About Master Waters: Master Waters started practicing tai chi in 1976 with Micheal Gilman in Tucson AZ. In 1982 she met Master Jou Tsung Hwa (Author of The Tao of Tai Chi Chuan) and Master William C. C. Chen (one of the top Grandmasters in the US) when they each taught a workshop in Eureka, Arkansas.

Her training became accelerated seeing Grandmaster Chen regularly at workshops in Bloomington, Indiana. She studied Yang style form, applications, push hands and free fighting with Master William C.C. Chen.

She was certified to teach body mechanics of tai chi chuan by William C. C. Chen in 1988. Starting in 1989 she moved to New York for 4 months every summer, for 3 years, living at the at the Tai Chi Farm near Warwick NY. Master Jou Tsung Hwa trained with Master Waters on a regular basis, while she saw William Chen weekly. Jou Tsung Hwa taught her qigong, chen style forms, yang style 2 person form and push hands.

She has also studied with T. K. Shih, Yang Jwing Ming, B.P.Chan, Chen Hsing Yu, Daniel Lee, David Pancarician. In 1990, she competed at the Taste of China tai chi national tournament in Winchester, VA and won second place in Yang form and grand champion in the womens push hands. She was invited to join the US tai chi team and travel to Taiwan for a November competition. She won 1st place in Push Hands in Taiwan at the First Chung Hwa International Tournament. She competed one more time at the nationals in 1991 and won push hands again. She now serves as a judge and referee at tai chi tournaments, and teaches push hands seminars.

From 1993 - 1996, Elaine studied qigong and qi healing with Master T.K. Shih in Kingston NY. She began working on clients with pain.

From 1996-1998 Elaine studied with Yang Yang and was introduced to Master Feng Zhiqiang's Chen style form and silk reeling dynamics.

In 1999 Elaine met Joseph Chen and furthered her study of Master Fengs chen style system. Joseph Chen offered helpful information with the body mechanics of effortless power within the chen style stance.

Pushhands
General Information. In push hands, two partners face each other in an attempt to unbalance and push each other out of position, using a minimum amount of force. While playing push hands, both people must stick to their partner, while offering no resistance to their partners' actions.

Push hands emphasizes the value of yielding and relaxing, and the disadvantage of using resistance and tension. Push hands trains the ability to read and interpret external force. In Tai Chi push hands, we attempt to put into action, the strategies of the Taoist classics. In push hands, we use minimum effort to attain maximum effect.

As an internal martial art, Tai Chi push hands has its foundation in the cultivation of qi, or life force energy. Body awareness is a key to internal energy practice. The practice of awareness is simple in theory, yet in actual practice, demands utmost attention. Developing body awareness allows one to internally relax. When we are mindful, relaxed, and aware of the body, qi can be experienced and worked with.

• Neutralization
Proper neutralization takes little physical upper body force and has its foundation in correct alignment and leg positions. To properly neutralize you must allow the chosen direction of your partners' attack to continue. Neutralizing is not simply evading an attack, but is simultaneously emptying out and filling up, evading and returning the attackers energy back onto themselves. Proper neutralization of your partner's force will present an effortless push.

• Listening
Listen to the speed and direction of the incoming force. Also listen to how your partner is using their root and axis. To be able to do this kind of listening, you must have a clear alignment in your own body, fluidly moving around your center. Your ability to maintain your own alignment and follow Tai Chi principles in your own movement, while playing push hands, will give you the ability to listen and interpret your partners movements.

• Adhering
Adhering means sticking, blending, and following your partners movements. In Tai Chi push hands we adhere to be able to read your partners movements and to be able to read your partners attack through the point of contact. It is essential to be able to make an adjustment in your position immediately as the person beings a line of force. Adhering to the line of attack means to move your axis slightly, if needed, so that you are adhering to the incoming line of attack with your axis. Your alignment axis can be moved slightly to miss any incoming line of force, so that the whole time you are being pushed on, you are leading them in, absorbing their force into your root. Following becomes leading as your partner begins to lose their balance, increase the speed of your movement and notice the appropriate moment for release, an effortless push will have presented itself.

