Service is a Two-Way Street

Sidlesham, West Sussex, England

T’ai Chi Chih is alive and well in the United Kingdom. After accreditation in January 2007 in San Francisco, I returned to West Sussex [a county in southern England along the English Channel] to launch T’ai Chi Chih classes.

Students in the village of Sidlesham are enthusiastically learning the movements and making visible progress. We started with three beginner classes (some twice a week , some weekly) and have completed the first two. It’s fun and, as Justin says, “It’s a service to humanity.” Teaching T’ai Chi Chih is also a service to me.

When teaching, I am the beneficiary of students’ insights. It deepens my practice and makes me think more about the movements when, as I sometimes stumble with explaining a movement, an enlightened student suddenly explains it so clearly in a way I’d never heard before. Consider the taffy movements, for example: the bottom hand moves in the direction one is moving.

The students’ professions are varied: eye surgeon, geologist, church warden,gardener, IT professional, teacher, hairdresser, pastor, nurse, politician, and more. Most of them also are parents, grandparents, caregivers, and active in the community. All this in a village with just 1200 residents!