Out & About January 2017

I don’t know how many times I have watched the movie Notting Hill and been mesmerised by the tai chi class going on in the leafy London garden, as the camera pans across towards Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts sitting serenely on a park bench at the end of the film. On many such occasions I promised myself I will give tai chi a try. More recently, The Intern , starring Robert de Niro and Anne Hathaway also featured a similar scene, pictured below, and finally I was spurred into action, deciding to make 2017 the year I gave it a go. To my delight I discovered classes in Newbury and am now getting to grips with ‘step back and repulse monkey’, ‘grasp the sparrow’s tail’ and ‘single whip’. I talked to teacher William Mak about his experience and all things tai chi. After locating a tai chi class in Newbury, Geraldine Gardner has set out on a quest to discover the secrets of this most gentle of martial arts Natural balance

Pictures: Phil Cannings

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