Master Elaine Waters (Two Days - 10+ hours)
Tai Chi Body Mechanics and Push-hands Workshop - Austin Texas

Saturday, April 28th, 2007 10am - 1pm, 2:30pm - 5pm
and
Sunday, April 29th, 2007 10am - 1pm, 2:30pm - 5pm

This event is SOLD OUT!!!

How Secret is Tai Chi?
by Elaine Waters

People have been drawn to tai chi for its health benefits, yet many people who try tai chi quit before they discover the true health benefits of tai chi. People find it difficult to learn tai chi because they cannot memorize the sequence of postures. Others who do manage to memorize, cannot figure out how to be at ease when standing in a tai chi posture. There are many things about tai chi that are done the way they are done because that is “the way it has always been done.”

Tai Chi is a secret art, known as an internal art, based on the concept of mastering the movement of chi in the body. Tai chi was considered secret due to its martial applications and potential training for power. Students often follow teachers through sequences of movement without much practical verbal instruction. It is taught that time and practice will develop the tai chi ability. The training in tai chi for health exercise and martial art have the same foundation. The alignment and principles are the same. One big secret in tai chi is to know that the information was disguised a long time ago. More tai chi students would develop a high level of skill if they knew how to look at the information as if it were in disguise.

Tai Chi students believe that the silence and repetition of a posture, over a long period of time, would bring the amazing tai chi skill. For most students however, it is difficult to make their own adjustments to tai chi postures, since students don't know what to base the changes and adjustments on. Without a deep understanding of the philosophy on which the art is based, a student would be left to follow blindly. Many tai chi students don't know that they are supposed to make adjustments on their own. To figure out the secret of effortless power in tai chi, a student would apply the Taoist classics and a practical sense of what naturally works.

One problem with a lack of information is that enthusiastic students can allow their tai chi to actually hurt their knees. Let's talk about one example of common misunderstandings in tai chi instruction. “Tucking the tailbone is a commonly misunderstood tai chi concept. Those who tuck the tailbone while lowering the weight in tai chi should be aware that the knee is not meant to bear the weight of the body. The classics say to drop the weight to the root, which is the bubbling-well-point, located just behind the ball of the foot. Weighting the knee in a lowered stance and then turning the body is not good for the knee. This is not what should be done when practicing tai chi. The instruction to “tuck the tailbone” is not meant to be taken literally.

Since it has been agreed a long time ago that tai chi is a secret art, every piece of instruction can be easily obscured, and then misunderstood completely over time. The instruction to tuck the tailbone when practicing tai chi, doesn't mean to actually tuck the tailbone. This one misunderstanding has caused many martial artists to stand in postures that are unnatural and will never bring the desired ability, no matter how many years it is practiced. If a student follows this method the body weight will be incorrectly placed in the knee and heel. Practical thinking brings us to realize that if tucking the tailbone was going to increase power, then we would do it while playing sports. Can you imagine running faster or jumping higher because you tucked your tailbone? I do not think this can be done. Tuck the tailbone has a meaning and a purpose in martial art training, but it is not instruction to tilt the pelvis forward while bending the legs. Tai chi is based on what is natural. Body movement and posture should not be an exception.

Then what is this concept all about? Tucking the tailbone is what happens when incoming force affects the practitioner in a proper tai chi stance. The incoming force compresses against the correct tai chi alignment thus causing the tailbone to tuck into the heel at that time for extra support. It is not a tucking that you do yourself, it just happens due to the opponents' contact and force. Another way of explaining the words that are helpful for attaining the correct posture is to open the low back while lowering the weight. By opening the low back, the hips can be released and the weight can drop to the foot.

Good questions to ask about your tai chi posture is what, where, when, why and how. For example: What is this posture used for in a practical sense? Where do we find this motion in natural daily movement? When do we know that our alignment is correct? Why is this movement good for health? How can I develop on my own?

