Need Directions?

Use the map below to find your way to Wrexham Scout Hut.  To get directions to the venue,  just click on the red place marker shown on the map, click <get directions>,  enter the post code you will be travelling from, click <Go>, and Google’s route planner will calculate and show your directions underneath the map.

Students at LNG’s Ruthin class make regular use of the Yang Style 37 Step form, the first application in LNG’s Taijiquan syllabus.

Whether a student is working with Yang, Chen, Baqua, or other techniques, one reason why a system takes so long to assimilate is that students only get perhaps a couple of hours a week in class to work with material, according to LNG’s Steve Galloway. Given 7 consecutive days, students could get the basic order of play for a form like the 37 Step Form. However, even in a two hour class, perhaps only half of that time is devoted to Taijiquan itself, and often most of that is consumed with correcting what students remembered from the week before.

A week is a long time in martial arts.

Tools like YouTube give LNG’s students an aide memoire which makes life easier for teacher and student alike. “You can’t really learn this kind of thing from a video”, Steve says. “Having the chance to look at a clip like the 37 Step Form gives students enough of a nudge to help them recall what they did cover in class. Sometimes it is the difference between practising a few minutes ever day outside class and building confidence, or going without until next week.

LNG’s YouTube Station provides learning aids covering empty hand forms, Daoist Yoga, sword forms, etc.

The biggest obstacle facing activity groups like martial arts, yoga, and other special interest activities is as simple as keeping in touch outside class.  It is the difference between a happy family, or students left out in the cold waiting for the teacher to show up with the keys.. or maybe not.

Lotus Nei Gong’s (LNG) Tai Chi class in Ruthin leverages a host of communications tools to keep students up to date with news, announcements, and help. In addition to Taiji Online, LNG Ruthin’s web site, class organisers use texting, email, Facebook, and even YouTube to push important news to students to make sure people do not get left in the cold, whether it be a change of date or maybe a video clip to cover that detail they are missing from class.

The reason for LNG’s proactive approach is simple – poor communications cost students.  “When people have a genuine interest, once a week is just not enough”, according to LNG’s Steve Galloway. “If someone has a question, they should be able to get an answer. “You can’t expect enthusiasts to put up with two hours a week. If you are not able to feed people’s appetites, they get bored and they go away.  Sometimes a facility cannot open. Or, a teacher has an emergency to deal with. Sometimes people do not want to air things in front of class, or sometimes a teacher wants to touch base with someone who didn’t get the time perhaps they should have had. Email and social networking sites like Facebook are an ideal way to unobtrusively stay in touch – at the student’s convenience.”

“LNG already use texting to keep members up to date with important developments, but not everyone uses a mobile phone. Similarly, not everyone is a Facebook fan, but for those who are, Facebook is a natural communication tool and for them it is a  passive way for them to keep posted.”

Students can join LNG Ruthin’s Facebook group here.

Need Directions?

Use the map below to find your way to Canolfan, Awelon, Ruthin,Denbighshire.  To get directions to the venue,  just click on the red place marker shown on the map, click <get directions>,  enter the post code you will be travelling from, click <Go>, and Google’s route planner will calculate and show your directions underneath the map.

So, we go to class.  We learn what a forward bow stance is.  We learn that “Wuji” means “shoulder’s width” stance.  At some point we are told to “begin Tai Chi”, and if you think like I do, you look at your hands and wonder how grand your fists might one day look.

The answer does not feel right for some people.  The question remains, and those with enquiring minds ask again. What is Taiji?  Does it really mean “grand ultimate fist”?  Does it matter?  After all, Taiji is a thing of doing.  Perhaps we hold too much store by labels and names.  Sometimes we just need to know, and for those with an inkling that vocabulary like “Taiji” is rooted not only in an esoteric martial art but in the broader context of Taoism’s profound reasoning, suddenly it is not reasonable to accept that one of the world’s great philosophical traditions would underpin its entire philosophy with such a ridiculous thing as somebody’s hand.  For a credible explanation of what Taiji is as an activity, we need to understand a little bit about Taoist philosophy and its language.

The principle of Wuji

When we think of Taiji, two other concepts are never far away: “Wuji” and “Yin/Yang”.  Taiji is neither Wuji nor Yin-Yang, but something in between.  Wuji, where the story starts, is a neutral state which Taoists depict as a circle.  Wuji is “empty”, “without polarity”, and it can be interpreted to mean “without limit”, or “without boundary”.  On a cosmic scale, Wuji might be the state of the universe in the instant before its creation.  Wuji might be the stillness of an interstellar cloud of gas and dust.  Wuji implies a point of origin too, and the idea of “origin” is yet another ingredient to consider.  Wuji is a component of a Taoist rationale which implies that by returning to origin, we can understand origin and with that knowledge understand what follows.  In meditation and application, it is a state from which we can observe and manage reality.

