Monthly “Time In the Art” Classes (free to members)

HomeMonthly “Time In the Art” Classes (free to members)

Time In The Art is a series of monthly classes taught by experienced teachers and are suitable for all levels of Tai Chi students.

They cover a wide range of topics, including tai chi principles and the five excellences of Professor Cheng Man ch’ing.

Registration details will be emailed the day before the class.

$20 for non-members; FREE for TCF members

TCF members can also access the library of recordings of all past classes via the “Member-only pages” view of this website.

2024 Schedule

Each class will take place on the third Monday of the month from 1:00 PM ET – 2:00 PM ET.

 

November 18th, 2024: Tai Chi Principles : Insights and Exploration

Hosted by Anna Teeples with a Panel of Senior Teachers: Margaret Olmsted & Patrice Wooldridge

Join us for an engaging forum where we explore the foundational principles of Tai Chi with expert teachers. Discover how concepts like relaxation, straightness, balance, and harmony enhance the flow of Tai Chi and enrich your practice. Whether you are new to Tai Chi or an experienced practitioner, this forum offers valuable insights and thought-provoking discussions. Come and deepen your understanding of how Tai Chi can promote both physical and mental well-being. All are welcome to participate and contribute to this inspiring conversation.

 

 

 

We will soon announce the 2025 Time In The Art Programs.

Click Here To Watch Recordings Of Our Previous Programs

Not a Member?

As a TCF Member, you can attend these events for free, watch previously recorded events and much more!

Time In The Art Programs Archive

2024

 

October 21st, 2024: Tai Chi Principles – Dantian Focus, Grounding, Upward Lift – Taught by Joan Campbell, Tai Chi Teacher
Using two to three tai chi moves from The Eight Ways, we will focus on awakening and strengthening the principles of dantian focus, grounding (by softening the feet and ankles), and upward lift (by softening the shoulders and lower back). No matter your experience level, practicing the Eight Ways is a great way to deepen your understanding of tai chi and its applications to daily life.
September 16th, 2024: Five Excellences – The Professor: A Life of Painting – Taught by Edna Brandt: senior teacher, acupuncturist, brush painter
Our tai chi lineage comes through Professor Cheng Man-ching. In this session we will learn about the life of the Professor while viewing his marvelous paintings. Most people don’t know how famous Cheng was as a painter, or how creative he was. Beginning as a child prodigy, he painted until his death, had major exhibitions in many countries, and left an important art legacy.
June 17th, 2024: Five Excellences – Calligraphy Taught by Gene Giffen
The purpose of this course is to explore how this most difficult of the Five Excellences can be practically accessible to us now in our high-tech, accelerating lives.  Calligraphy study commonly begins with developing a routine practice of hours of repetitions of the seven basic strokes with attention to good Chinese pen manipulation. Less notice is often paid to another vital aspect of the study: learning to contemplate and make copies of the masterpieces of the great calligraphy scholars. This is a thoroughly beautiful part of the learning process. However, in the past, it was a big obstacle. Access to rare, often carefully preserved, and sequestered masterpieces was difficult. . With the Internet, however, this big obstacle may not exist for us at all. It is also surprising to find calligraphy treasures in museums around the U.S. and Europe due to the selling off of many of China’s classical treasures during the Cultural Revolution. Just looking at great calligraphy can be compared to the acquisition of tai chi “Time in the Art” energy through daily rounds. With perseverance and an attitude of open-minded innocent observation, one can soon develop the vital skill of knowing what great calligraphy looks like. Beyond this, we learn to be receptive to the transmission of the energy and wisdom of the works of the great scholar calligraphers.
May 20th, 2024: Tai Chi Principles – Listening Taught by Tina Curran
In tai chi and in life listening can make all the difference. We listen with more than our ears to the world around us to the moment to others to our habits to ourselves. We will explore, in this hour, how we listen.
April 15th, 2024: Five Excellences – Traditional Chinese Medicine Taught by Declan Rothwell
Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on the same principles as T’ai Chi – The Dao, Yin/Yang and the Five Elements. Through embodying these principles, you can attain balance, harmony and happiness in your life! Join us to experience these principles in teaching and doing.
March 18th, 2024: Tai Chi Principles – Cultivating Softness Taught by Margaret Olmsted
Softness is a quality we cultivate in tai chi. Soft relaxed muscles. Soft gaze. A soft gentle attitude toward others and ourselves. We will explore these qualities and more in this class.
February 19th, 2024: Tai Chi Principles – Momentum Taught by Paul Campbell
We will explore the tai chi principle of Momentum. Participants will experience how all movement produces momentum, which can, if unimpeded, provide additional impetus for further movement. Along these lines, the original 13 postures of tai chi were traditionally described as Long Boxing because of how their ceaseless movement was coupled with momentum. In this session, we will focus on how this interplay of movement and momentum impacts both our tai chi practice and our everyday actions.  References: Mark Hennessy translator. Master Cheng’s New Method of Taichi Ch’uan. Page 25 bottom paragraph on momentum. Yang Chengfu. The Essence and Application of Taijiquan. “The most important principle in Taijiquan is the value placed on the regularity of movement and stillness”. Page 11.