It is true that a certain amount of memorizing is necessary. However, many of the secrets can be found in every simple motion. Tai chi offers health benefits for the body through a unique way of moving, not to be confused by a certain series of postures. The postures are important only because they are the alphabet used to give structure to the information. On the outside, all the forms are different as artful expressions with martial and health benefits. Yet on the inside, the internal process which defines the art as tai chi is the same regardless of form or style.

Tai Chi Brings Peace

Tai chi is a meditation and a martial art. It is in a state of “allowing” that the process unfolds. To test our understanding of any aspect in tai chi, we must apply the concept of yin and yang, (opposites at play) to part of our training. We are looking for the stillness in movement, and the let-go in power. Tai Chi is always strong by nature and powerful due to effortlessness. Applying the concept of “yin and yang” to every aspect of tai chi, is helpful to understanding how to practice tai chi.

The Paradox of Relaxation

For example, to follow the instructions in tai chi: to relax - or to sink - we are looking for a paradoxical play of opposites to practice. Outside of tai chi, we consider relax to mean: a softening experience in which the body's joints slightly close and the persons' shape shrinks. But if tai chi students follow the directions to relax in this way, what results, is a shape that is not helpful to circulation of chi. Relax does not mean collapse, because that would constrict the joints and cause the body to hold itself in uncomfortable positions.

In tai chi, relax means to open the joints. We open joints to allow more chi to flow. Relax is the ability to let go within the shape. The paradox is found as soon as a student tries, for the first time, to open all their joints. The body feels rigid. How can we open the joints and relax? (There is always a yin and a yang aspect to the understanding of a tai chi concept.) In tai chi, relax does not have a collapsed appearance, just as it does not have an expanded appearance. The outside and the inside, have the interaction of yin and yang, the posture is strong and yet effortless. Yin and yang are interacting in every posture, constant change, never a “holding ” experience. The key is to discover an effortless alignment, in which the body joints are open and the muscles can relax.

Relax is what you are able to do, after you open all your joints, discover how to hang from the top of the head, and can clearly drop your weight to the root.

Sinking Down

In tai chi, the instructions in tai chi, to sink down, are often interpreted in a way that results in compressing the leg joints. Sink implies going downward, but if the whole body goes down, where is the yin and yang paradoxical interplay in that idea? We cannot sink down, compressing the leg joints, to become rooted. The ankle, knee, and hips need to learn to be open even when the body is lowered into a tai chi stance. The quest is to find a way to bend the legs, without locking up any of the joints just to hold oneself upright. Standing with weight in the hip, the knee, or the heel is not usually remedied with more practice over time.

In tai chi, even the legs are not tense, yet the structure of the legs is very strong. Tai chi students should be aware that we want to avoid compressing the leg joints as well as the spine, to increase the circulation of chi and the ability to connect, or root. This connection is strong and supple, but is not achieved by tightly holding on with the legs. If a student stands in a way that uses a lot of muscle strength, they are most likely, compressing leg joints. Strong and rooted should be due to the internal connection throughout the body, and knowing how to drop your weight, or anyone else's force, to your root. Strong and rooted does not mean tightly holding on with the legs.

Let Go and Less Is More

Applying the concept of “let-go” and “less is more” to your understanding of tai chi principles is valuable. Let go is the opposite of holding. The Taoist Classics say that yin and yang are present in every posture. This implies change, not holding. To change there must be one thing letting go, and another, taking form. Interaction and the paradoxical play of expansion and contraction exist in every posture. This means that we are studying a natural movement process - holding shapes is not the focus. Holding shapes can be used as a training method, to get started, perhaps, yet I don't teach that way. I find that if students understand that we are not trying to hold a shape, but rather we are changing from yin to yang with our legs in every posture, their progress is long lasting. The more one can change from yin to yang, the more one can develop internal energy. When we apply the concept of yin and yang to form, then we begin a movement in a yin state, (no action), and change to yang, (full action), in every posture. Holding shapes will not develop the desired effortless power.

