Fall 2007

The Charlottesville community hasembraced T’ai Chi, a fact made evident duringthe debut performance of the Inner Peace VarietyShow on Saturday, May 5th, at the ParamountTheatre.

“It was remarkably well attended giventhe large number of competing events inCharlottesville. The Paramount was filled withindividuals, families and many young people allfully engaged with the show,” said John Redick,

President of the Charlottesville Area CommunityFoundation (CACF).

Tussi Kluge and her husband, JohnWerner Kluge, benefactors of The John W. KlugePrize and seasonal Albemarle County residents,have been practicing T’ai Chi for years,experiencing overall fitness and a sense of innerpeace. They have joined with the Hiromi T’ai ChiOrganization and other ardent supporters toeducate folks about the transforming healthbenefits of the ancient Chinese Martial Art T’aiChi Ch’uan (the short version is pronounced tiechee).

The Kluges, CACF and others, have beenactively involved with Hiromi T’ai ChiOrganization, building community awareness forT’ai Chi as a wellness exercise and lifestyleprogram.

Hiromi leads children from the audience in Animal Chi Kung. photo by Pie Dumas

Practicing Peace from the Inside OutBy Pie Dumas

“The Inner Peace Variety Show was anunqualified success; the quality and novel natureof the performers and engagement of the audiencewas a participatory celebration of life and peace,”John Redick added.

Indeed the show offered a skillfulblending of music and movement – T’ai Chidemonstrations with swords, staffs and fans,accompanied by a bamboo flute played by RobSanducci from New York. M a s t e r o fCeremonies, Gloria Rockhold, introduced theartists and provided an explanation of the T’ai Chimovements.

The Paramount stage was graced with anexceptional performance of the Barber StringQuartet in B Minor, Opus 11, performed by aquartet of students from the eminent CurtisInstitute of Music in Philadelphia.

C h a r l o t t e s -ville’s Robert Jospeand Kevin Davisinspired the audiencewith their lively“World Beat MusicWorkshop”, consistingof jazz drumming andLatin percussion,offering plenty ofhand clapping andsinging opportunities.

J o n a t h a nWalton, a native Virginian and Kluge scholarstudying at Columbia University, enthralled thelisteners with his acclaimed spoken-word poetry.

Rounding out the distinguished roster,were classical selections performed with masteryby The SYM Trio – cellist, Marvin Brown,violinist, Shankar Srinivasan both celebratedmusicians with the Charlottesville High SchoolOrchestra and international concert pianist and

composer, Yumi Womack.Rob Sanducci opened the show, literally setting thestage with lyrical harmonics from his flute;melodies that echoed through the theatre, creatinga tranquil atmosphere.

“I came to the Paramount to relax,” saidNorma Bailey, a local resident. “It is fantastic thatthe Paramount is bringing affordable shows foreveryone!”

The two and one-half hour productioncombined a unique backdrop of entertainment,education and participation, all for a mere $7 adultticket with free admission to K-12 children andstudents.

Hiromi Johnson, the founder of HiromiT’ai Chi, a non-profit educational organization,was born in Tokyo and began studying T’ai Chi in1980 to rehabilitate her knees after surgery. She

moved to Charlottesville in1998 and started teachingT’ai Chi Ch’uan and ChiKung in 2000.

Hiromi was onstage alongside her students,both adults and children.Performers looked asthough they were gliding onair, as they seemed to defygravity while twirling staffs,

sp inning swords andsnapping open colorful

Chinese fans, generating a crisp slapping sound.Many of the children who appeared on theParamount stage may not have had such anopportunity if not for a handful of generoussupporters and Hiromi T’ai Chi’s willingness toreach out to the community at large.

“With a lot of help from the community,especially Tussi and John Kluge and CACF,Hiromi has been able to offer T’ai Chi classes in a

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the World Beat Music Workshop of Robert Jospe andKevin Davis photo by Pie Dumas

wide variety of venues such as public schoolsJackson-Via and Cale Elementary; IndependenceResource Center; Post High; Carver Center andMary Williams Senior Center,” said a volunteerwho helped to promote the show.

“Funds were donated, allowing HiromiT’ai Chi to send teachers into schools to workwith At-Risk students – elementary and pre-school – many of whom performed on stage for thefirst time.”

T’ai Chi groups often practice in a publicsetting, a park or even on Charlottesville’sDowntown Mall. The slow, deliberate movementand the oneness of the group reflect the simplicityand artistic form that capture and reveal man’s true,gentle nature.

“What we do in Charlottesville is for thehealth benefits of T’ai Chi. We practice togetherto be a better person, to get better health and to begrounded,” Hiromi Johnson explains. “By movingslowly, it helps us breathe more deeply and bringsus to a calmer state, like meditation. Focusing onthe movement helps us let go of everything else fora short time, and brings a state of harmonybetween mind and body.

