School Video Classes
Over the course of the Coronavirus Pandemic the School has been running weekly online video sessions. Each has been led by one of the teachers or senior members of the School. Edited versions of a number of these sessions are posted below. Should you wish to follow the videos, please make sure you are medically fit to practise Qi Gong and Tai Chi. It is also your own responsibility to take all appropriate Health and Safety measures to ensure your well being and safety in the space in which you are practising.
Amanda Whiteland-Smith
Amanda practices some familiar Chi Kung, including Wei Chi, and considers how coiling and circling adds a dimension to our movement. She also invites us to have a go at practising the Short Form with only very limited steps
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Sue McAlpine
Sue uses the Mudras, introduced by Tew, as a spiritual practice to bring us to peace and, aided by poetry, finishing with a sitting meditation to bring calm after the storm
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Paul Underhill
Paul concentrates on nourishing ‘the Centre’, first with a different version of the Ba Duan Jin (Silk Exercises), then using Zhan Zhuang (Standing Pile)to nourish the Central Channel (Chong Mai) and, lastly, centring and grounding the Qi using the ‘Cafetière’ Qigong.
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Rodney Adams
The main focus of this session is the Tien Xiou; Rodney guides in bringing the qualities of each of the five elements to the practice of this form. Also, in recognition of the dawning of the Chinese new year of the Water Tiger, he provides a qi gong based on the ‘boxing the tiger’s ears’ movement.
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Jos Hadfield
Jos draws attention to our breath in this class: being conscious of taking breath in and letting it go, to help us relax and become grounded, especially in times of adversity and challenge. She keeps this focus throughout a range of exercises and movements drawn from the Short and Long Forms.
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Sue McAlpine
Sue’s theme for this session is healing and how this is promoted by the circulation of chi around and within our body. With this focus in mind, she guides us through Wei Chi, Mudras, Movements for the Day and the Six Healing Sounds.
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Kristina Gjems
Through a range of movements, Kristina brings attention to the connectivity within, particularly that relating to our skeletal system with especial focus on the spine, and the connection between our fingers and shoulders, and our toes and pelvis.
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Sue, Tew, Rodney
Sue, Tew and Rodney offer a practice for the new year including meditation, the 10 paramis (qualities of the Bodhisattva) chant, mudras to address fear, and the Sukkino Wa chant. Click HERE to download pdf of accompanying text.
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Sue McAlpine
Sue reminds us of the power Tai Chi has to help us bring balance and harmony in our lives – especially important in the face of increasingly chaotic times. She leads us in a range of practices including Tian Xiou and Movements of the Day.
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Jos Hadfield
Jos brings our attention to the notions of space and spaciousness, and through a series of exercises and practices, helps us bring awareness of these notions to all levels of our being.
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Amanda Whiteland-Smith
Amanda’s class includes: breathing for connection to earth, sky and the community of humankind; the white crane qi gong which is particularly good for balance; and the wei chi sequence.
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Paul Underhill
Following the 18-move shibashi sequence, Paul introduces a punch and kick combination from the Wu tradition, and then demonstrates how this can be practiced as a qi gong exercise.
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Sue McAlpine
Sue’s session includes exercises for relaxing, grounding and connecting, the shibashi sequence, and movements for the day.
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Amanda Whiteland-Smith
Following a series of warm-up exercises , Amanda guides us through movements to help balance followed by the Wei Chi and Ba Duan Jin (yin-style) Qi Gong sequences.
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Anne Mackintosh
Anne reminds us of the importance of recognising and drawing on that which empowers us as she takes us through a range of practices including forward and backward circling, balance exercises, movements from the shabashi sequence (see Paul Underhill) and movements for the day (see Sue McAlpine).
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Paul Underhill
Paul revisits the 18-move shabashi sequence and then takes us through a Cloud Hands Qigong (from Bruce Frantzis’s stable) which addresses the legs, the kwa and the spine – all essential components to maintain mobility both in our Tai Chi practice and in our day-to-day living.
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Amanda Whiteland-Smith
Amanda reprises practices from previous sessions that have a particular significance for her. These include Tian Xiou, a yang form of Ba Duan Jin and a most relaxing foot meditation.
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Anne Mackintosh
In this session, Anne revisits work on identifying what supports us and bringing this consciousness into our practice; introduces the notions of forward and backwards circling and the significance of these in how we engage with the world; she closes her session with walking meditation.
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John Haywood
John reprises his work on raising and cleansing energy body energy. He guides us through a range of practices including Tian Xiou and the Ba Duan Jin (yin form).
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Kristina Gjems
Kristina guides us through a lying-down meditation by which we can relax, ground and energise our bodies and minds. She follows this with qi gong exercises and the tian xiou, drawing attention to the qualities of the elements that can be experienced in the balance between stillness and movement.
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Karen Durham
Karen invites us to reflect on what grounds us; to feel this connection within our body and explore it through movement. She follows this by guiding us through a Qi Gong exercise developed from within her own practice.
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John Haywood
John revisits work on raising and cleansing energy, focussing particularly on energies of the elements. He guides us through a range of practices including Tian Xiou, Wei Chi, Six Healing Sounds and the Ba Duan Jin (yin form).
