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Coming up this autumn we have the 8 Powers – 8 Trigrams: The Pairs course. The Eight Tai Chi Powers are known as of Ward-Off, Roll Back, Squeeze, Press Down, Pluck, Split, Elbow and Barge, they represent fundamental ways power moves; for example, a circle that expands outwards, or a point that condenses and goes into the ground and so on. Every style of Tai Chi uses the eight powers, and one power can be expressed by many movements. In the Wudang style, powers are grown inside the body through solo practice before they are used martially; each has its own specific sensation.

The first text on Tai Chi in existence is known as the Tai Chi Classics, and it says that the Eight Tai Chi powers correspond with the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching (AKA The Book of Changes). The Eight Trigrams are Taoist archetypes; fundamental forces of nature made by combining yin and yang in different ways. They are called Heaven, Earth, Water, Fire, Lake, Thunder, Wind and Mountain.

The Eight Trigrams of the I Ching are then paired in all possible ways to make 64 Hexagrams, which represent 64 crucial life situations, each with six different stages. They represent birth, death , courtship, marriage, struggle, revolution and more; all fundamental aspects of human life that persist through the ages. As such, the I Ching is a 3000-year-old guide to life from the Taoist perspective. It can be read from cover to cover, or it can be consulted using coins or yarrow stalks in a process is known as divination. 

In this course we will learn how the Eight Trigrams represent the Eight Powers, and illuminate this connection using the natural pairs. Just as Heaven and Earth Trigrams go together, so do the Powers of Ward-Off and Rollback. These are pairs of complementary opposites, like yin and yang, that allow us to learn more about opposing elements by looking at how they define each other.

All classes will be half theory, half Tai Chi practice, and will include: a guide on how to decode the Trigrams to make the Powers, the individual Trigram meanings, how Trigram pairs work, how Power pairs work, basic skills practice to build the conditions needed to grow the powers, and also one Tai Chi move per power. In addition, there will be one class where we learn how to consult the I Ching. Whether one believes in divination or not, consulting the I Ching with a question in mind gives the opportunity for these ancient words be clothed in the familiar format of everyday life. 

The course is online, and runs for 12 weeks from Thursday 18th September 2025 from 6-7.30pm. The cost is £216, if cash flow is an issue, students are welcome to pay in two installments. Booking is here. Beginners, professionals and open-minded sceptics are welcome. If anyone has any questions, please get in touch.

 

If you are looking for some outdoor Tai Chi and Qi Gong classes in Hackney, look no further! It is May and the weather is absolutely beautiful here in London, it is the perfect time for some outdoor training. Our Tuesday lunchtime Tai Chi class has gone outside on Stoke Newington Common, you can find us underneath the big tree by the ping pong table between 12.30-1.30pm.

I’m a big fan of tree circles, and there is a beautiful one in Millfields Park, Clapton, that’s made up of 13 London Plane trees and two rogue Oaks. It is a great place to train, and I will be running a six-week Introduction To Tai Chi course there on Tuesday evenings this summer. A five-week Introduction to Qi Gong course is also in the pipeline for Thursday lunchtimes in June – get in touch for more details.

The worldview behind Heart Repair Meditation for Nei Gong is simple – heart, mind and body are one. This means that strong emotions like sorrow or joy have a physical impact, which can be long-lasting, and can also affect the flow of qi around the body. When we train internal arts like Tai Chi and Qi Gong, we open and soften physical blockages and this means softening emotional blockages too. That internal practice does this is something all the Masters know, and it’s why the first stage of training Taoist arts is called ‘heart repair’.

This is something that happens quietly in the background for Tai Chi and Qi Gong practitioners. The Heart Repair Meditation retreat highlights this aspect and catalyses it over the course of a week through combining different meditation styles and Standing Stake. For me, the benefits of doing this are increased peace of mind, clarity, physical comfort and a boost to all aspects of internal training. You can read about the impact on my students here.

At the core of the Heart Repair Sequence is a Buddhist meditation style called Touch and Go which releases emotions by being with them one breath at a time. This, combined with Standing Stake, was the initial practice which saw me through times of ongoing personal challenge. Standing Stake is made much easier if you calm the heartmind and open the body through meditation beforehand. Furthermore, life is made much easier if you power up for the day with Standing Stake!

The other components that go with this core have arisen through teaching and natural development. The first Heart Repair Retreat made me aware that years of Tai Chi practice had made certain skills automatic for me, these needed to be made conscious again and shared, and that’s when Taoist Observation meditation was added to the mix. It’s a basic concentration meditation that refines the use of the breath as a relaxation tool.