“Out of naiveté, not knowing, somepeople may think T’ai Chi has a connection toreligion. That’s not the case. T’ai Chi is aphysical discipline that keeps you focused andconcentrated,” Tussi Kluge said. “We learn to stayaware, really listening to yourself and to yourmovement and listening to others. It’s practicedall over the world. American scientists have doneresearch on T’ai Chi with all types of people, eventhose in wheel chairs, to help them regain balanceand movement after serious injuries and haveshown incredible improvement.”

Mrs. Constance Wyant, Post High Teacher

We have been attending your T’ai Chi class for ayear and the responses have only been positive!Some of the remarks from our students are:

I LOVE T’AI CHI!

I am so relaxed, can we go everyday?

I want to bring my mom.

I am learning. It feels good.

When the students get on the bus after class, thedriver always comments about the students’ stateof mind. We get comments from classmates andother teachers that they seem more relaxed andfocused. It has been a wonderful experience forthem to come to the Dojo and learn a strategy togive them self confidence and a feeling of powerover their own lives.

Diane Wakat, PhD, from Charlottesville“Five years ago, I went to New York to see one

of the world’s experts in Lyme Disease. Iessentially had no balance. My gait wasdisconnected from my brain’s signals to my legs,”said, in an interview. “When the MD asked me tostand on one leg with my eyes closed, I could notcome close. I could not stand on one foot with myeyes open. Now with T’ai Chi my balance isreturning. The T’ai Chi stand with one foot up nearthe knee, is something I can do. As a matterof fact, I use the T’ai Chi walk several times a day,as a way to improve my balance.”

3 Fall 2007

Pie Dumas is a Life Coach & Author, Skye’s the LimitCoaching & Publications

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We held our fifth annual Open House onSeptember 8, 2007. About 40 students, teachersand friends, as well as those who are interested inlearning more about T’ai Chi and Ch’i Kungattended the demonstration of the various stylestaught in the Hiromi T’ai Chi dojo.

Twelve different forms were demon-strated, and Hiromi explained the differencesamong the various styles, and the benefits ofregular practice. Everyone enjoyed delicious sushifollowing the program. A raffle was held andlucky winners walked away with a gift certificatefor 12 free lessons at the Hiromi T’ai Chi dojo, aswell as some T-Shirts and Tote Bags.

An A-Frame Poster Stand was made and donatedto HTC by Jessi Bryl for use at demonstrations,workshops and other events. Thank you Jessi!.

A Beautiful New Weapon Stand was constructedwith funds donated from Little Mountain. Thestand bristles with spears, staffs and swords usedin classes at the dojo.

ChairsFifteen very comfortable chairs for audiences atevents in the dojo were graciously donated byTussi Kluge.

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Good News! Hiromi T’ai Chi nowvalidates students’ parking tickets fortwo hours in the Market and WaterStreet Parking Garages.

15-step T’ai Chi Ch’i Kung

Hsing-I Short Stick

Hiromi T’ai Chi presented Grayson Butterfield and hernew baby, Nora, with a gift in heartfelt appreciation forher devotion and hard work as a teacher and a leaderof so many group practice sessions.

5 Fall 2007

On Saturday, April 28, 35 students andinstructors from HTC put on an exhibition of T’aiChi and Ch’i Kung on the downtown mall inCharlottesville in solidarity with people all over theglobe on World T’ai Chi Day. In each countrywhere T’ai Chi is practiced, people begin aperformance of the gentle martial art at 10:00 A.M.As the sun circles the globe, others begin the samemovements in a celebration of the physical andmental benefits of the practice. The weather wasbeautiful and a crowd gathered to watch thegraceful T’ai Chi forms and exciting sword, shortstick, staff and fan forms. Short lessons wereoffered to the public for those interested in giving ita try.

This summer when Hiromi went to Texas totrain under Master Wang, he presented her witha fine set of calligraphy on nine scrolls listingthe names of every posture in the 99 steps of theCheng Ming T’ai Chi form. The work was a giftof Tsai Pei-Chian, a respected Taiwanese callig-rapher, and has been framed and hung on thewall of our dojo. The beautiful strokes of blackon white inspire students of the form, and allwho practice in the dojo.

24-Step T’ai Chi

14-Step Cheng Ming T’ai Chi 14-Step T’ai Chi “Embrace Winter” Workshop

Still Moving 6

I first started taking Ch’i Kung (Qigong)lessons (in my case Eight Pieces of Brocade) about ayear ago. At that time I felt that I needed some type ofphysical discipline to take up. Preferably something thathad a lot of history to it. Something that has had(and still has) many thousands of practitioners.