The principle of Taiji

Whether we think of Wuji as origin, or emptiness, or neutrality, or “without limit”, Wuji is not prone to idleness.  Wuji inherently harbours a natural pivotal function of movement and stillness.  Physicists would recognize Taiji’s spiralling characteristics as one of the most universally fundamental forces of nature: a principle called the “conservation of angular momentum”.  Whether you use the vocabulary of Taoism or Physics the principle is the same, and the principle is affirmed by Taoists and scientists alike to be an absolute symmetry of nature – in other words, we do not yet know of a circumstance in the known universe where the principle does not work.

The solar system we call home formed in time’s frigid emptiness from a coalescing cloud of dust and gas.  Scientific and Taoist models alike need an event to start the process.  Scientists suggest a stellar shockwave, perhaps unleashed in a detonating supernova’s cataclysmic epiphany, nudged particles into a point of density around which the natural laws of angular momentum played out.  In Taoism, the function is concisely called “Taiji” and where scientists might depict the process in the mathematics of formula, Taoists depict angular momentum or Taiji as a spiral.  As Taiji spiralled out of the stillness of Wuji, the vaporous cloud spiralled inwards around a point, eventually igniting under the heat of its own pressure, and a star was born.

In Taoism as in Science, an event is needed to move from a state of Wuji.  Just as an external shock might have nudged the nebular cloud that spawned our solar system into its self-sustained rotation on a grand universal scale, the application of Taiji on a human scale can happen with the application of intent.  Taiji’s principle is scalable, so that the laws of angular momentum, or just “Taiji”, which applies on a universal (macrocosmic) scale, applies on a human (microcosmic) and microscopic scale too.  It is no coincidence that body mechanics and energetics rely heavily on subtle spirals and coiling as Taijiquan practitioners step out of a state of wuji into motion.  Regardless of the language of science or art, practitioners are crucially emulating and feeding on nature’s motive force.

The principle of Yin/Yang & Energy

As Taiji spirals or coils, it segregates into opposing energies of Yin and Yang, and from the arising potential for movement between these states comes “qi” or “chi”: energy or perhaps information which provides a canvas on which the physical universe exists. In Taijiquan, Taiji is important because practitioners do not rely on overt muscular strength in the execution of their art. Power is developed internally, and Taiji is the catalyst a martial artist employs to marshall force, or “jin”, to deal with an opponent.  By now, we have moved from the realm of wuji, through Taiji, and into the realm of Yin/Yang. Taoists portray Yin/Yang in a few ways:

In each state, Yin and Yang operate within Wuji’s circle.  Yin is “black”, yang is “white”, and in the first two diagrams each energy state is seeded with its opposite state. Yang contains a Yin seed, and Yin contains a Yang seed.  The third diagram differs: Yin and Yang by now are rotating around Wuji, which is depicted as a circle in the centre.

The three diagrams depict the progressively developed states of a Taijiquan practitioner’s lower dan tien.  The lower dan tien is situated in a person’s lower abdomen, a pump sitting at the centre of a network of energetic meridians, driving energy around a person’s body and interacting with two other dan tiens located in the chest and head.  Acupuncturists address this network in their clinical work. The energetic system is called the “energy body”. It is not something that exists in a physical context because it does not operate in the physical realm like the rest of our physiology.

Sometimes, the notion that there is an aspect of reality that is outside the scope of our senses is difficult to understand, and sometimes the notion is disturbing.  Yet, we know there are ranges in the light spectrum that we cannot observe.  For example, we cannot tune our vision to observe the world as it exists in infrared.  The world can be observed in infrared, though, and although we cannot modify our eyes to see the world as it exists that way, we can crudely use other senses to at least feel infrared’s heat.

As elusive as the energy body is to “awaken”, it operates according to the same laws of nature and physics that govern the physical realm.  Although we have to use equipment to see what the world looks like in infrared, with conditioning it is possible to “awaken” and interact with the energy body without equipment.  Western science has no comparative language to describe this as it does, say, for Taiji and angular momentum.  Instead, we can turn to Traditional Chinese Medicine.  The language we use is not important here, rather the fact that practitioners can tune the mind to observe, interpret, and even manage the human body’s interaction with the energetic realm to a potentially high degree.  The language of Taoism – Wuji, Taiji, and Yin/Yang is just a framework within which protocols – physical conditioning, breathing, intent, “jins” among other tools – can be used to interface to a person’s own energy body, and at the highest level of ability to others’, too.  Some people attempt to equate the energy body to such similar “energetics” as chakras.  For the purpose of this piece, it is better to assume that other components of the energetic realm, like shen, chakra, etc. operate within their own mappings or “bodies”.

