Summer meadow. Photo by Kim Husband.

What’s New at the Studio

Greetings, everyone,

The sun and rain, cool winds, and well-watered landscape have made this spring lush and bursting with color. Let the summer begin!

There is a lot happening at the studio this season. We will once again be hosting our annual summer picnic—see the details in this issue. Our outdoor classes in Hampden Park are underway, and it has been wonderful to practice in nature again. Our new fee schedule begins July 1, a new T’ai Chi Sword class will be starting soon, and there is much more to look forward to.

We look forward to seeing you at the studio, online, and in the park.

The studio will be closed Saturday, July 4, for the 4th of July holiday.

—Paul

Our Summer Social Picnic

Our new fees and memberships will begin July 1. Tuition makes up only about 60% of our operating costs. A modest adjustment was needed, and a restructuring of memberships provides a greater value for our members.

Click here to see the details.

Acoustic Alchemy

Our new sound system is now fully installed, and the sound is clear, full, and audible from everywhere in the studio practice room. Thanks to Tim Dennis for designing and making the speaker stands, to Richard Pinkham for painting and installing them (with help from Tim), to Stephen May for wiring and raceway installation and technical support, and to Bob Reider for acoustics analysis and equipment donation. Truly a team effort that benefits us all.

T’ai Chi and Qigong in Nature

Practicing T’ai Chi and Qigong outdoors has been part of Chinese cultivation traditions for centuries. While the movements themselves can be practiced anywhere, nature adds a dimension that is difficult to duplicate indoors.

Fresh air and exposure to sunlight help regulate circadian rhythms and support vitamin D production. Natural light can improve mood and alertness, while being outdoors often encourages deeper, more relaxed breathing.

Varied sensory input, including uneven ground, gentle slopes, grass, and changing conditions, challenges balance and proprioception in subtle ways. The body learns to adapt more naturally than it does on a perfectly flat studio floor.

Research suggests that time spent in natural settings can reduce stress hormones, lower blood pressure, and promote parasympathetic activity. This complements T’ai Chi’s emphasis on releasing unnecessary tension (song).

Nature tends to engage attention gently rather than demanding it. The mind can settle into a state of relaxed awareness that supports mindful movement. Trees, clouds, birds, wind, and flowing water often draw attention away from worries and repetitive thinking. The form can feel more fluid, open, and expansive—and less self-conscious—outdoors.

From a traditional Daoist viewpoint, nature is considered the original teacher. Standing beneath the expanse of an open sky or among old trees reminds us that we are part of something larger than our daily concerns.

Classical Daoist practitioners often sought mountains, forests, rivers, and quiet gardens because they found that these environments supported harmony between our own flow of qi and the larger patterns of nature.

Many practitioners experience a stronger feeling of connection, vitality, and ease when practicing outdoors. Nature provides more than a backdrop for the practice; it becomes part of the instruction.

• Trees demonstrate rootedness and flexibility.

• Water illustrates yielding and persistence.

• The wind is our breath and reveals movement without force.

• The changing seasons teach adaptation and balance.

As human beings, we stand between the formed and the formless aspects of nature, and our T’ai Chi becomes the embodiment of that union.

Our warm-weather practice together under the linden tree in Hampden Park is an opportunity for connection—to nature and to one another. A linden tree can live for centuries, standing quietly through countless winters and springs. Its longevity is due in part to its ability to resprout and regenerate from its root system. It is hard to imagine a better example for our practice and our lives.

The T’ai Chi Sword

T.T. Liang and Sword. Photo by Dan Polsfuss.

Among the traditional T’ai Chi weapons, the straight double-edged sword, known as the jian, is often considered the most elegant and refined. Its movements are closely connected to the principles of the Solo Form. The footwork, leg actions, and turning of the waist follow familiar pathways, while the sword extends and amplifies the body’s intention.

As the body moves, the blade follows. As the blade moves, the eyes follow its tip. Attention, movement, and energy unite in a single flowing thread. The result is a practice that is at once focused and expansive, calming, and enlivening.

The graceful interplay between the sword and the free hand creates a practice that is both meditative and invigorating. Each posture unfolds with rhythm, balance, and precision, carrying forward a tradition that has been practiced for generations.

Just as the T’ai Chi Solo Form is built upon the original 13 postures, T’ai Chi sword practice is founded upon 13 essential techniques that will be taught alongside the Yang-Style Sword Form.

If you have ever been drawn to the beauty, history, and artistry of T’ai Chi, the sword offers a unique opportunity to deepen your practice. Come and explore this fluid and timeless art.

A sign-up sheet will be posted at the studio. A minimum of eight students is required for the class to run.

Wednesday evenings, 7:30–8:30 p.m.

Current Class Schedule

Monday
T’ai Chi Solo Form, 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm (also Zoom)
Qigong/Meditation, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Tuesday
T’ai Chi Symmetries Levels 1 thru 7, 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm
Advanced Symmetries, 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm

Wednesday
Beginning Solo Form Fundamentals, 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm
Beginning Solo Form, 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm
T’ai Chi Weapons, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Thursday
Solo Form, 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm
Weapons Review, 7:15 pm – 7:30 pm
Beginning Push Hands, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Saturday
Beginning Solo Form Sections 2 and 3, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Beginning Solo Form Section 1, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
Solo Form, 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm (also Zoom)

Remembering Chuck Chin

Master Chuck Chin lighting incense at a Twin Cities T’ai Chi Chinese New Year celebration in 2013.

Chuck Chin (Dec. 6, 1941 – May 23, 2026) was a martial arts master who devoted his life to the study and preservation of the Southern Praying Mantis kung fu style.

He immigrated to the United States as a teenager, learned English, and worked as a cook in a Chinese restaurant in New York City’s Chinatown. During that time, he was accepted as a student and began learning martial arts at the Chinese Free Masons Hall on Canal Street. As fate would have it, the teacher there was Lam Wing Fay, the fourth-generation grandmaster of the Southern Praying Mantis style (Kwong Sai Jook Lum Gee Nam Tong Long Pai). Through years of dedicated training, Chuck became one of five inner-door disciples of Grandmaster Lam and learned the complete Southern Praying Mantis system.

In time, Master Chin moved to Minnesota and opened his own restaurant, Taipan, in Fridley. There, he reunited with his senior classmate, fifth-generation Grandmaster Gin Foon Mark, who had come to Minnesota years earlier and established the state’s first Southern Praying Mantis school as well as his own restaurant, the New China Inn.

Over the years, in addition to T’ai Chi, Twin Cities T’ai Chi has offered a number of other Chinese martial arts in its curriculum, including Southern Praying Mantis. Gin Foon Mark and Chuck Chin were frequent guests at our Chinese New Year celebrations and demonstrations. In private, Chuck would share stories of his training with Grandmaster Lam and the early days of martial arts practice in New York’s Chinatown.

Although the Southern Praying Mantis tradition continues through the students they taught, both Gin Foon Mark and Chuck Chin have now passed. Their art endures, but with their passing, an era quietly comes to a close.

Grandmaster Lam Wing Fay and his five disciples:
Front row: left: Gin Foon Mark; center: Lam Wing Fay; right: Ho Dun Chin (Chuck’s Cousin)
Back row: left: unknown; center: Chuck Chin; right: unknown

Contact Us

For timely updates, follow Twin Cities T’ai Chi Ch’uan on Facebook. Email: mail@tctaichi.org Website: tctaichi.org Phone: 651.767.0267.
All articles and other content created by Paul Abdella unless otherwise noted.