Two things come to mind as to what attractedme to Ch’i Kung. One, I have a friend who is a longtime student of Hiromi’s and she was stronglyexpressing the positive experiences that she washaving with her practice. Two, I was fascinated byhow extraordinarily simple Ch’i Kung movementsappeared to be. I thought “How can this supposedlyancient school of physical movement look sosimple?” (Of course I hadn’t seen much at that point butwhat I saw looked this way.) There appeared to besomething totally basic about it. Something that startedsimple. Seeing all of this, I jumped in.

Now, twelve months later my view of Ch’iKung is something like this. It’s a skill/art that one hasto work on. Something that for the most part I have topractice regularly. I seem to spend about 40 - 50minutes a day, missing maybe a day a week or so (Idon’t like to get militant about it.) It’s like I have adaily relationship with these poses/postures/movements that Hiromi has shown me. And thisrelationship goes extraordinarily deep. Way deeperthan I ever thought they would. The body, I havefound has infinite things to reveal. And tomorrow, liketoday I start all over… Ch’i Kung is a skill, and an artthat has a very important place in my life and I amhappy about that.

My first glimpse of T’ai Chi was in the pages ofa novel set in early China that I read as a child. While Idon’t remember the title of that book or its plot, I canstill picture the author’s description of the protagonistpracticing T’ai Chi to regain his sense of balance andcalm, the silhouette of this solitary figure moving withgrace and power through the ancient steps andmovements. It was a long time before I thought about T’aiChi again, but I recognized it immediately whenmany years later I saw a group of people moving inharmony through the strange but beautiful steps in NewYork’s Central Park.

In addition to this fascination with T’ai Chisimply because of its beauty, on a more practical level, Ihave seen it coming up more and more in medicaljournals as beneficial to health in many contexts, rangingfrom osteoporosis and flexibility to mental acuity andAlzheimer’s disease to blood pressure and circulation. SoI was thrilled to have the opportunity to learn T’ai Chiwith Hiromi when we moved to Charlottesville.

Learning T’ai Chi, or at least the beginnings ofit, has meant more to me than I expected – somethingthat happens rarely in life! I practice it almost every daynow, and feel that my thoughts are sharper and mymovements more controlled. Old knee and shoulderinjuries that used to leave their lingering stiffness andsoreness have faded; something in the T’ai Chimovements has helped them more than any of thetraditional western physical therapy exercises I tried.Like the character in the novel I read long ago, duringstressful times T’ai Chi can be a very helpful way to findmy sense of inner balance and calm again. And it issimply beautiful. I love the feel of the flow ofmovements, and knowing that people have beenfollowing these steps for centuries.

I have had the chance now to see severalteachers practicing T’ai Chi, some in person and some onDVDs. To me, Hiromi is one of the most graceful andexceptional practitioners I have seen, and I feelprivileged to have had the chance to learn with her.

I remember the first three weeks when Istarted attending Hiromi's T’ai Chi classes at ACACthat a one hour class felt like a two hour gym work out!That is how much T’ai Chi moves the energy(chi) in one’s body. By the fourth week my back totallyimproved and my over all health, body stature, andmind felt grounded and centered. I especiallyenjoy the way Hiromi teaches her students withspaciousness and equanimity. As an Acupuncturistwho now feels twenty years younger because of T’aiChi practice I now often recommend T’ai Chi to myclients as an excellent compliment both physically andspiritually.

Fall 20077

Hiromi gave a workshop on the first Zhan ZhuangStanding Meditation set on the morning of Saturday, June16. Twelve people participated. Standing Meditation is apowerful way to connect your center and be aware ofbody alignment. The Standing Meditation series inCheng-Ming system has many layers, each working withdifferent meridians and internal organs. It looks easy at aglance but once people start practicing a set, they find thatthe simpler the posture, the more difficult it is to maintainit for longer than a few minutes. On November 17th

Hiromi taught a Saturday workshop on the second set ofthe Standing Meditation form.

Workshops on the 14-step Cheng Ming T’ai Chi form wereheld for the public on the afternoon of June 16 andNovember 17th. The 14-Step form is the beginning andfoundation of the 99-Step T’ai Chi form that is central tothe Cheng Ming School. It is a combination formdeveloped by Grandmaster Wang Shu-Jin with 5 familystyles of T’ai Chi with Hsing-I and Ba Gua elements.

A series of workshops are being held to help Hiromi T’aiChi students refine their knowledge of the 99-Step ChengMing T’ai Chi Form. On October 19th, students practicedthe first 14 steps of the form, concentrating on details ofthe movements, and martial arts applications. OnNovember 16th students worked to refine theirperformance of the first 33 steps of the form. OnDecember 14th students will work on the first 66 steps ofthe form.

Would you like to share YOUR experienceswith T’ai Chi? We would be pleased toaccept articles by students and teachers forfuture newsletters. Email articles to Martin atmartindj1@embarqmail.com

33-Step T’ai Chi Refinement Workshop for HTC Students