In tai chi we want to drop the weight directly to the root. To drop something, you must let it go. When we drop a ball, we just let it go, when it hits the ground, it bounces up. A ball carefully placed down will not bounce up! Dropping the weight improperly into the hip, knee, ankle, or heel can cause joint problems.

The yin and yang of dropping the weight implies that there are opposites at play. When we drop something, we let it go. There is a reference point from which the drop originated. If I have a ball in my hand and I take my hand and the ball, together, and put them both on the ground, it would not be considered, dropping the ball. Therefore, just bending our leg joints and taking the whole body downward is not dropping our weight.

A String of Pearls

The classics say that the spine should hang like a string of pearls. If the spine is going to hang, then it is obviously, supported from above. To understand how to stand on legs that don't have compressed joints, try hanging from the top of the head, like a string of pearls. For the spine to hang like a string of pearls, suggests that each vertebra must open, so that there is a feeling like individual pearls hanging in a line. This experience cannot happen once a student already collapsed down into tight legs.

The classics say: a divergence of an single step leads to a mistake of a thousand miles. Stand back up and try again! Drop your weight, from the reference point, the bai hui (top of your head), to the foot (bubbling well), with a let go. Loosen the hips so that the spine can learn to telescope open. The hips are loose and open, they cannot be baring weight just to hold you up as you stand there, because we are in the yin state of “no action”. Then, we are able to “connect” from yin to yang, and the action takes place, the posture takes its shape.

We must ask ourselves, why do we bend our legs in tai chi anyway? We bend them to connect the upper and lower body by opening the low back, (ming men.) Standing with the hips involved with supporting the body weight will cause the muscles in the low back to tense. The ming men will not be able to relax open - if just standing there – the muscles used to hold the body up are tight. Many people think that they must open their low back, but they are confused about how this is done. The art of tai chi develops through refinement of the concept “let go” and “less is more.” Apply “let go” to the instructions to open the low back, and that would mean that the low back opens when nothing is done. It opens when we stop holding it internally, providing the structure is correct. The head should remain suspended from above, the spine telescopes open as the hips loosen, body lowers, and the ming men will be nicely open dangling near the lower end of the string of pearls.

What Tuck The Tailbone Really Means

The Taoist Classics tell us that the whole body must move as a single unit. How can we tuck the tailbone, and be true to the classics, the whole body must move as one piece? I do not think that “tuck the tailbone” means to tilt the pelvis forward. It is not instruction to move one part of the body more than another. In my experience, tai chi works best when the whole body is integrated as a whole. Lets think about how we make our natural actions. When we walk, jump, skate, run, play sports, etc. we ideally stand in a way where the body can easily shift and move. To do this, the hips are not tucked forward. When you are jumping the hip must be loose before the action, so that you can use the legs, to connect to your foot to propel the body off of the ground. We use loose hips - to then pressure the foot - to make our actions. This connection from hip, through foot to ground is also used to propel the body to move in tai chi. This is how to begin to understand yin and yang in the legs. Many of our other activities work the same way. The hips flex on and off, in most of our natural actions.

When we jump the whole body loosens in preparation and then connects with a spring off the ground. Let us remember that tai chi is based on what is natural and body movement is not an exception. Tuck the tailbone, has a meaning and purpose, but it is not instruction that I find helpful in explaining how to drop the weight when practicing forms by yourself.

To understand what tuck the tailbone means, a tai chi player must already understand the instructions we have already discussed here: how to relax, (joints open, not collapsed), hang from the top of the head, drop the weight, and stand in a tai chi stance without compressing the leg joints

You cannot do it, yet it must be done. “Tuck the tailbone” has to do with what naturally happens when your opponent applies force onto a correctly aligned tai chi posture. It is something that you cannot do yourself. Your opponent does it for you. Their force tucks your tailbone into your heal. In this manner, your opponents force, gives you extra support. Of course, this can only happen, if you are already standing in a correct tai chi stance.

