Tai Chi Chuan was invented hundreds of years ago by people known as Taoists. These Taoists wanted a martial arts system that could help them develop superior health and fitness and enable them to effectively fight off any bandits or wild animals. Our objective is to preserve this holistic approach to tai chi so students can get all the benefits from training.
Our Tai Chi school and system is a unique version in that we still use and practice all the original self defence parts of the art that are rarely taught. Our tai chi comes from a lineage of practitioners who always taught the art as a complete system for health building and self defence.
Our chief instructor, Sifu Neil Rosiak, learned Tai Chi from Dan Docherty a famous fighting tai chi practitioner, from his early teens. Dan had learned it on the Hong Kong rooftop gym of Tai Chi legend, Cheng Tin Hung. The gym was known as one of the toughest in Hong Kong and produced dozens of champions in full contact fighting tournaments around Asia. Whilst learning from Dan, Neil won British championships and competed around Europe winning other international events. He and his student also won the first European Tai Chi championships, in Tai Chi pushing hands. A few years later he took part in trial matches which led him to being invited to fight for the national heavyweight championship of the very first professional MMA event held in the Uk. Many of Neil’s students from our club have become champions in different martial arts contests.
The main point to note of this history is that our tai chi system can be trained as a very powerful martial art that is effective in the ring or for street self defence. In fact Neil and several of his students have also spent many years working as nightclub bouncers and bodyguards in the era when it was a very rough occupation with plenty of need for defence of clients and themselves.
However, what’s equally important to note is that we teach and train the art in the original spirit with and equal emphasis on developing a healthy mind and body whilst developing really useful self defence or combat skills. In the old days this was called developing civil and martial qualities and both were to be treated equally.
As a club we want people to have access to a really positive training environment and experiences, with suitable levels of challenge to stimulate growth and development. Our members come from all walks of life and are all very helpful and friendly creating a very good social environment. We have regular ‘debrief’ discussions in the local pubs after long training sessions.
Holistic Tai Chi training can really improve quality of life when all aspects of the training are trained and practiced.
Some of the benefits of studying all five traditional tai chi aspects
- Cardiovascular fitness
- Improved respirations
- Better coordination
- Better posture
- Improved balance
- Good timing
- Good distance control
- Ability to defend against attacks efficiently
- High level strength
- Extreme stopping power (useful for combat)
- Knowledge and skill in a huge arsenal of unarmed combat techniques
- Improved ability to relax
- Healthier internal organs
- Potentially better balanced brain activity
- Feelings of tranquility and wellbeing
- Greater feelings of connection
