with the Taoist Goddess Kuan Yin. This
figure is quite uniquely also accepted into the Buddhist pantheon as a
representation or manifestation of deep and unfathomable compassion; and
likewise it is she that has occupied the centre of the shrine that has been
a constant and moved with me from one dojo to another over the last nine
years.
In
that last Newsletter I gave a brief and informal end of year report on
taichido.com and stated that its present condition and future prospects
were, I believe - excellent!
I
feel that I ought now take this opportunity to elaborate upon that 'brief
and informal' report and use this issue - the last in the Year of the
Monkey - to bring you right up to date with news items concerning recent developments and activities that have
secured the firm establishment of www.taichido.com as a self
perpetuating and financed "going concern" and myself as a
professional Tai Chi Instructor.
I have lived in this house now (I call it "the
house of taichido") for nearly three years and
whilst it was just 'circumstances' that dictated I move out of my previous
accommodation (that was situated above a large complex of halls that I was
able to utilize for group Tai Chi sessions) I was in fact pleased relocate
and revert back to teaching and providing Tai Chi training on an individual
and personal basis (rather than in groups). This is 'the way' I chose to do
it (teach Tai Chi), however it must be said that this is not the most cost
effective way and it has in truth been very hard (physical and mental) work
to maintain momentum and achieve my target of at least 20 individual students
per week. This number was not significant as any kind of 'score' or
target that would satisfy my ego but as a financial imperative. I have
known all along that this imperative could have been satisfied long ago if
I had made 'my way' profit driven and taught three groups of twenty every
week - but this cannot be my way anyway because what I teach is the Yang
Long Form ... and it takes about three years to learn this ... and every
individual learns at a different pace.
With
my target of at least 20 individual students a week now met (and the
success of taichidoshop - a subject that I shall return to later in this
issue) I can begin to sleep well at night knowing that taichido.com remains
entirely self supporting, 'free to view' and committed to the Taoist principle of "Wu Wei" or 'mutual benefit'.
So,
while taichido is clearly (and as far as I.T. is concerned,
enthusiastically) western, progressive or realistic in its principles, I am
myself personally committed to certain important (to me) eastern traditions
- such as the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac ... and this seems to be
the right time to tell that all of the 'development' of taichido and all of
the other stuff mentioned in this report is what I consider to be the
successful outcome of a twelve year/phase plan based upon the twelve
animals of the Chinese Zodiac that I formulated to commence Valentines
Day/on the eve of the Lantern Festival 1996 - but it will not be until the
next two - the Dog and then the Pig - have come and gone that I will
consider this plan to be completed.
Before going on to provide you with a more detailed
report on the future of this house and my personal
ambitions regarding the promotion of Tai Chi or taichido I would like to
make it clear that our 'virtual' activities in the form of the website/s is
- thanks to the highly professional and freely given labor and expertise of
Mark - certain to continue come what may, and I dare say that taichido.com
would likely continue even without me! However, I really need not depress
myself with that thought right now because barring unforeseeable fatal
accidents or sudden and terminal illness that will not be happening. On the
contrary, [perhaps as an antidote to that thought] it is in fact my plan to
mark the completion of this twelve year development plan with a tour of the
USA in the Spring/Summer of 2006 - perhaps going coast to coast
- visiting Tai Chi Dojo's and meeting friends and contact made through this
website.
I
will of course return to the subject of a taichido tour of the USA in
future issues of this newsletter but may I please just say for now that the
instigation of this phase of my planned activities has as involved the
rearrangement of this house to accommodate senior student Russell as my
residential assistant - and he will be moving into 'the house of taichido'
with me and, if all goes well, will be here to look after the house whilst
I am away.
Between us, Mark and I have developed two or three
distinct and separate but intimately linked and
interdependent activities under the banner TAICHIDO. First there is the
website/s with the standard bearer being www.taichido.com. This is
"Mark's baby" - but it only came about because there was
Southampton City Dojo in the first place ... and that only came into being
because there were people here in my home town that wanted to learn how to
do Tai Chi - and I wanted to/am able to teach just that.
www.taichido.com has, since day one, exceeded all
expectations and hopeful targets, and even
as I write this I am aware that visitor numbers are hitting a new all time
high in the first week of this month. Some other interesting facts and
figures are:
35-40% of visitors to taichido.com do so from online in the USA.
Up to about 30% are from the UK and about 25% from mainland Europe.
At the other end of the scale - and from the other continents our figures
show:
Asia 4.45% Oceania 2.42% South America 1.39% Africa 0.92% Central America
0.42%. As a matter or interest, regions that have visited the site just
once are: Congo, Albania, New Caledonia, Old style Arpanet, Zambia,
Georgia, Zimbabwe, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Barbados, Moldova, British
Virgin Islands, Palau, Qatar, Martinique, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Samoa,
Ethiopia, Tajikistan, Brunei Darussalam, Tanzania.
And
then, in association with the website
there is this newsletter which can be subscribed to only through
(and unsolicited) the website. I am not aware myself of the exact number of
subscribers to this Newsletter and in truth I rather not know anyway
because I may find the figure a little intimidating !!! But joking aside
(all in all I am honored and flattered) I do not need to know the figure
because I write it every month as if I am just continuing a conversation
with a few friends.