For the upcoming retreat in November 2024 I’m adding the Central Channel Scan, this was an important stage where I focussed on persistently blocked areas and found connections between them. I ended up clearing out much of the Central Channel, which has multiple uses, including building martial power and expelling bad qi. There will be more on this in the retreat.

The Heart Repair Sequence is something I still train regularly, and it was one I submitted in order to acquire my Wudang Masters in 2023. Underpinning the system is the idea that from stress, or difficulty, one can also derive benefit. It is possible to turn emotional lead into gold. And in so doing, one finds a centre that can navigate all life’s offerings with equanimity.

It is like a guiding light, and when the nights grow long is a good time to turn towards it, so these online retreats run shortly after clocks go back in the UK, in the mornings before work. For more details on timing, cost and booking, click here. If you have any questions about this journey within, feel free to get in touch.

On Thursday 18th April there is a special online course starting that represents the pinnacle of my training and research to date. It’s called Eight Powers – Eight Trigrams, and it’s a deep dive into the link between the Eight Tai Chi Powers and The Eght Trigrams of the I Ching. This ten-week course is half-theory and half-practice, and classes take place online on Thursday evenings 6-7.30pm. Both complete beginners and experienced practitioners are welcome. All classes are recorded, and the cost is £150. If needed you can pay in two installments. Book here, or read more below…

The Eight Tai Chi Powers: These represent different ways that power moves; all of the different Tai Chi styles refer back to the same eight powers. These are: Ward-off, Rollback, Squeeze, Press Down, Pluck, Split, Elbow and Barge. A power is not limited to just one movement or application, and while it is easy to practice a movement, to train a Tai Chi Power to fruition takes dedication. The powers are made of a combination of: structure, qi, intention, essence, time and gravity (Heaven and Earth). Wudang Pai train the Tai Chi Powers through solo practice; we grow them in the body, express them through movement, and eventually test them out in partnerwork.

The Eight Trigrams: These are made up different combinations of yang and yin lines and represent forces of nature. They are: Heaven, Earth, Water, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Cloud and Mountain. The trigrams have been around for at least 3000 years, they combine in pairs to make the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, a Taoist book which gives guidance for every circumstance in human life. It is not an easy book to understand, and this course presents an opportunity to know it from the basics upwards.

The Connection: Zhang San Feng, the creator of Tai Chi, said that the Eight Tai Chi Powers correspond to the Eight Trigrams. I have spent years exploring this connection. To look at one example, the Tai Chi Power of Ward Off (AKA Peng) is an outwards expansive bubble of power like a bomb blast – it is also the foundation on which all the other Tai Chi powers are based. It corresponds with the trigram of Qian/Heaven (three unbroken/yang lines)  This represents the seed, the blueprint that underlies all that exists – the DNA of the world. What is the blueprint hidden in Ward Off we need to make our Tai Chi come alive? How can embodying the pure yang of Ward Off help understand the trigram that sets the direction for all things? Come along and find out!

The Course: We will look at one Trigram-Power pairing per week, with an introduction and concluding session. For the eight central lessons, about 30-45 minutes of each class will be spent on theory as we come to understand the trigram and its corresponding power with the mind; the other half of class will look at understanding with the body. The course consists of 10 x 1.5 hour classes and costs £150. Regular UK students are asked to pay into my bank account, the next best option is through my website, and the third best option is Paypal. If cash flow is a problem, students are able to pay by two £75 installments. Please pay by 17th April, with the second installment by 23rd May. All classes will be recorded, with the link sent to all attendees.

My aim is to give you the tools to grasp the trigrams and powers from first principles. With enough practice, you can go on to grasp both with your shen/spirit – a deep intuitive understanding known as ‘wu’ 悟. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch.

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This is something I have been working at for years and in October 2023 it finally happened. After developing my own techniques (Heart Repair Meditation for Nei Gong and Eight Powers Eight Trigrams), I explained them in relation to the Taoist Classics in an essay for Master Yuan Li Min, who gave me his seal of approval as a Master. This means I can now create the 17th Generation of the Wudang Xuan Wu Clan by taking on followers, also known as ‘indoor students’ or ‘tudi’ of my own.

Becoming a Tudi is a commitment to study the Wudang Arts with sincerity and help to spread them around the globe. It also a choice to support your chosen Shifu’s way of teaching; this should only occur when it has proven to work well for you. Traditionally, the decision to become a Tudi can only take place after a minimum three years of regular training with the teacher, and the decision to accept a student as a Tudi is at the teacher’s discretion.

