Dịch
Patrick Watson (1935-1992) already had a long history with martial arts, Hawaiian swimming, and the theater when he began studying with Cheng Man-Ch’ing in 1966. He studied with him for nine years, becoming one of his eight most senior disciples. In 1976, Patrick founded The School of Tai Chi Chuan (STCC) specifically to train teachers to teach the Professor’s tai chi chuan form; in 1979 Patrick founded T’ai Chi Foundation, Inc which now manages all programs including teaching, training, research, and development. Over the next 16 years, Patrick guided the growth of the STCC into an international school with branches in seven countries.
Patrick was a master teacher, always teaching and taking every opportunity to illustrate tai chi awareness in action. Patrick realized that in order for this teaching to flourish, it would need to transcend the limitations of his individual personality as well as his genius. He saw beyond his own ego gratification and encouraged his more senior students to teach his beginning students in order to build a bonafide school. The Teachings of Oscar Ichazo, the originator of Integral Philosophy and founder of the Arica School®, were employed by Patrick Watson in the formation of the T’ai Chi School. Many of our T’ai Chi teachers continue to be practitioners in the Arica School. Patrick developed our team teaching method to accelerate the school’s progress and with permission, applied principles from the Teachings of Oscar Ichazo, the originator of Integral Philosophy and founder of the Arica School to further enrich the process.
In 1992, Patrick passed away and left The School of Tai Chi Chuan and Tai Chi Foundation to continue his legacy. We have both struggled and grown while finding our new identity. Now, years after his death, we still share a strong sense of continuity and community. We enjoy working together in a historic community of many teachers instead of one. We are very aware of the responsibility handed to us to uphold our part of this lineage. And we seek to embody tai chi principles to honor the spirit of this exquisite art, and to share what we know with others.
