Lee Style Taoist Arts

The Lee style is one of the oldest forms of Taoist training which was brought to the west in the 1930’s and it still embodies the traditional Taoist methods from before the modern era in China. Our style has maintained its independence from western philosophy and materialism and has not been mixed with techniques from elsewhere. We are the only Association in the world today still teaching the authentic and complete range of the Lee style Taoist Arts and following exactly the same syllabus as taught by Professor Chee Soo.

The main emphasis in Lee style T’ai Chi is on relaxation and health and it is based on Taoist philosophy.

T’ai Chi and ITV Tonight

An ITN film crew came to our Summer Course in Cornwall this year to film us warming up on the beach at Sennen Cove. Our group was featured as part of a documentary about the over use of prescribed opioid painkillers and the horrifying side effects from addiction. Last year the NHS spent £350 million on prescribing opioids. The tide is turning and there are alternative methods to drugs for pain relief, Tai Chi is one of those methods. Some of our students at the course have been offered drugs by their doctors and they were interviewed by ITN and talked about how Tai Chi has helped them find a better way to manage their illness. T’ai Chi is based on the principles of Chinese Medicine, the emphasis here is on Qi or life force, and on prevention and looking at the causes of disease rather than blocking out the symptoms. Drugs can be very effective in the short term but over time the body builds up a tolerance and then people may increase the dosage to counter the effect and this causes side effects and builds up a dependency. According to Chinese Medicine long term pain can be caused by obstructions in the flow of energy around the body, it is this energy that regenerates damaged tissues, pain results because the body is warning us that something is wrong. The body is constantly regenerating itself, your blood, skin, tissues, and muscles, even the bones and nerve and brain cells are replaced over time. The relaxed gentle movements of T’ai Chi and the mental focus help to guide the energy to the parts of the body where it is needed most and this reduces the recovery time as well as easing the pain. T’ai Chi cannot completely block out all pain, not for a beginner at least, then again powerful drugs although they are immediately effective can have serious drawbacks. Doctors are trained to prescribe drugs and perform operations so it may be difficult for them to step outside of this model and understand a type of medicine from another culture on the other side of the world that uses a completely different model and different methods. It’s not possible to see the effect the exercises are having by just watching, after all you cannot see what is going on inside the body, or experience what another person is feeling, but people who have actually tried this form of exercise can testify from their own experience that it works, and works effectively.

The documentary was broadcast on Thursday night September 20th 2018 on ITV.

If you are interested in looking at alternatives to medication then please contact us.

New clubs and new courses

Julie Roberts is opening a new club in Hemel Hempstead
Rachel Simpson has opened a new club in Mousehole
Professor Mick Mangan has reopened his club in Loughborough
Jane Arthur will be setting up a new club in Worcester
Professor Mick Mangan is setting up a new club in Bristol

New Courses

We have added some new dates in Cornwall, York, and Birmingham to the list of weekend courses.

There will be a day of Tai Chi at the New Haw club on Saturday February 29th, beginners are welcome

Sticky hands

Sticky hands is one of the most challenging and problematic, but ultimately one of the most fascinating and rewarding aspects of Lee style T’ai Chi training. Yoga, meditation and Qigong classes tend to concentrate exclusively on solo exercises, but one of the great strengths of T’ai Chi is that it has this interactive element. Chee Soo was interviewed by Brian Hayes on his LBC radio show and talked about how T’ai Chi teachers who are only teaching forms are only teaching a segment. People are going to T’ai Chi to learn how to relax, how to focus and how to maintain their balance, and learning about posture and copying forms from the teacher can go part of the way with this. However you need feedback if you are to get any real insight, and balance needs to be tested dynamically. What you learn in a class is only of real value if you can put it into practise outside the class, and you can only really learn how to keep your balance if someone is trying to upset it. Chee Soo has written an introduction to sticky hands in his T’ai Chi book and it gives many valuable insights, he emphasises sensitivity.

“Without a doubt, uprooting your partner by lifting them completely off the ground is the summit of achievement in I Fu Shou, but it is the heightened sensitivity that you develop by being in constant touch with your partner that is the chief value of the exercise. Slowly, and through constant practise, you will be able to tell whether your opponent is at all tense, which of their feet is carrying the most weight, and which part of the foot is experiencing the greatest pressure. You must also estimate the degree of pressure and even the direction in which it is being applied. Thus there is a lot of sensitivity involved, and through your training you will eventually be able to judge your movements so that you can succeed in uprooting your partner.”
Read more…

At our Summer Course in Cornwall this year we started with the most simple and basic version of the exercise which is only touching with one hand. The contact area is anywhere on the arm, including the shoulder blade, and you can learn to vary your point of contact even with this restriction. You can use the palm of your hand, the edge, or the back of the hand, or you can even use the forearm, the elbow and the shoulder in some situations, remembering that you can only touch anywhere on your partner’s arm and not the rest of the body. The other golden rule with this exercise is that you must stick, and this means not breaking contact. Also you must not move your feet, which includes lifting the toes or letting any part of the foot lift off the ground , if this happens or you have to step then you have been uprooted and you should change stance to the opposite leg. Finally you must not be tempted to use force, even if you do uproot your partner, if you have used force to do it then it doesn’t count. The ultimate in this exercise is to have maximum effect but with minimal effort. The key here is understanding your partner’s intentions and anticipating what they are about to do, and then you can learn to use ‘softness’ which means co-opting your partner, or borrowing energy, in other words using his reaction to help accomplish your objectives. As Chee Soo says in his chapter on sticky hands learn to always go slightly in the opposite direction first then you can take advantage of your partner’s reactions.

If you think about the Yin and Yang symbol, have you ever wondered about the opposite coloured dots in the middle of each section and what they mean? One interpretation is that at the extreme there is a swing towards the opposite. The Taoists have a phrase, ‘opportunity disguised as loss’, so by limiting yourself to only one hand you are actually making an opportunity for yourself to be more creative with what you do have.

Online T’ai Chi Training

We’ve used the latest motion capture technology and a 3D games engine to bring the benefits of a T’ai Chi class into your own home.

It’s a valuable resource for anyone attending our classes but it will also be suitable for people who don’t have access to a T’ai Chi teacher locally.

So that you can get proper feedback there will be fully qualified T’ai Chi masters on hand to give you advice and guide your progress. You can upload videos of your own training for assessment to measure your progress just like in a real T’ai Chi class. You can train any time of the day or night and as often as you like, you don’t have to wait for your weekly T’ai Chi session, and you can make contact with T’ai Chi students and experienced teachers from all over the world.

Find out more

The exercises we do in both classes are not strenuous and develop flexibility, posture and internal strength. We are not interested in competition so everyone is able to develop at their own pace. Our Arts attract a wide variety of people from all walks of life and is suitable for men and women of any age and level of ability so you can train with a partner at home or in the class.