Welcome

Thanks for visiting our School's main web site. A warm welcome to you!!

Patrick Watson, one of the “worthies” of the venerable Prof. Cheng Man-Ching, officially established this school in 1975. He was a master teacher, always teaching, taking every opportunity to illustrate T'ai Chi awareness. Sometimes Patrick taught while walking down the street arm in arm… sometimes it was in the classroom… sometimes it was over sushi… sometimes it was in a single gesture. When he demonstrated a T'ai Chi push on one of us, we would fly off balance with surprise and delight at the lightness of his touch and the power underneath. He embodied "strength through softness" to the highest degree.

Patrick was also quite a character.  We remember times when we would roll our eyes to the ceiling, enduring a long-winded discourse. Other days, we got his boyish delight over a new gadget or appliance. On yet other days, he would have us laughing and begging for more instruction. Patrick realized that in order for this teaching to flourish, it would need to transcend the limitations of his individual personality as well as his genius. He developed the "team teaching method". He saw beyond his own ego gratification and actively encouraged us to teach his beginning students in order to build a whole school. Team teaching accelerated our process which was further enriched through the meditative and self-reflective work of mystic-philosopher Oscar Ichazo.

In 1992, Patrick passed away and left us to continue his legacy. We have both struggled and grown while finding our new identity.  Now sixteen years after his death, we still share a strong sense of continuity.  We enjoy working together in a historic league of many teachers instead of one. And so, we move forward into the 21st century.  We are very aware of the responsibility handed to us to uphold this lineage. We seek to embody T'ai Chi, to honor the spirit of this exquisite art, and to share what we know with others.

Many of our teaching staff have been with us for 15-25 years. Our students report that we teach with a balance of disciplined focus, relaxation, inspiration, and humor.  Most of all, we are grateful to have such a large body of loyal and diverse students, numbering in the thousands.

Please browse around our site. All the various components have been contributed by members of our school. Furthermore, we hope you will study at one of our locations or attend one of our summer residential programs which we affectionately call “T'ai Chi camp.” We love T’ai Chi, we love to teach, and we’d love to teach you. We salute all fellow travelers on the path of Peace and Unity!

In friendship,

Margaret Matsumoto, senior teacher in charge of Teacher Training and Curriculum Development.

Hal Caswell, former T'ai Chi Foundation President and member of MA teaching team.

Barbara Carlisle, current T'ai Chi Foundation President and member of the London teaching team.