The Effortless Push

In tai chi push hands the secret of the effortless push, is in dropping the weight and letting the chi bounce up. Push hands is a training method used to put the strategies of the Taoist Classics into action. It offers a practical way to test the internal connection in any tai chi movement. As an internal martial art, tai chi push hands has its foundation in the cultivation of qi, or life force energy. Body awareness is the key to internal energy practice. Developing body awareness allows one to internally relax, which allows the qi to be experienced and worked with. Upper body force is not appropriate, or necessary, for tai chi push hands to achieve results.

Be kind to the people we touch, engaging in tai chi push hands. Any act of aggression is ones' own misunderstanding of tai chi principles. Tai chi is the balancing of opposites, yin and yang. In push hands, yin and yang are balanced when force is met with neutralization. In order to do this, the player must learn to listen to their partner's movement. Listening doesn't mean with your ear. Listen to your partner's movement, with the stillness in your aligned axis. Listen with your stillness. Improvement comes from developing how effortlessly one changes from yin to yang. To improve the ability to listen, develop body alignment in forms. True neutralization of force is a “non action” event. It is yin. It happens on its own, as the nature of the process. When an opponents force hits a correctly aligned posture, the force is dropped. It drops due to the stillness of the alignment. So it is through non action that the force can be dropped.

Less Is More

Less is more. According to the tai chi principles, the whole body must move as one piece - without hollows and without projections. In tai chi push hands, skill improves by eliminating independent arm movement. The force is rooted in the feet, and expressed in the fingertips. The body in between must be connected. Apply the concept of yin and yang, to the connectedness from the feet to the fingers, and you may get the idea that there must be fullness and emptiness the nature of this connection. When the body is able to open, you can connect the feet to the fingers energetically. To do it, very little is done. The classics say: in tai chi push hands a thousand pounds of momentum is deflected with four ounces of force.

Invest In Loss

Invest in loss. One method to improve push hands skill is to stop moving the arms to do the intended actions. Push hands has more to do with the body then the arms and hands. Good skill doesn't depend on hand techniques, since hand techniques won't work if you can't stand up. Even punches don't work if you can't stand up. Firm footing becomes a foundational requirement. Firm cannot be a holding experience, holding on with the legs, restricts the flow of chi. In push hands, we want to use the opponents movement to throw themselves out. It takes an absorb, (yin) and a connect, (yang) to do this, opening and closing the body, using minimum movement, yet creating maximum pressure. The opponent bounces themselves out.

The Power Of Letting Go

Power is in the let go. In practical applications of tai chi, power comes from being able to drop your own center, or your opponents' force, to your root, creating a lot of pressure. To really do it, you must have correct alignment and be able to let go. Power comes from let go. Power does not come from doing more. If there is very much physical muscle involved, it is definitely not the tai chi way of making force. In tai chi we do not tighten, or shrink muscles to get power, we expand them. To develop effortless power, yin and yang must be clear in your own body first.

Winning

What is winning? Winning is being able to discipline yourself to follow tai chi principles, rather than wrestle, with your opponent in push hands, or in life. To develop in tai chi push hands, learn to stop reacting to the force. Act out of the fulfillment of your own moment. If the force comes from one direction, root it in your feet, and then allow the pressure to be released on the other side, as it naturally wants to be. We are actually just complementing the circle. It is not an aggressive act. It does not come from the effort of winning, or fighting.

Yin And Yang

To further understand tai chi as a meditation and a martial art, lets look at how yin and yang are in relationship. There is no yin without yang. They are two sides of the same coin. To develop the martial aspects of the art without the Taoist attitude would impede ones ability to develop, since dropping the weight has to do with let go, and winning martial arts bouts has to do with attaining something. Yin and yang must simultaneously interact. Tai chi is not meditative at one time and martial at another. One posture is not yin while one is yang. Yin and yang are interdependent. Any competitor knows that it is easier to win when a person doesn't need it emotionally. Meditation allows one to stop goal-oriented activity and connect to the moment. Push hands is a moving meditation when you allow your opponent to decide which way they would like to go. Be there for them, present in the moment, open to what ever their needs may be.

