South Nova Tai Chi Spring Workshop -- April 14, 2018.
We were fortunate to have three excellent instructors for a capacity crowd in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Instructors were Michael Haley (Halifax), Paul Clarke (Cumberland Branch) and Maria Gillespie (Moncton/ Shediac Branch.) The day was divided into three parts – an instructor's workshop in the morning, a general workshop in the afternoon (led by Paul and Michael) and a Lok Hup session in the evening (led by Maria.) The attendance was one of our largest with about 17 for the instructor session, 44 participating in the afternoon session and 22 in the evening. The morning session mainly reviewed material covered at the Madawaska workshop earlier in the month for those who did not attend. The Lok Hup session in the evening was run by Maria and emphasized the first ten moves, as there were participants with several levels of experience. Some of the highlights from the afternoon session included practice in opening the spirit and standing tall thereby counteracting the tendency to collapse into the body. Michael led a seated group emphasizing the internal effects of expanding and contracting the chest by breathing deeply and letting go. Paul emphasized fully turning the body between brushed knee moves as well as ward off monkeys. Another exercise involved extending the hands and stretching upwards after close entrance. Of course we performed many tor yu's. (Will they ever be perfected?) One of the most gratifying aspects of the workshop was the attendance of several newly minted continuing students. Many were very enthusiastic about how much they learned even though they did not yet know the full 108 moves in the tai chi set. Special thanks go to all the instructors (Michael, Paul and Maria) as well as those who provided their home to out-of-towners, those who contributed to the fantastic pot-luck supper, and Trisha for organizing the event. As always, many members of the South Nova Chapter volunteered their efforts to help make the workshop a success.