Tai Chi Chuan Beginners

Introduction Courses: Tai Chi Chuan (Shaolin Style)

The easiest way to get started is taking our four-weeks Introduction Course, which we run three times a year. This gives you the opportunity to join our classes together with other beginners and work with a dedicated teacher.
After some warm-up exercises with the more advanced students, you will be taught in a smaller group to learn the basic moves. After the course you are welcome to keep coming to the ongoing class at the same time/location. You will still get teaching at your level.
We train in a friendly atmosphere, with no competitive undertone. We are focused, and we also like a good laugh.

Details: Four-weeks Introduction Course

Where: Hanwell, West London, St. Mary's Church Hall, W7 3QP (free parking. Hanwell Station and Buses E1 and E3 are nearby). Note: You need to sign-up for this course before you join.
When: Mondays 10.30-11.30am
Spring Course: starts 12th May 2025 (then 19th May, 2th and 9th June). After the four-weeks course finishes, you are invited to keep training in our regular class (same time/location).
Costs: £48 for 4 classes. Pay-in-advance (no refund for missed sessions).
Note: Don't worry if you have never done Tai Chi before, don't feel fit, or start it a bit later in life. Our class is for everybody.

We teach in a way that everybody can learn it!

Many people shy away from Tai Chi, as they feel they cannot learn the sequences that seem like one long flowing movement.
No worries: We take each sequence apart, and repeat the single moves many times. Once you can do single moves, we put them together and make them flow. If you feel under pressure about 'memorising' moves; relax! It is O.K. to just copy the teacher, even after many years of training - you still get the full benefits of Tai Chi.

Elna's experience: "At almost 86 I am enjoying the benefits of the exercise, meditation and learning new techniques (Even self-defence!) It helps to keep me fit and improve my memory as well as making new friends".

More Testimonials; click here

More info/sign-up

What is Shaolin Tai Chi Chuan?

Tai Chi Chuan creates and balances inner energy (called Chi) through gentle, flowing movements. It has mental, emotional and physical benefits, as it fosters stress release, agility, balance, self-confidence, memory, mindfulness etc.
Kung Fu is related to Tai Chi, but it is the harder and faster version of this ancient Chinese Martial Art.

Every single move in our system has a health and a self defence application. For example, lifting your arms in a certain way may strengthen some muscles and massage the glands. At the same time, it also could serve as a blocking motion for an incoming strike. We will talk about these self-defence applications on occasion, but our focus is on the health benefits and life lessons. The core goal is always building and balancing your energy (and enjoy your training, of course). Read more

The benefits of Tai Chi Chuan

Practicing Tai Chi Chuan has physical and mental benefits. It is also great fun, as we are a friendly group who likes a good laugh. We work hard, but we do not take ourselves too seriously. Some examples of benefits:

Learning Tai Chi Chuan will make you stronger and helps you find your balance, both in a physical and an emotional way.
Through the training, you can increase your agility and coordination, linking your right and your left brain. This is also good for your memory, your mental alertness and intuition.
The training boosts your metabolism and can help you re-tune yourself regarding healthy eating habits. It also supports the circulatory, cardiovascular and immune system and detoxifies the organ system of the body.
On a more emotional level, learning Tai Chi Chuan helps with your self-confidence, joy of life, and mental health. It calms you down when you feel stressed and it helps you let go of worries or tensions.

Read more on our dedicated benefits & testimonials page):

The energy teachings

When working with 'Chi' - inner energy - we select specific moves and sequences for you that enable you to:

raise your energy or calm it down
explore where you give your energy away and how you can take it back
guard and protect your space in a peaceful manner
balance and harmonise 'Chi' in all your body parts, your mind and your emotions
explore Yin and Yang aspects of energy, which allow you to shift from a hard and fast way of problem solving to a soft and flowing approach. This is useful for situations where you feel stuck or caught up in a conflict.
learn how to shift your emotions (using Shaolin animal styles). For example, you can shift from feeling like a focused, assertive Cobra to being a playful Butterfly (or the other way round).
energise the space around you; Tai Chi moves can revive stale rooms
learn more about yourself by visiting the place of your deepest essence - somewhere in between all energies...

Thelma attended the Beginners'course 2019. Here is her experience:

"The Beginner's Course is excellent. Andrea is a great teacher, very patient and always willing to explain things and repeat the movements more slowly if one needs this.
To have the connection with martial arts explained is a useful insight. It was novel to me to work with a partner as this was not done in another Tai Chi course, I did some years ago.
Having now moved from the beginners course to the regular class, I have experienced the more senior members as friendly, helpful and encouraging.
If a set of movements is challenging, I write down the process in my own words and then regularly visualise myself doing the moves, as well as doing them as often as possible. This helps me fix them in my mind and in time they become more fluid.
I would highly recommend this course to anyone wishing to take up Tai Chi Chuan. It allows you to forget about everything else for the duration of the class and I find I am more relaxed in mind and more energised in body afterwards."

More testimonials