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Anne Mackintosh
Anne invites us to consider what supports us and to physically attach a representation of this to our back during this session. She focusses on the ‘Old Section’ of the Short Form, demonstrating the practice of this in four directions whilst moving through 360 degrees. She concludes by guiding us in the Four Bhramaviharas.
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Terry Griffin
Terry guides us through warm up exercises prior to introducing practices to strengthen our bones and immune systems. She ends with the mantra to Quan Yin (the Chinese representation of the Spirit of Compassion). The words of the mantra are:
Na Mo Ta Pe Kuan She Yin Pu Sa
“Homage to the great listener to the sounds of the world;
Hail to the compassionate cosmic mother Wisdom body.”
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Jos Hadfield
Jos reprises and reinforces a range of practices that Tew brought to his retreat on Equanimity and Courage. These practices help us to remain centred and balanced through opening ourselves to connection with Earth (groundedness), Sky (spaciousness), Man-Woman (relationship) and ultimately to the Transcendent (Infinite Compassion).
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Richard Siwiak
Richard invites us to approach some familiar movements in a range of different ways, emphasising the importance of breath and sound. He also demonstrates how the Short Form can be undertaken from a stationary standing or sitting position – a practice which might be very helpful to students with limited mobility.
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Paul Underhill
Paul revisits the 18-move shibashi sequence and then introduces the powerful practice of breathing through the skin – a means of absorbing Undifferentiated Qi from the Wu . His article on the practice can be found in the ‘Articles Section’ of the Members’ Resource Centre. It is entitled, ‘What’s in a Breath?’
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Sue McAlpine
Drawing on Verse Eight from the Tao Te Ching, Sue introduces us to 7 characteristics of water. She describes how each of these can help us follow The Way of Water in maintaining harmony and simplicity in our lives. Sue closes with a guided meditation on the passage of water from raindrop to the ocean. Notes to accompany her video can be found in the Articles Section – please scroll down.
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Tew Bunnag
The theme of Tew’s class is Peace of the Heart and how this constitutes the basis for being well. He demonstrates the 6 Healing Sounds practice as a means of helping us cleanse fear, anger, sadness, anxiety, depression and other negative effects arising from current world problems. And then takes us through other practices for bringing peace and harmony to our heart and body energies.
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Richard Siwiak
Richard encourages us to explore, play, soften and awaken as he guides us through preparation exercises, Wei Chi, Tian Xiao and movements from the Short and Long Form. Each set of movements can be approached as a joyful journey of discovery.
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Caroline Purkhardt
Caroline brings a consciousness of the changing of the seasons to her class, incorporating the elements and chakras into her practice. Her class also includes partner work with the ‘brush knee and press’ movements from the Short and Long Forms.
The video will automatically repeat; to stop the video, click on the pause button or close the page. We apologise for the poor quality of the sound on this video.
John Haywood
John reprises movements for raising chi and goes on to develop the partner-work practice introduced in previous classes.
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Rodney Adams
The main focus of this class is the ‘push – yield’ movement from the Long Form. In the live class participants were able to practice this move with partners drawn from the ‘gallery view’ (this displays all participants). For privacy reasons this could not be captured on video, but anyone wanting to follow the class will be able to practice the move with Rodney as a partner.
Unfortunately, due to broadband problems at the time of recording , the video ‘hiccups’ in a number of places. The video will automatically repeat; to stop the video, click on the pause button or close the page.
Kristina Gjems
Kristina demonstrates movements for loosening and softening the body and then takes us through two Qi Gong forms: Wei Chi and Ba Duan Jin (yin form); and ‘The Seven Steps of Buddha’ – a sequence of movements from the Tai Chi Long Form. Throughout, Kristina offers images and visualisations to help us connect with, and keep attentive to, the movements.
Unfortunately, the recording missed the first few minutes of Kristina’s class. The video will automatically repeat; to stop the video, click on the pause button or close the page.
Jos Hadfield
Jos gives particular attention to body alignment and proportionality in movement. She carries this awareness into an exploration of the component movements of the brush-knee & press, and repel (quieten) the monkey, sequences. Jos closes her class with Metta Meditation.
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Paul Underhill
Paul describes and demonstrates two Qi Gongs practiced in preparation for undertaking Tai Chi as a martial art: Shibashi – comprising a set of 18 distinct sequences, and a Qi Gong focussing specifically on the 5 elements.
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Anne Mackintosh
Anne gives particular attention to the ‘Brush Knee and Push’ and ‘Monkey Steps’ sequences, moving from one sequence to the other in a loop. These sequences are components of both the Short and Long Tai Chi Forms.
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Sue McAlpine
Sue guides us through a series of movements helping us to experience chi, centredness, form and formlessness, yin and yang, and the elements; relating these to our own spiritual journey.
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Kamal Thapen
Kamals class includes the Ba Duan Jin and Tian Xiao forms, punch and kick sequences and the Short Form.
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Rodney Adams
Rodney builds on the work of John, introducing us to some further exercises to raise Chi, and exploring how chi can be brought to the expression of the five elements in movement and in selected sections of the Short Form.
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John Haywood
In this session, John takes us through a number of exercises to raise awareness of our chi energy, and to encourage the circulation of chi around our bodies.
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