About The Tai Chi Academy & your instructor.

My first interest and encounter with Tai Chi was in around 1998. I was fully immersed in the Japanese Aiki Arts. The soft but powerful nature of these arts led me to investigate other related practices. After witnessing a demonstration of Tai Chi, by an extremely capable teacher (whom I would later learn from) I decided to investigate further! I initially began training in Tai Chi with a local teacher Sifu Peter Cox, while also studying traditional Japanese Arts. He was a British Champion in the competition style of Tai Chi and from him I learnt several forms from Yang and Sun Style and competition style push hands. Peter was a direct student of Chen Li in competition forms & Liming Yi in Chen Style Tai Chi.

After a year or two of study I learned of a highly skilled Nei Jia Teacher and author. At the time I was beginning to build an interest in the other Nei Jia Arts of Xing Yi And Ba Gua and so sought this individual out for instruction. There was very little in the way of true authentic Xing Yi and Ba Gua available in the UK at this time and so travelling to find instruction was inevitable. This would change the course of my understanding and training in the Internal Arts, and in Tai Chi. My main learning in the 3 Chinese Nei Jia (Primarily Tai Chi and Xing Yi) is from this man, Shifu Alex Kozma. I would devote many hours per day to his teachings over a period of many years. As with most expert teachers, Alex sowed the seeds for my internal arts; it was up to my own training to make them grow. He remains an inspiration and a friend to this day. Alex is a direct student & disciple in a number of lineages and it is from these lineages much of my knowledge comes, through him. Notable among his Tai Chi teachers is Chen Yuen San of the Old Kunlun Style of Tai Chi under whom Alex is a closed door disciple and a Master renowned throughout Taiwan for his extraordinary level of skill in the art. Next would be Master Serge Augier of the Da Xuan Taoist School and General Li Tai Chi. Also of note is Master Hejinghan of Yin Style Ba Gua & Yang Ban Hou Taiji. Much of the Tai Chi Alex Taught me was based on these lineages.

I then continued to study and research the Nei Jia. I travelled to meet every "Name" in the internal arts that was in, or visiting the UK. This research gave me a constant flow of small snippets of information on the variety and breadth of methods found in the many styles of internal art. I met lineage masters of the Yang, Wu & Chen Styles, and also met and trained with experts in other, related arts, like Sam Chin of I Liq Chuan. One such individual is the brilliant Dr Serge Augier whom I met through Alex, and who I have had the pleasure of hosting in the UK a number of times. He remains one of the pinnacles of understanding in Taoism and the Nei Jia that I have encountered, and the details he kindly shared with me continue to influence my understanding and methods to this day. Through this exposure to top tier martial artists, and continued dedicated study, my understanding improved.

In roughly 2007 I opened a small training school in Gloucestershire UK. This school was frequented by highly experienced Tai chi exponents from the area and the country at large. Indeed, my original teacher Peter Cox would become a close student. The core training group consisted of Tai Chi Teachers and experienced martial artists, many with 35+ years of training. Direct Students of Chen, Lee, Yang and Sun style Tai Chi Masters would frequent my school to learn my expression of Tai Chi, in particular the combat and fighting sides of the art. My experience of teaching this excellent group, presenting my body method concepts to the world through projects like 'MartialBody' and my continued lifelong study are what forms the foundations of the Tai Chi Academy and its approach. Tai Chi has been a daily practice since around 1998 and continues to fascinate and captivate me with its complexity.