Well, this web site has been around for quite some time now, a few years at least.  I had had a “Rouges Gallery,” intended to have brief personal statements from our classmates, but there has been a veritable dearth of participation coming from the gang, thus my personal bio takes it's place. 

Sooner or later people ask me, “So, what’s your story?”  Or, more politely put, “So, how did you get into T’ai Chi?” 

So, My Story:

One of the things that holds me back from writing this “bio” is that my life sometimes reads like other people’s fantasies and foolishnesses, which I find both embarrassing and frustrating.  On one occasion I found myself revealing that in high school I had had a terrible crush on Carol Kane.  My compatriots at work were ready to empathize until they did the math and realized that when I was in high school “Taxi” hadn’t been aired yet.  When I told them I went to school with Ms Kane, they flat out failed to believe me.  In fact, told me I was lying.  Which ruined my credibility on other things of merit and moment in the workplace and really pissed me off.  It often gets like that.

On the foolishness side: Soon after my return from Taiwan I was giving a workshop when one of the attendees came up to me and, in a tone of voice resonating clearly with overtones of accusation, said, “I wish I could go to China and study T’ai Chi.”

Sorry, I quit my job, sold the car and cashed in my retirement to go.  You could probably swing it.

Basically, I have been really lucky, at least in my T’ai Chi experience, although I haven’t done anything spectacular with it.  But this “bio” isn’t meant to be apologist.  Rather, I have to think in terms of promotion and information.

My name is Jeff and I run Elementary T’ai Chi Ch’uan, “the studio” in Catonsville, MD.  I also teach at any and every venue that will take me.  At this time (late 2009) that means the Towson YMCA, Integrative Health Services in Towson and Seven Oaks Senior Center in Perry Hall, MD.  I have been teaching more or less consistently in the Baltimore area since my return from Taiwan in late 1991.

My descent into the maelstrom of TCC began in 1973 when, to satisfy one of my father’s whims, I signed up for a class in T’ai Chi at the New School for Social Research in New York City.  I had never heard of T’ai Chi and had less than zero interest in it when I showed up for that first fatal class of cheer.  The teacher was some guy name of Herman Kauz.  Had never heard of him either. 

First stroke of unbelievable luck:

I had no insight, no history, no preconceptions; I was just satisfying my father’s needs and managed to walk in on a master with experience both deep and broad.

I clearly remember thinking, as I floated home that night on wobbly knees, “Yeah, this is something I could do for the rest of my life.”  Not the first foolish thought to grace my path, but certainly one of the more important.

After learning the form and taking one confusing, memorable push hands class (I thought it really silly that I couldn’t touch that bored, fat lady I was working with (and she seemed so light!), and those people over there were giggling and laughing right out loud while they practiced… what a waste of time!), I was snatched away by another of my father’s directives to attend college in Annapolis… no, not the Naval Academy…  That would have been ironic in the extreme, snatched from one navel study to another….

I continued to meet with Herman when I was in NYC for holidays, and finally he referred me to another teacher, one Bob Smith who taught somewhere in Washington.  It took me a while to realize that there were just too many Smiths, Bob, Robert, B and R, in the DC phonebook to call them all on my student stipend.  On a trip to NYC I dared ask for more information (it actually took me a few attempts to screw my courage to the sticking point and ask) and got a street name.  Well, sort of… it was some kind of tree, but that was enough and I finally located Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Smith.

Second stroke of incredible luck: 

I had never heard of the guy, but if Herman thought it would be ok for me to study with him, I guessed it would be ok. 

I remember, on our first meeting, sashaying up to him in the parking lot of the Deli Den, to which the Saturday free class retired from the Bethesda YMCA for breakfast, and saying that I had a few friends in Annapolis who might like to study some of this stuff, and would he be interested in coming down there and teaching for us?  We could pass the hat…

Third stroke: 

I survived that conversation.  What did I know from masters?  This was just some garrulous old guy in a fedora… (I do remember that elbow lashing the air next to me as he politely declined, however.)

That was 1975.  Despite my bad attitude, spotty attendance and general incompetence, Mr. Smith allowed me to continue with him.  I suspect he tried to shake me off, but I was, by this time, desperate to learn something and had finally gotten a whiff of who he was and what he embodied.  Much to his chagrin I gritted my teeth and hung on.  But Mrs. Smith seemed to like me fine.

In early 1987, in a moment of inspiration, Mr. Smith finally got rid of me by providing me an introduction to Mr. Liu, Hsi-hung, who was visiting with Ed Young and showing something of his K’u Gong to the American T’ai Chi community.

Luck incomparable:

I fell for that old guy immediately and at the end of the workshop asked him if I could come to Taiwan and study with him.  He smiled and, certain it would never happen, said it would be ok.