So, the most important aspect to developing a balance of meditation and martial in tai chi is to listen to one's own body. Follow your center. Remember to move the whole body as a single unit and stay relaxed. Question the answers.

Master Elaine Waters
COPYRIGHT 2004

Incredible Opportunity

Thanks, Master Gohring for another incredible opportunity to broaden our understanding of the Art of
Tai Chi. I didn't know what a workshop on Body Mechanics would involve, but that was exactly what it
was about: Body Mechanics. Master Waters took us through exercises & postures with a vivid description of things we have been doing in our Tai Chi classes, but with different words & explanations. At first it seemed like a whole new Tai Chi world , but then it became clear that we were just getting a different perspective. Elaine Waters is a dynamic, focused teacher who brings great joy & energy along with health & wholeness to the study of Tai Chi. The experience of an Elaine Waters workshop can only enhance my Tai Chi Path of Self Mastery. I appreciate having a teacher who offers such expansive opportunities for his students.

With Regards & Respect,

Kathryn Parker

Shed New Light

Dear Sifu,

I want to thank you for inviting Master Waters to our school as a guest instructor. I have attended most (at least seven) of the workshops that our school has hosted over the last three and a half years. Master Waters' workshop, along with yours on Nei Kung, was the most enjoyable and useful of any. The information was illuminating, the practice useful and illustrative, and the pace appropriate. Master Waters' technique of folding and opening shed new light on the way Nei Kung, the form, applications, and push hands can be practiced. I appreciated that we began with simple confidence inducing exercises and then proceeded to an explanation and execution of bending and unbending. I also liked that the use of this kind of body mechanics was first illustrated with the basics of embracing horse and ward off and from there proceeded to an exploration of body mechanics as a way of solidifying a root and creating forces for various moves in push hands. Throughout the weekend Master Waters exhibited an unflagging energy and enthusiasm that kept us going throughout the eleven plus hours. While I will never be able to remember the complete roster of different moves and counter moves, the basics have already improved my form and push hands ability. I am grateful that Master Waters agreed to come and share her insights with us.

BBS

Very Inspiring

Good Morning Sifu Gohring : I'd like to thank you again for bringing Master Waters to our school !! Her excitement about TaiJi and her deep knowledge/experience is very inspiring. Not to mention, you can really feel how much she enjoys sharing her experience with others !! To be honest, I was a bit overwhelmed on Saturday, the first day of the workshop. A lot of new information was presented. As it all started to sink in, I began to really appreciate what Master Waters was showing us and very slowly began to experience it. Her expertise in body mechanics really allowed me to feel what she was talking about in my body alignment and movement. Since the workshop, I have been " playing" with the information to better integrate it. Indeed, I find myself really paying attention to the balls of my feet! And I can tell you that what I learned from Master Waters in this workshop has already begun to positively affect almost everything I do; sitting, walking, standing and of course in my NeiKing and TaiJi form as well !! I am really happy that she too had a good time and found us to be good students. This is a direct reflection of your leadership, skill and excitement for what you do and who you are, Sifu. I sincerely hope that Master Waters will come back to our school to teach again. Thank you !!

In Appreciation and Gratitude,

Dwight Flinkerbusch

Practical and Powerful!

Master Waters has a wonderful ability to impart information in a way that makes you immediately believe you can do it. Then after you practice it you suddenly realize when you get it right because you can feel the power. As a professional management trainer myself, I appreciated how she gracefully walked the balance between explaining the concepts without being too lofty to grasp, yet not so elemental as to loose the interest of the participants. She was informative, humorous, had T-shirts, and was very attentive to all the participants – what more could we want? … MORE! Please come again!