The Xuan Wu lineage is Taoist; I practise a spiritual form of Taoism which means I welcome followers of all religions and spirtualities as well as those with none – you just need to have a practical understanding of Taoism. You can find out more about my decision to become a Tudi, and the Way which has unfolded from that decision, in this article.

To learn more about the techniques which earned me my ‘Masters’, check out the Eight Powers – Eight Trigrams online course starting in April, and the Heart Repair Meditation online retreat coming up in November. To see the special evening where myself and my elder Kung Fu brother Zhang Wei Hai were both recognised as Masters in Wudang, check out this video. To find out more abut becoming a Tudi yourself, please get in touch.

I am currently training in Wudang Shan until October 27th. Victoria continues to run the Tuesday evening Traditional Tai Chi classes while I am away, please go to the Salvation Army Hall on Lower Clapton Road for 6.20pm if you wish to take part.

I’ll be back teaching in person from October 31st, and will be running hybrid classes on the Tuesday evenings. This means we set up a webcam to record my tuition and students can train live online using zoom or access the recordings if they cannot make the live class.

Tuesday lunchtime Tai Chi for Health also continues from the 31st October, and online Kung Fu runs from the second of November. I will be running an early morning class on my return, and am currently deciding content based what inspires me while I am out here.

Access to email is intermittent while I am in China due to the firewall, I generally try to get online about once a week at the weekend. Thanks for your patience in awaiting my reply and see you at the end of October.

Coming up this Spring term we have outdoor classes with Tai Chi For Health and Follow Along Qi Gong, a Tai Chi workshop with my teacher Master Yuan Li Min in July, a new format for the strength-building class, and new terms for the evening Tai Chi class in Clapton and 18-step Kung Fu online from 20th April. More on all this is below…

Follow Along Qi Gong: These simple outdoor classes take place amongst the beautiful natural scenery around Walthamstow Marshes on Thursday mornings. We train basic exercises from the Five Element Qi Gong and soak up the vibes. This term runs from 27th April for three weeks at 7.30-8.30am. Book a block of three classes for £30 or drop in for £15 a session. In case of bad weather we train online.

Tai Chi For Health: We are training outside on Stoke Newington Common for a four week term starting 25th April. This is a gentle class that takes place 12.30-1.30pm on Tuesdays, we are learning the 13 Wudang Principles Tai Chi form at a slow and steady pace. Book in advance for as many classes in the term as you wish for £10 a session, or drop-in for £15 a class.

Traditional Wudang Tai Chi: This long-running class has ticked over and started from the beginning again. We are training the 36-step Secret Transmission Wudang Tai Chi at Lower Clapton Road on Tuesday evenings 6.30-8pm. Come join this beginners class from 25th April for £48 for a four week term.

Online 18-Step Kung Fu: This is the most advanced class on the schedule at the moment, students need to have 2 years’ experience training Tai Chi, Qi Gong or Kung Fu to attend. We do strength-training, power emission, standing stake and the dynamic 18-step Kung Fu form on Thursday evenings 6.30-8pm. This six-week term starts on 20th April, book in for the whole term for £72 or £60 for concessions. All students receive a recording of the class to train with.

Online Strength for Kung Fu: Suitable for beginners, this class takes place Wednesday mornings 8-9am and the four-week term starts 26th April. We train a handful of postures from the 18-step Kung Fu, holding each posture as low as possible for a minute a time while keeping the qi flowing. This term there will be separate legs, arms and core sections of the class, and a cool down section with slow 18-step moves at the end. Learn more here.

Tai Chi Workshop with Master Yuan Li Min: This will take place Friday 28th- Sunday 30th July in Hackney, London. We will train the 36-Step Tai Chi with my teacher Master Yuan, whose teaching style is accessible, profound and playful, Lessons will take place 10am-1pm and 3-5.30pm over 3 days. The cost is £300 or £250 for anyone coming from overseas and couples. Maximum 20 places are available and we welcome all levels, You can find out more here, and see master Yuan in action here.

As ever, please pay into my bank account where possible as it saves on fees. Otherwise you can book in for everything here. Spring is in the air and it is a fine time for training. I hope to see some of you in-person or online soon.

After a fantastic teaching trip to Norway in December (see pic above), I am looking forward to kicking off the new term from 10th January 2023. The first week of classes will include a trial week for all the daytime online lessons, that is Kung Fu Strength on Wednesday mornings, Tai Chi for Health on Tuesday lunchtimes and also Meditation for Nei Gong on Tuesday mornings. Anybody can drop-in and try any one of these classes for £10, the popular classes will run for the term – see the Group Classes page for details.