2023

December 18th, 2023: Free Writing and Tai Chi by Annette Peizer

After a brief overview of the Amherst Writers and Artists Technique, tai chi-related prompts will be provided, and we will freewrite quickly together in small breakout groups without worrying about grammar, punctuation, or spelling. You have the option to read what you wrote in the breakout group to each other, and the listeners respond by only stating what they liked best about the writing or what stood out the most to them. Back in the large group, we will share some of the ideas and images expressed in the freewrites both verbally and through chat, then do a little tai chi together while working what was shared from our freewrites.

November 20th, 2023: The Elements by Other Means with John Szostek

This session is a tribute to Patrick Watson’s other love, the theatre. Since antiquity, theatre artists developed ways (Mimesis) to embody the elements; Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. The Greek Chorus portrayed these elements moving as one body. The methods for embodiment have been passed down through the ages, and work equally with the Chinese Five Elements. We will playfully experience some of these movement and vocal methods, focusing on the element Water. Wear loose fitting clothes and provide some space to move freely.

October 2oth, 2023: Being 100% In Arms with Mike Barkham

From the time we begin learning the tai chi form, we discuss being 100% — recognizing Yin vs. Yang / Full vs. Empty / Substantial vs. Insubstantial. However, we usually only discuss this principle in relation to our legs. In this session, we’ll explore – in an experiential way – its application to the arms.  Hopefully, this new focus will increase your awareness of the constant flow of Yin and Yang throughout the form and enhance both your enjoyment of practice and the benefits you get from it.

September 18th, 2023: Resolving Damp in the Time of Earth with Miriam Cooper

In classical Taoist Medicine, “damp” refers to the accumulation of unwanted fluid in the body. Damp also refers to the hesitation which prevents us from moving forward into Life. This hesitation/damp appears in everything from how we use our feet on the floor to the movement of our thoughts. Taoist Medicine takes special care to keep damp from developing in a person and to clear it if it does. This class will focus on how tai chi helps our inner Earth energy to resolve damp. We will have a taste of how, in the season of Earth (Late Summer), tai chi gives an extra boost to the alchemy of transforming damp and to the joy of “receiving fullness” as a result.

August 23rd, 2023: A New Approach to Learning The Spin with Angie Holland

In practicing Tai Chi, it’s easy to be intimidated by what looks like a 360-degree turn. Get out of your head, into your body and discover that you already know a big part of this move. In this class, we’ll play with walking and spinning with ease, feeling our movement, connecting to our dantiens and build on those things.

June 19th, 2023: Empty Steps from the Inside Out with Lee Felton

Fine-tuning our sense of principle, momentum and balance. We’ll begin by focusing on relaxing the knees, and see how that can affect our alignment in movement.

