Tai-chi park

[Bob Klein]

I recently returned from the Jou, Tsung Hwa Birthday celebration at the Tai-chi Park. The Park is a continuation of the Tai-chi Farm. For those not familiar with any of this, Master Jou, Tsung Hwa (author of The Tao of Tai-chi-Chuan) bought over 100 acres in Warwick New York near the border of New Jersey around 1975 to use as a park dedicated to the study of Tai-chi. I went to his first yearly weekend dedicated to Chang, San-feng at that time and continued going until Jou died in a car accident (I believe in 1997 or 1998) and the land was sold to a developer. During all those years, many teachers converged on the "Tai-chi Farm" the beginning of June each year and we provided workshops for each other and for the many students who came. This weekend celebration eventually attracted over 1000 students and teachers each year.
When Jou died, Bruce La Carrubba, one of his students, offered his 23 acre property nearby in Wantage, New Jersey, to continue the tradition.
Bruce's Tai-chi Park looks and feels like the original and the spirit of the people is the same. There are several time slots each day for workshops and several choices of workshops at each time period. The cost is very reasonable and includes food. I taught one workshop on traditional push hands and another on tiger chi-gung this year.
If you are interested in Tai-chi and have never had the Tai-chi Farm or the Tai-chi Park experience I would strongly suggest planning to attend next year. It is always held the weekend nearest July 13th (Master Jou's birthday). It is a warm, family feeling and at one time, was the largest gathering of Tai-chi teachers in one spot in the world, from what I understand.
Bob Klein
www.movementsofmagic.org

 

[fyn5000]

Hi Bob,

I have read about the T'ai Chi Farm in T'ai CHi Magazine. I was wondering what kind of feelings did the participants have for the place. Did they look forward to the workshops and events held there each year?

Fyn

 

[Xue Sheng]

I'm not Bob but....

This is going back about 19 years but and I do not think these are contiguous…

First year I went it was great and the seminars were quite good and there was a great martial arts feel to the place

The second year I went I was looking forward to it but it changed. There seemed to be a growing group of vendors selling crystals and new age type stuff. But I still enjoyed the seminars

The third time I went I got talked into it and it was a whole different thing. New age vendors and hemp booths the smell of marijuana in the air and a whole lot of new agey taiji types. The seminars were still good that I went to but I did not go to as many and I left early. That was the last year of the farm for me and the following year master Jou died.

I did get to train with some great people there and I saw some amazing martial artists there and I do not regret going but as time went on the personality of the farm changed IMO

 

[fyn5000]

I did find an official webpage for the T'ai Chi Farm. It has some interesting stuff on it.

http://taichifarm.org/Tai_Chi_Farm_Homepage.htm

Fyn

 

[Bob Klein]

"I have read about the T'ai Chi Farm in T'ai CHi Magazine. I was wondering what kind of feelings did the participants have for the place. Did they look forward to the workshops and events held there each year?"
We certainly looked forward to going to the Tai-chi Park each year. It was like a home-coming, like Thanksgiving where you come home to re-join your family. Usually this was the only time all these teachers saw each other. At the Tai-chi Park, Bruce holds a dinner on Friday evening before the workshops for the teachers and there is a lot of welcoming and hugging. As far as the participants at the Farm and the Park, I think they all enjoy what the teachers have to offer. Where else can you get so many different points of view and methods of teaching? My students always returned from these weekends re-charged and felt that what they were learning at m school was legitimized and re-inforced by the experience. My wife, Jean and I, feel that this one weekend gives us the energy and inspiration for our teaching, for the rest of the year. Now there is also a similar weekend in Pennsylvania in Kutztown. I plan to go to that one for the first time this year. (It is in May). Both are reasonably close to Long Island, where I live and I feel it is good to stay connected with the Tai-chi community.
Bob
www.movementsofmagic.org

 

[Bob Klein]

The Tai-chi Park festival this year is July 9 & 10.
Here is the link:
http://www.taichipark-masterjoutsun...ung-hwa-birthday-celebration-tai-chi-festival