We offer instruction in taiji (tai chi) and qigong from the the heart of tradition in China. Our group is the continuation of classes Dr. Yang Yang started in 1996 when he was a doctoral student at the U of I conducting research on the benefits of taiji and qigong practice. The classes are led by Scott Grubisich, co-author with Dr. Yang of the renowned book Taijiquan: The Art of Nurturing, The Science of Power.
Dr. Yang, now centered in New York, is one of the world’s preeminent practitioners and teachers and now teaches internationally. Many of the students in our class are senior students of Dr. Yang, and continue to study and assist teaching at his national seminars and camps. He, in turn, was a student of Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang, one of the greatest masters of the previous generation in China and a historical figure in taiji, having fused the Chen style of Chen Fake (the 17th generation Grandmaster of the Chen style of taiji) with the qigong and xin yi of the renowned martial artist and clinical qigong practitioner Grandmaster Hu Yaozhen.
Well, that’s our lineage, but mostly the CU school is a just great bunch of people who have benefited in many ways from practice and the class energy, and who live Socrates’ saying encouraging lifelong learning recently shared with the group by Paul Schupp, professor emeritus of mathematics at the U of I:
“Γερισο αει διδασκομενοσ”, “I grow old always learning.”
