Marsha Nolan

 

I started tai chi classes with Master Jou Tsung Hwa in 1972. I was immediately attracted to the graceful movements I saw in the form. We practice outside of Livingston College every single day from 8 o'clock until at least 10 or 11 o'clock. In the very beginning we were doing The Professor Chang Man Ching 37 form. After a while we switched to the 108 Yang style long form and then to the first and second routine of the Chen style form.

I loved every single moment of my daily practice. Many of us stayed till at least noon because we added two sword forms, one sparring two person form, staff and an application form.

When Master Jou purchased and created the tai chi farm I was able to assist him in running the first few yearly festivals. I met many wonderful teachers and took seminars with them at the farm.

It was at the tai chi farm that I was introduced to BP Chan. Any person who knows him, does nothing but praise him for who he was and what he was able to share with us.

He was a master of Bagua and Hsing Yi , he also taught many different types of Chi gong and applications. I attended some of his classes in New York City but mostly weekly classes on the Farm property. These were small classes full of so much information.

I feel saddened that at that time I had limited understanding of the internal portions of all of these forms.
Another very wonderful teacher that I studied with was Zhang Lu Ping. I drove to Brooklyn, NY and down to Tennessee to study with him.
Again, not too many of us had a clue on how to do what he was trying to get us to do. I also got a gold medal in my age bracket in Houston Texas around 1989.

I was very serious about trying to learn this art in the most appropriate way that I could at the time. It was not until I met Master William Ting and took all of his workshops and seminars on the 24 musts and the principles of tai chi that I started to comprehend the internal power of tai chi through the practice of principles.