Lynnell Welden

Genuine Passion

Master Gohring:

Thanks again so much for inviting Master Waters this past weekend. Her genuine passion for both the art of Tai Chi and for its instruction were self-evident and contagious. Two full days of instruction flew by in an instant, and yet a wealth of information was presented in that short time. One might feel overwhelmed by the breadth of topics covered.

Fortunately, her deep understanding of Tai Chi principles, aided by years of study with masters such as Jou Tsung Hwa and William C.C. Chen, have allowed her to take complex and potentially esoteric
concepts, and to delineate them into simple, easy to understand ideas. The lessons on push hands and body mechanics were the prefect complement to the school's curriculum, and should prove an invaluable aid over the course of my own studies.

It was an outstanding workshop, and I do hope she will be able to return in the very near future.

Her Subject was Enthralling

Master Gohring,

     Thank you for bringing Master Waters to our school this last weekend.
     Her subject was enthralling. The concepts that Master Waters taught were extremely powerful and paramount to establishing high quality Tai' Chi . Her presentation of the materials was both educational and entertaining. The pace at which she conducted the workshop was ideal, keeping us students involved without overwhelming us. The drills which she led us through were simple yet effective in demonstrating and teaching the material. As I began to really absorb and think about what Master Waters was teaching I began to see the commonality of principles among what she was teaching and what you teach us and what I have read of The Tai' Chi Classics and related materials.
    From an Apprentice CIT point of view I was pleased to realize that Master Waters and you use some of the same teaching techniques.
Personally, I found it fascinating to see such a slight woman demonstrate such obvious power with such ease. I eagerly look forward to the time when I can "sign my name" in my Tai' Chi forms, applications, and push hands. Undoubtedly, what was learned at this workshop will have a lasting and positive impact in the quality of Tai' Chi of all the attendees.
   Master Waters had extremely positive energy and a wonderful spirit. Her personality and apparent boundless energy meshed perfectly with yours. In fact, I felt as if Master Waters has always taught a Master Gohring's Tai' Chi and Kung Fu. It was a pleasure to be in Master Waters' company and a real honor to have an opportunity to learn from her. I hope that you will bring Master Waters back on a regular basis.
    Thank you and congratulations on hosting another top quality workshop. Keep them coming!

          Respectfully,

                             T. Terbay, Jr.

She has a vast resource of knowledge

Master Gohring,

I was thrilled to have the two days with Master Waters, at her workshop at the end of April. I was able to spend an hour with her at Taiji Legacy a couple of years ago, and back then I could see that
she had good ideas that could expand and improve my understanding of Taiji. But an hour was just a teaser.

A weekend was hardly better! She has a vast resource of knowledge and a clear and well thought out perspective; a lifetime of Taiji distilled into very clear and well stated precepts. The seminar was
wonderful and I hope I can retain at least some of what we learned and meld it into my Taiji practice. She teaches from a different perspective, and spending time with her helps to add additional depth
and character to what I've learned from other sources.

Of the many good points I can think of to mention about Master Waters and her teaching, one stands out. She has found ways to make what she teaches very clear and easy to understand. For example, her approach to finding the optimal correct posture for embracing horse: simple jump in place and how you land is correct. Simple, obvious, and useful. So many of the things she taught were like that.

Regards,

Edwin Wise

Truly a Wonderful Weekend

Dear Master Waters,

Thank you for coming to Austin and sharing your knowledge and experience with us. It was a truly wonderful weekend. I've been studying Tai Chi for nearly three years with Master Gohring and have learned a tremendous amount – both about Tai Chi as a martial art and how Tai Chi (and the idea of yin/yang) principles weave themselves into our everyday lives. It was great having you come in and provide another perspective on so many things we'd learned with Master Gohring.

The concept of compressing and folding has certainly added some depth to my Tai Chi and given me more to think about as I do the form. It's interesting to have access to all these tools and ideas as I do the form over and over again – tools to help me analyze and feel for proper alignment and power. Essentially, tools to help me write my own Tai Chi name.

I certainly hope you come back and visit us again.

Best,

Mr. Prince