May 15th, 2023: Qualities of Excellent Tai Chi, Part II with Edna Brandt

A light-hearted exploration of four qualities of excellent Tai Chi. Peaceful and Comfortable; Rounded and Lively. We will apply these attributes to inspire our practice and to enliven our lives.

April 17th, 2023: Learning with Lomi with Charlotte Zinsser Booth

Learn how these three gentle healing movements can inform our solo form, helping us, and our students, ‘do less’ with greater relaxation.  Each of the 3 Lomi movements provide accessible sensory experience we can bring to bear on the quality and unity of our Tai Chi.

March 20th, 2023 Wabi-Sabi: Discovering Beauty in the Imperfect with Linda Bisberg

We will look at cross-cultural aesthetics and how they shape our perspective & experience of the world. Using this knowledge as an opening for discovery, we will explore how a new perspective can shift our experience of our own tai chi practice.

February 20th, 2023: Qualities of Excellent Tai Chi, Part I with Edna Brandt

A light-hearted exploration of four qualities of excellent Tai Chi: Centered and Balanced; Light and Agile. We will apply these attributes to inspire our practice and to enliven our lives.

2022

November 21st, 2022: Happy Hips with Kevin Lannon

We will have a close look at how we open our hips when making steps for any 70/30 Tai Chi position. We will create a safe space to question ourselves and notice if we fall into positions to achieve perceived goals. With this knowledge, we will also look at home exercises for our daily routines.

October 17th, 2022: Learning to Align with Gravity with Declan Rothwell

Age, trauma and negative life experience affects our body and the way we carry ourselves. Our alignment to the heavens is one of the keys to health. Let’s explore ways to become aware of our current alignment, and through tai chi principles, align ourselves more naturally, letting go of tension, and restoring our natural order.

September 19th, 2022: Finding and Keeping Our Balance in Life with Tai Chi with Margaret Olmsted

As we experience life, we always encounter moments that affect our balance physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Join this Tai Chi class where we will reflect on how we are doing in the present moment and explore powerful ways to find greater balance in our lives.

August 15th: Tai Chi & The Aging Body with Tina Curran & Edna Brandt

Tai Chi can help us age with grace and agility, help us allow the changes aging brings to open our lives to new ways of being present and at ease, and help us recover and begin again when we aren’t. For those of us who have practiced the art of Tai Chi for many years, and for those new to this work, there is much wisdom here as our bodies change. This profound practice can be a great source of rehabilitation and renewal, starting from where you are right now.

June 20th: Taking In The World With Tai Chi with Patrice Wooldridge

One of the wonderful principles of tai chi is practicing relaxation and being calm – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. This calmness typically brings a sense of security and safety. And, with that, one can more easily experience all the beauty of the world. This hour will focus on exercises that help one feel relaxed and calm and will point to how we can all be more open, awake and alive during our everyday lives.

May 16th: Chinese for Tai Chi Students with Edna Brandt & Julie Reinganum

To deepen your experience of tai chi, come explore the Chinese names for the movements in the first third of the form, from Single Whip to Cross Hands. We will study the visual nature of the characters and discuss how their meaning can extend into our practice of tai chi. Join us as we answer questions like: What does Single Whip mean? Where’s the twist in Brush Knee Twist Step? What is a Pipa?

April 18th: Free Writing and Tai Chi with Annette Peizer

Come with pen and paper or a preferred digital device to experience a 1-hour creative writing practice that integrates some of the Eight Ways of Tai Chi. This supportive free writing method, taught by Annette, includes brief Tai Chi-related writing sessions followed by nurturing feedback in intimate breakout groups. Your ideas discovered from your writing will then be more deeply cultivated as we practice Tai Chi together in between the brief freewrites.

March 21st: Enjoying your Tai Chi with Patrice Wooldridge

This hour will include deep relaxation while laying down, sitting or standing. We will play with the Tai Chi principles to help you bring your practice to everyday life.