Infinite Way

At the age of 48 I found myself unfit and overweight. Tai chi’s alleged mystique, oriental background, and reputation as a health bringer attracted me. Regular attendance at a class improved my health and flexibility, providing an outlet for the usual workaday worries. I also had a brief introduction to Chi Kung (literally, energy work).

Moving from England to Wales in 2003 it took me nearly two years to find a comparable class near Cardigan.

My current teacher Mike Henley teaches Yang-style, Tai chi Ch’uan, incorporating health, energy work and martial applications (for those who want them). His classes at Llandysul are a refreshing blend of fun, learning and his experience. The man’s skills and knowledge of this profound subject are self-evident.

I am pleased to say that my personal practice has greatly improved and deepened in two years of his guidance, with an abundance of new things to learn and strive for.

Many thanks to Mr Henley and his senior student Matt Berry at the Newcastle Emlyn class.

James

I think I attended my first Tai Chi class some time around October 2005. At the time I had had a few years of very bad health and no doctor had given me any clue or idea as to what might have been wrong or how I could go about recovering. At that point I realised that if I was going to recover most of it was going to be down to me. By this time I had realised that some of the probable causes of my illness were down to exhaustion of doing more than and I should have been doing and living what some people might call a destructive lifestyle for some years. I also realised it was due to a serious lack of attention to my body which had experienced almost no exercise for many years since I've spent most of my working life sat at a desk and not taken part in any physical pass times for a long time.

I calmed my life down and got plenty of rest and started to think about how I could address the problem of not getting exercise, I knew that if I'd tried anything too strenuous it would do far more harm that good, walking up a small hill at the time would have quite possibly put me on the floor (and on occasion it had done exactly that) so I knew I had to be careful. As a youngster I'd had a promising and enjoyable but very short lived time learning Karate, the passion to learn martial arts had always stuck with me but I had long given up on actually doing it again. So taking all these things into account it didn't take me long to decide that at some point I might start to give Tai Chi a go. I knew very little about it but it was a particular art which had captured my interest from a young age. I was under the impression that Tai Chi was a slow, relaxing exercise that wouldn't be demanding on my body yet provided me with some exercise, I also knew it held martial content but I had no idea how it manifested itself which intrigued me. On top of all that it was supposed to be good for you and apparently was well known for improving health. All in all it sounded like it was just what I needed...while I truly believe this was the case lets just say it was not what I expected.