Evening Classes will run as usual from 10th January, with Traditional Tai Chi on Tuesdays in our beautiful new hall on Lower Clapton Road; the first class of this four week term on 10th January is free for newcomers. 18-Step Wudang Kung Fu will continue online on Thursday evenings, this is a six-week term and drop-ins are welcome.

In the mix this term we have one new option, Meditation for Nei Gong, which features sitting Taoist Observation Meditation and Standing Stake Nei Gong. This is a stripped-down version of the Heart Repair Meditation for Nei Gong course which is suitable for weekly lessons; the class welcomes complete beginners, so if you are looking to try sitting or standing meditation, or are an existing practitioner looking to improve your skills – come and give it a go.

I hope you have a merry and restful festive season and I will see you in 2023.

A Heart Repair Meditation for Nei Gong retreat will take place online in the mornings before work between 6th to 12th November. This retreat uses two different meditation techniques to focus the mind, open the body, and free the heart. We then use these beneficial conditions to train the healing, power-building exercise known as Standing Stake. The three main techniques which will be practised daily are:

Taoist Observation Meditation: This is a concentration meditation which focusses on body and breath, and opens the body through use of ‘sung’ or relaxation power. Taoist Observation Meditation calms the mind and establishes the body as foundation for the practices that follow.

Touch and Go Meditation: This technique explores the difference between the conditioned self (yi/intention) and pure awareness (shen/spirit). All of human experience is welcome in this style, which combines concentration and emptiness meditation to soften the grip of emotions on mind and body.

Standing Stake Nei Gong: This is a stationary standing practice which heals on a postural and energetic level. It also generates martial power, and is how the Tai Chi powers are created in the Wudang Pai. Two different techniques will be taught, one for beginners and one for experienced students.

Also Featuring: The techniques will be embedded within a warm-up for physical comfort, journalling for grounding, and breathing techniques which thread the three techniques together. I will also share my story of how these techniques helped me through challenging times. There will be some individual unstructured creative time in the final session to leave space for inspiration – the hallmark of the spirit – to strike.

The Heart Repair Philosophy: Tai Chi has for hundreds of years healed the hearts of practitioners through working on the body. In fact the many ways of developing body and mind to cultivate qi are known under one umbrella term in China, “Heart Repair” (修心). This term assumes that emotions, mind and body are one, which means pain in the heart is pain in the body, which leaves its mark and distorts the flow of qi. Conversely, when softening the body through Tai Chi, Qi Gong and other internal arts to promote free-flowing qi, we simultaneously undo our emotional knots.

Modern Chinese culture does not talk so much of emotions, but this practice has gone on for centuries regardless. Modern Western Culture does talk of emotions, and in recent years a vernacular has arisen which describes this process in a different way; it’s called the somatic approach to trauma.

Results: For me, training these heart repair techniques has been like turning a light on in a dark room. They have taught me how to open my internal landscape and move power through my body for both healing and martial purposes. They have taught me the significance of being a human between Heaven and Earth, and the impact that both a cloudy and clear connection between these two poles has on my wellbeing. And they have helped me to process shock and alleviate the impact of stress. The support these techniques provided during challenging times is something I am profoundly grateful for, and so every couple of years I share my story and recent discoveries I have made using these techniques.

Details: The retreat is suitable for both complete beginners and experienced students, and for all health levels. It will take place online via Zoom, and costs £110, you can book here. I wish for this event to be accessible to all, so if you would like to come and cannot afford this amount, please get in touch. Here is the timetable for the week:

Sunday 6th November: 10.30am-1pm Full introduction to all techniques and my story.

Monday 7th to Friday 11th November: 7.15-8.30am The three core techniques.

Saturday 12th November: 10.30am-1pm Concluding session and talk with Q & A. This includes some individual unstructured creative time after the main session which students can attend if they choose.

There will be a free taster session on Sunday 23rd October between 11am-12.30pm, please email me at lucia@wudang-pai.co.uk if you wish to attend this.

You can also read testimonials from the last Heart Repair Meditation retreat here. If you have any questions feel free to get in touch, and until we meet again – be gentle with your heart.

Autumn term starts the week of September 19th, with Tuesday evening Tai Chi classes back at Wigan Hall, a new 18-step Kung Fu Forms class online on Thursday evenings, and a follow-along Qi Gong class in Clapton at the later time of 8.30-9.30 am. The Wednesday morning online Kung Fu foundations class and Tuesday lunchtime Tai Chi on Stoke Newington common will take place as usual.

There will also be a Heart Repair Meditation for Nei Gong course online in the mornings for a week around the time the clocks go back. More details on all of this to follow — meanwhile I am on leave and will only be checking emails occasionally.

Enjoy the last of the summer everyone!