About our Tai Chi
Master John Ding founded the John Ding International Academy of Tai Chi Chuan (JDIATCC) to preserve and promote the traditional, holistic approach of Yang style Tai Chi Chuan training. He has vast knowledge of external martial arts as well as being internationally recognised as one of the top Yang style tai chi teachers. He is the 1st disciple of Grandmaster Ip Tai Tak, who in turn was the 1st disciple of Grandmaster Yang Sau Chung. A disciple must ensure that all the knowledge and skills are passed on to the right individuals. They have a responsibility towards the future of the art.
Tai Chi Chuan is a traditional Chinese martial art concerned with the study of internal energy (chi). Started thousands of years ago, it has been based on the transmission of knowledge through physical movement, touch and secret verbal instruction. People talk a lot about the Tai Chi form. This refers to the set of movements (the physical structure) that you use as a tool to learn the concepts and principles of Tai Chi. At a high level, however, Tai Chi becomes formless (not reliant on specific structures) and every moment of every movement you make becomes powerful, driven from the centre and full of energy.
This goal of eventual formlessness accounts for the wide variety of Tai Chi that we see practiced today. As long as the concepts and principles remain intact, your movements (your tool for investigation) can be different.
Also worthy of note is that over time the reason for people studying has also changed. If you go back two hundred years everyone studying wanted to learn fighting skills, so the tools and training was geared 100% to this.
Nowadays the power of Tai Chi is appreciated for more than just fighting. In fact most people we meet believe it is only a slow moving art for health.
This merely goes to show the flexibility and adaptibility of the concepts and principles of Tai Chi and the varied benefits of studying internal energy (chi).
JDIATCC tai chi is characterised by a strong emphasis on building health, power and understanding of internal energy through experiential study of Tai Chi's concepts and principles. We do this by using Chi Kung to build energy, the Foundation and Long Form to circulate energy and partnered work to test the projection of energy from different postures. We also look at the self-defence applications deriving from the movements in the above forms, tailoring our teaching so that is satisfies those wanting health and those wanting to commit to learning a traditional internal martial art. At higher levels we look at other methods of energy building and self-defence passed down from Grandmaster Ip. A published syllabus can be seen on the official JDIATCC website.
The results are a system that we hope teaches you strength and calmness in the face of all life's aspects, lightened by a true joy for living.