I remember the first beginners class I ever taught for JK, back in the old Wimpole Street premises, must have been 1987 or 88. I was a little nervous (not too nervous because I was already teaching at various night schools around London). After the first class of the first term, whilst the students were drinking tea and chatting enthusiastically John came in to ask me how it had gone. Very well I told him – everyone seemed to enjoy it, and one elderly gentleman in particular had told me that the class had been one of the most wonderful and revelatory experiences of his life. John looked around at the guy and then back to me and said, “We'll never see him again.” Sure enough, we never did.
John always used to say that if Tai Chi is for you then it should feel like a coming home – like you've done it before, a long long time ago, and you've been aching for it in the interim, and now you've rediscovered it you just have a simple feeling of recognition and relief. This is how it was for me, and I remember a student in one of the classes I taught at the Round Chapel in Hackney, his name was John, saying to me that when he watched me do Tai Chi he had the feeling I'd been doing it since before I was born. When someone says something like that to you, with no pretence (he was a young long distance truck driver), you know they are connected. He was also a martial artist and I must say that I've generally been very impressed by the martial artists I've taught. They have sobriety and composure, often know how to let their energy out, and know from experience that a highly respectful attitude towards the teacher and the teaching is the most efficient one for learning – they give more than average.
John always used to say that if Tai Chi is for you then it should feel like a coming home – like you've done it before, a long long time ago, and you've been aching for it in the interim, and now you've rediscovered it you just have a simple feeling of recognition and relief. This is how it was for me, and I remember a student in one of the classes I taught at the Round Chapel in Hackney, his name was John, saying to me that when he watched me do Tai Chi he had the feeling I'd been doing it since before I was born. When someone says something like that to you, with no pretence (he was a young long distance truck driver), you know they are connected. He was also a martial artist and I must say that I've generally been very impressed by the martial artists I've taught. They have sobriety and composure, often know how to let their energy out, and know from experience that a highly respectful attitude towards the teacher and the teaching is the most efficient one for learning – they give more than average.
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