In a normal state, shown here, the lower dan tien turns once in a daily cycle, propelling qi (or “chi”) around an individual’s meridians.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine, if you are alive, your dan tien is active and it operates in this nominal state.  Often, this iconic symbol is illustrated in reverse, i.e. the white section dominates the lower part of the cycle. Sometimes, too, the image is flipped so that the direction of rotation is reversed.  In its correct orientation here, yang (white) is peaking at its cyclical polarity, and yin proportionally gains dominance until reaching its polarity.

In this state, a practitioner has learned to coordinate dan tien rotation with his or her breathing.  This is a significant development, and practitioners with this level of ability are able to generate substantial energy on demand.  In martial practice, qi is converted to a range of forces called “jins”. In spiritual practice, the enhancement aids in the yet further refinement of “shen”. With good teachers and training a newcomer to internal arts can take three years to physically and energetically condition this kind of ability to purposeful effect.

In this state, a practitioner has developed his or her energetic body to a state so that his or her lower dan tien splits – the core reverts to stillness (Wuji -the centre disk in this illustration), and only the outer shell rotates. This level of conditioning is uncommon, and needs a level of teaching which is not easily found.

Crucially, the internally generated force that the dan tien can be used to govern sets Taijiquan apart in the martial arts world.  The complexity of conditioning the physical body, the energetic body, and execution in combat does not make Taijiquan a superior art, and indeed Taijiquan’s sheer complexity is perhaps its nemesis.  In the 21st Century “internalization” is beyond the scope of most teachers’ repertoires, and mainstream Taiji is practised for physical fitness:  in other words, the “energetic” processes have been stripped away. Communism’s purgative intervention in the 1900’s and Tai Chi’s subsequent reinvention in State sanctioned styles such as Simplified Tai Chi in the 1950’s leaves a raft of “Tai Chi” formats devoid of the internal art, and with good reason: practitioners of advanced internal arts discussed here can earn prison sentences in China’s post “cultural revolution” era.  Despite this, the art persists.  As Taijiquan matures in the West with a number of accomplished proponents, the good news is that whatever political influence China imposes on its cultural and philosophical treasures, it can be argued that there is already sufficient knowledge in the West to sustain Tai Chi, Taiji, Tai Chi Chuan, or Taijiquan in its many varied forms.

Summary: the nature of Taiiquan

Taiji is a pivotal, spiralling, or coiling force which we might call the motive force of creation. Taiji transforms Wuji into complementary polarities – Yin and Yang.   Yin and Yang are most often considered to be cyclical, but Yin and Yang can also reunite to the state of Wuji by expansion and contraction.

In Taoist theory Wuji, Taiji, and Yin/Yang are universal principles and they apply on any level of scale:  macrocosmic, microcosmic, and microscopic.  In human terms (microcosmic), we are ideally a conduit between the environment and earth (Taoist concept: tian/di/ren –respectively heaven/earth/man), and Taoists believe it is possible to tap energy or information – qi – that flows between the environment and earth for various purposes – medical, martial, spiritual, or otherwise.  Taijiquan could be considered as a “combat system using the motive force of creation”.  In a neutral state – wuji – we calm our emotional mind, our intent and energy, and we align our body to connect to the earth and the environment.  As we focus our mind and formulate our intent, our, energy follows.  Our intent (yi), and our mind (xin) are essentially Taiji, and the practitioner’s objective is to utilize Taiji’s energetic spiralling force in the execution of physical applications that are appropriate to handle an opponent’s threat.

Science and Taoist philosophy use different language to describe nature in remarkably comparable ways.  Taoist theory regarding energy/information transmission has uncanny commonality with wave and string physics, which are relatively recent developments in Western Science, and interestingly some Taoist theory has yet to be matched with Western science at all.

Whether we call Taiji “angular momentum”, or “grand ultimate fist” or art or science or even anything else that we might develop language for is unimportant.  What is remarkable is how such profound philosophical thinking, developed so long ago without the aid of today’s observational tools, has taken so long for the language of modern science to account for.

Ruthin, North Wales

Lotus Nei Gong (LNG) Tai Chi instructor Steve Galloway continues one of North Wales’ longest running Tai Chi class at a new venue – Canolfan Awelon, Ruthin. Nearly one year after integrating the class into LNG’s structured programs, class numbers have steadily increased and Ruthin’s Tuesday night class moved to larger and better equipped premises in Ruthin’s town centre.

