About John
As long as I can remember I’ve been interested in martial arts. I’m sure this had a lot to do with television. As a kid I liked just about any show that included intrigue and good guys winning out over bad guys. Especially if the bad guys got beat up.
There is one show I remember above all the others, and I loved watching it. It was a cartoon called Jonny Quest. It was a great sci-fi animated series for kids. Jonny was the son of Dr. Benton Quest, “one of the three top scientists in the world”. Jonny’s dad was a renaissance man who knew martial arts and could really kick butt.
Because they were afraid he “could fall into the wrong hands” the government provided a body guard and tutor named Roger “Race” Bannon for Jonny. He also had an adopted brother, Hadji, an eleven-year-old Indian boy. With his bejeweled turban and Nehru jacket I always thought Hadji looked like an Indian Prince.
Every episode they were off on another world-wide adventure from their base in the Florida Keys and were constantly getting in and out of some kind of trouble.
Mostly because of this cartoon I wanted to learn martial arts in the worst way - along with half the other boys my age. Today I’m still one of those people - you probably know at least one - who likes to try new things. When it comes to martial arts, I’ve tried a number of different styles. I jumped around some and took time off in between because of injuries, moving, etc. I always seemed to advance quickly, but because I moved around from place to place I never really mastered any of them.
Although I stuck with one particularly good school for about 2 years before moving away, one issue I found troubling in most was seeing other people with some pretty serious injuries and a number of black belts with bad knees. I had injured both knees in high school, needed minor surgery, and still had some knees problems. I was a little less than thrilled with the thought of having more knee trouble.
I’d heard about tai chi, it’s slow, detailed movements and use of energy rather than pure muscle and was interested. Despite my earlier fascination with beating up the bad guys, I liked that you could use tai chi as either an exercise or as a martial art.
I was always on the lookout and for a school anywhere near me. After moving into a new house in Atlanta I found a good tai chi school about 25 minutes away. The school wasn’t listed in the phone book at the time, but I met my teacher through my job.
Miriam Holland, my instructor, met her master on her first trip to Beijing China. I had not only found a good school but there was a real tai chi master who’s lineage lead directly, from master to master, back to the founder of Yang Style Taiji, Yang Luchan.
What luck! I was thrilled and have since become a disciple of Master Cui Zhongsan myself. Becoming a disciple is similar to being a protege and is a rite you must be invited to undertake. Our master began studying at the age of four with his grandfather, Master Cui Yishi. His grandfather was a high level disciple of Master Yang Chenfu, who was the first to bring tai chi to the masses in China. Prior to this time tai chi was not shared outside of one’s own blood line.
When I began studying at the Mei Zhong School I absolutely fell in love with tai chi. My previous study of martial arts both helped me and, got in my way. I moved pretty well, but was used to using force and holding my body more rigid. I had to learn to loosen up without loosing the correct body structure. I found that part hard to do. We refer to it as ‘being loose and with energy’.
I don’t think of myself as a competitive person, but at my teacher’s urging I’ve entered the occasional competition and so far have been lucky enough to win metals in each one. To date I’ve won 3 bronze, 2 silver and 7 gold metals. My teacher tells me I’m more competitive than I think I am.
I began studying Yang Style Taijiquan (tai chi chuan) in 2001 and now teach at the Mei Zhong School along with writing and producing video material on beginning tai chi. I first studied with Master Cui in 2003 and made my first trip to Beijing, China in 2006. I study with Master Cui whenever I can get to China or whenever he visits us here in Atlanta. A group from Mei Zhong generally travels to Beijing for a couple of weeks every year and Master Cui spends about a month each year with us here in Atlanta.
My intention has been to make this site a valuable resource for beginning tai chi players. The Chinese refer to the practice of tai chi as playing and practitioners as players. If there is anything you need and do not see here. Please feel free to send me a personal email with your request.
According to tradition tai chi has been passed along from Master to teacher to student. As a disciple (protege) of Master Cui Zhongsan, and ‘training brother’ and fellow teacher of my teacher, Miriam Holland, I am honored to be a living part of this tradition.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you will enjoy tai chi as much as I do.