Whilst
on the subject of the websites I must also give brief mention to the much
smaller and personable WheelsWithinWheels.net
site which I maintain myself to serve 'local' needs and to advertise my
availability for personal tuition.
The success of this site has been already proven by my earlier confirmation
that I have reached and then exceeded my target at least in terms of the
number of students that it has enabled me to find (or make my existence
known to) and the number of individual sessions that it has enabled me to
fill.
For
your information and for you to perhaps identify with on a personal level,
my student list is as follows:
Nick(2). In his fifties/his right leg is shorter than the left/took up Tai
Chi just before Xmas - and is already reporting health/well being
improvements.
Gavin. In his thirties/works in Communities Service/been with me for nearly
a year and has learnt Part One of the Yang Long Form and now halfway
through Part Two.
Russ(2). A Fireman/in his thirties/enjoys the outdoor life and is in
excellent health/been with me for just over six months/has learnt Part One.
Gregg. In his twenties/has dropped arches and other associated minor
complaints/been with me for just over a year and has learnt Part One of the
Yang Long Form and now halfway through Part Two.
Russell and Joyce. Both of these (he in his twenties she in her fifties)
have been with me for about three years and both are near to the end of
Part Three. I have paired them up as 'senior' students and together we are
now beginning to train and practice in "Mirror" (or 'left-handed)
Tai Chi and Pushing/Sticking Hands.
WendyM. In her early twenties/a surveyor interested in taking up
sculpture/with me for nearly a year/learnt Part One.
Eric. Has made a 40 mile round trip to meet with me every week for three
years/we have become good friends and our sessions have now become informal
and very personal/individual and measurement of 'progress' has become
irrelevant.
Andy/in his twenties/has so far has only 2 sessions with me.
Matt. In his thirties/work away from home and has been coming to me for tai
chi in his lunchbreak for about 6 months now.
J&S. A couple in their early thirties/been with me for about 9
months/at present we are 'refining' Part One.
Tim. In his late forties/took up Tai Chi with his wife and though she could
not continue attendance he now does so alone/been with me a couple of years
and has learnt Parts One and Two.
Wendy. In her mid/late thirties/works in IT/has been with me for a couple
of years and has (like Eric above) become as much a friend as a student.
Nick. A businessman/so far only three sessions.
Robin. A classical musician and orchestra conductor/been with me over a
year/into Part Two and presently refining Part One.
Liz. Another musician who is also a singer. A good/diligent student who has
been with me just over a year/has learnt Parts One and Two/presently
refining those two parts as we begin Part Three.
Zoe. A school teacher who took up Tai Chi to combat stress/has been with me
for nearly a year/quit her job just last week ... dealing with the stress!
Thus
I am very pleased to report that those two 'divisions' (separate but
intimately linked and interdependent activities) of taichido (the
website/newsletter and my personal tuition) are booming and blooming very
nicely!
The third division of activities and last thing
that I should report upon now is taichidoshop and the electronic
learning media that we have produced to sale there. Accordingly I am
very pleased to confirm that we are still (just about!) on target for the
release of our DVD for TV at the end of this month - on the day of the
Lantern Festival on 24th February.
The
CD and DVD ROM's already available for purchase online through PayPall are
selling well and this revenue has funded the the considerable production
costs of the DVD for TV.
We
have been telling you for months now that this project has proven to be an
extremely complex and difficult one to undertake and, though I have not
made this confession until now, we even came close giving up on the whole
thing more than once in the past 6 months or so! But we are now most
certainly in the finishing straight and will soon be going into the studio
just one more time to do a final mix-down of original music to be used as a
soundtrack behind me doing the Form (as three separate parts) filmed in the
Zen Garden of a Buddhist Temple in London and to film a "talking
heads" and at last call it 'a wrap' as far as this particular major
project is concerned.
Mark
and I are already discussing future project and distant learning media
packages - but I predict with confidence that it will be a long time before
we take on such an enormous job as The Complete Yang Long Form on DVD -
because what we have achieved already is definitive and encyclopedic and set
now at a sound foundation that should see us through the next decade or so
... or at least until someone comes up with an improvement on the Internet,
I.T., a Newsletter and individual tuition when possible!
And so there ends my End of Monkey Year Report on
taichido.com and summery of its present condition and and future prospects
as being "excellent"!
I
began this newsletter by talking about a chunk of clay formed into the
image of Kuan Yin that has for me at least been a constant and ever present
companion in this (so far) ten year adventure and to this point where I am
able to pass all of this on as news to thousands of friends and other Tai
Chi enthusiasts out there - knowing that none of it could have come about
if YOU were not 'out there'.
If
any of you counted the number of students that I meet with here in person
each week you would have found that the total did not tally with the figure
of 20 that I indicated earlier. This is so because those that I have been
meeting with from just about day one - consistently but now not necessarily
every week - were not mentioned. Those thus not mentioned so far number
three. They are Sue, Matt and Gordon - and I would like to conclude this
report by expressing my personal thanks and gratitude to those three for
their loyal support and their personification of the statement that I made
on Valentines Day 1996 to commemorate the opening of our first Dojo:
"A place set aside for training and practice in the ways of
generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditation and wisdom".
Gary 13th
Jan 05.
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