Using LNG’s structured approach to Chinese martial arts, students can measure their progress within the context of LNG’s Taijiquan syllabus. Students also have access to LNG’s experienced teachers Damo Mitchell, Paul Mitchell, Neil Lodge, and Roni Edlund through LNG’s comprehensive series of monthly workshops and residential courses in Britain and Scandanavia.

Since 2005, Lotus Nei Gong has run weekly classes and residential courses throughout the UK and Scandanavia.  The Ruthin class is suitable for beginners and experienced practitioners. In addition to weekly classes in Somerset and Cardiff run by Paul Mitchell and Neil Lodge respectively, LNG’s technical director Damo Mitchell and Roni Edlund run classes in Wrexham.

Ruthin’s Tuesday night class is one of North Wales’ most consistently successful.  Managed from 2003 by Gaynor Gaynor and subsequently Steve Kennedy, and now in its third consecutive year under Steve Galloway (pictured above teaching at LNG’s centre in Sweden in June 2011), the “Tuesday Night Class” continues to attract solid support week in, week out.

To find out more, or to find out about Steve’s morning class in Denbigh on Thursdays, or Lotus Nei Gong’s classes in Wrexham please call Steve on 07834 461 266 or drop a line using the contact form below. You can also find contact Steve via Facebook.

Hour long sessions will be led by Lotus Nei Gong teacher and TCUGB member Steve Galloway.

The free events, organised By Denbighshire County Council in support of Adult Learner’s week, give members of the public a chance to sample elements of  Tai Chi, a Chinese health and martial arts system, in addition to exploring Denbighshire’s outstanding historical monuments.

Nantclwyd Y Dre, in Ruthin town centre, is Wales’ oldest timbered town house. It has undergone several years of painstaking restoration, and today showcases 7 periods of its history and development dating back to its original construction in 1435.

One hour sessions commence at 11:00am and end at 3:00pm.  At time of writing, Taiji Online is awaiting promotional literature from Denbighshire County Council.  Anyone interested in attending on the day is welcome – ask at the venue’s information centre on arrival. Denbighshire can also be contacted direct on 01824 708 281, or by email – heritage@denbighshire.gov.uk

Damo Mitchell, a Taiji Online contributor, is technical director of Lotus Nei Gong and is currently based in Wrexham, North Wales.

According to the publisher’s web site, Singing Dragon is a trading style of Jessica Kingsley Publishers, publishers of authoritative books on complementary and alternative health, Tai Chi, Qigong and ancient wisdom traditions for health, wellbeing, and professional and personal development.

“Taoist Nei Gong, the Philosophical Art of Change”, can be pre-ordered from Amazon.

The story about the ghost of  ‘an attractive woman in white’ goes like this: the lady was believed to have been married to a seafarer, and while he was away she found herself a lover. One winter night her husband took unexpected shore leave, and caught them both ‘in flagrante’.  He murdered his wife, and from that moment on, she broodily paces the building to this day. I haven’t seen the ghost, but I have seen a few people who have. Verdict: “most haunted”, nevertheless the Llindir Inn, pictured here, is a hospitable pub.

Henllan is also situated close to an important hostorical and archaeological site know as the Bontnewydd, or Pontnewydd Caves, where  jaw fragments and teeth of Lower Paleolithic early Neanderthals dating from c.225,000 years ago have been discovered.

Find out more about Tai Chi classes in and around Henllan by using our contact form.

Need Directions?

Use the map below to find your way to Henllan Village Hall, near Denbigh.  To get directions to the hall,  just click on the red place marker shown on the map, click <get directions>,  enter the post code you will be travelling from, click <Go>, and Google’s route planner will calculate and show your directions underneath the map.

Although permission should be sought from the managers, access to outdoor space may be available during summer months.

Llandyrnog is less than a ten minute drive from Denbigh, and about twenty minutes from Ruthin.

Llandyrnog Village Hall is within a stone’s throw of the White Lion, and with the nearby Kinmel Arms and Golden Lion, Llandyrnog probably offers as much lunchtime choice as most towns.

Find out more about Tai Chi classes in and around Llandyrnog by using our contact form.

Need Directions?

Use the map below to find your way to Llandyrnog Village Hall, Denbighshire.  To get directions to the venue,  just click on the red place marker shown on the map, click <get directions>,  enter the post code you will be travelling from, click <Go>, and Google’s route planner will calculate and show your directions underneath the map.