  September of that year I was debarking a plane at Taipei International Airport with a few thousand dollars, a wife, no clear plan and no job.  Foolishness….?

Yeah, well….

I did find a job, and we did stay until December of 1991.  I met with Mr. Liu 2-3 times a week and, in the last 1¹/₂ years, attended classes at the Shr Jung T’ai Chi Center, graduating first in my class in 1991.  That really wasn’t fair since most of the other people in my class were new to the system, but I ran the course of instruction unaware until it was too late that we were being graded.  Oh well.  Looks good on a “resume.” 

 Another stroke of great luck:

Ben Lo handed me my diploma during the graduation ceremony from Shr Jung.  This gave me great personal pleasure, since I had already had the honor and joy of attending some of his week-long T’ai Chi Camps in Frost Valley, New York.

Well, that’s the foundation of my “professional resume”.  I might add a few camps and workshops with luminaries like Ben Lo and Maggie Newman, but I don’t want to get them into any trouble.  The inventive errors and omissions are all my own doing.

So, I flumped around Woodlawn and Catonsville for a while, teaching in spaces like the Bowie YMCA, Catonsville Senior Center, Catonsville Presbyterian Church, Howard Community College and a health food store until I lucked into the studio on Frederick Road.

It is a cold and hard little place, but all mine (well, I rent it 24/7), which means I don’t have to move tables and chairs or re-schedule around other people’s holidays and special events.  Kind of nice since it lets me run over scheduled time if the class seems to be going on, something I cannot ever do at the YMCA. 

Since ’91, I have been back to Taiwan a number of times, most recently in 2007, when I managed to get in some quality (read “brief”) time in and around the city I think I love more than any other in my experience, Taipei. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During that visit I had a chance to reconnect with old friends and classmates as well as discover new people, places and things.  My partner, Rebekah, and I had an opportunity to visit the Cheng, Man-Ch’ing Memorial Center and see some of the Professor’s personal belongings.  We spent a lovely afternoon there, thanks to the help of a passing stranger and Ms. Monica Chen.  I recommend the visit to anyone who manages to get to Taiwan.

 

On to the Personal Stuff.

Other Interests:

Rock Climbing, Swimming Pool (intermediate tanning, lazy lapping and springboard leaping), drinking Old Man (Chinese) Tea, fitful study of the Mandarin Chinese Language, and the occasional tinkering with Asian Body Mechanics (read Qi Gong and Martial Arts).

I am a beginning rock climber, able to climb 5.8 and 5.9 routes with some frequency, but struggling to make stuff above, say 5.10-ish.  That’s in the gym… I find outdoor routes somewhat more challenging but much more satisfying. 

Last year (2007) I was even able to take a day off during my short visit to Taiwan to go climb at a beachside site in northeast Taiwan known as Dragon Cave.  That was a bit scary since the constant wind-blown salt spray made the rocks slippery and the ground surface was all broken boulders and scree. 

I also went climbing in the hills above Peitou, an old stomping ground when I lived there in the late 1980’s.  That made me wish I had known about rock climbing in those days.  In retrospect, maybe not; I was busy enough trying to learn somewhat of Mr. Liu’s exercises.

My skill at Swimming Pool is a remnant of a well misspent youth on the swimming and diving team in high school.  In those days, I also was into SCUBA (even working as a SCUBA instructor for a few years) and snorkeling, both of which I have given up since settling here in the frozen north.  The waters hereabouts are just too cold, dark, fast and rugged for me.  Although I took my instructor’s certification in Boston in February, most of my personal diving was done between Miami and Martinique.   Softie stuff; warm and colorful.

Interestingly enough, I believe the breathing skills honed under water have helped me develop, to whatever degree, my understanding and focus in T’ai Ch.

My love of Chinese Tea (and the language) was developed, naturally, during my stay in Taiwan.  Some have accused me of becoming a “tea snob” since my return.  This is not, technically, correct.  I was a tea snob before I went to Taiwan, I just didn’t know at that time that Twinings doesn’t make tea.  These days my preferences lean toward Yun Nan Pu Ehr and Alishan Oolong.

My favorite Color:

Well, it seems to keep shifting, but I generally like Reds, Blues, some shades of Yellow and combinations therefrom.

My favorite Food: 

Yes, gosh, well… is tea food?  And the list goes on… the world is full of some really good food.  Since I am a vegetarian, sort of, it is convenient, perhaps inevitable, that my preferred cuisine is, surprise!, Chinese (they have a lot of Buddhists, who tend to be vegetarian..) with other Asian delicacies (especially fruits) coming in a close second…. Uh, ‘cept for pizza…. is that Chinese????