Taijiquan courses in Amsterdam

Taiji quan (Tai chi chuan, 太极拳) is a component of WuShu (武术, the traditional Chinese Martial Arts). This very special martial art does not focus on speed and muscular strength,but more on internal power (qi 氣) and spirit (shen 神). With attention (yi 意), a perfect posture, and effective movements, you will learn to use the internal power very efficiently.

In the early morning in the public parks in China, you can see lots of people from all walks of life practising taiji quan. Mainly, they do this for health benefits: The training helps you to develop and guide your vital life energy (qi 氣). You will improve your posture, so that the energy can circulate more fluently through your body. After a period of intensive training, you will notice that your body and mind are more relaxed and that your stability has been improved.

In Amsterdam, in the middle of the Jordaan, Bastiaan Anink teaches taiji quan to beginners, intermediates and advanced.

The teacher

Bastiaan Anink

Bastiaan Anink (1965) has been training with sifu Kong Mien Ho (Amien) since 1985. He started with the external WuShu (chang quan / pack mee pai), and since 1987 he has also focussed on taiji quan. Kong Mien Ho taught him several forms of the Yang style (both standardized and traditional forms) and the competition form of the Chen style.

He completed his teacher training at Wuji, Institute of Taiji Quan, Wushu and Qi Gong, from sifu Kong Mien Ho, a disciple of Gu Liuxin and Feng Zhiqiang. In 1997 Bastiaan started as trainee/assistant at Wuji, since 2000 he has his own school.

For many years he attended regular classes in Daoist training (Healing Tao) with Annette Derksen and Mantak Chia.

In my classes I try to offer the entire spectrum of taiji quan. Firstly, I concentrate on the correct movements, proper posture and body structure. For each move, I show the application so that these moves don't become meaningless movements. In addition, the development of your own energy is a part of each lesson, though this is not always explicit. Only with energy, can you develop the full power of taiji quan.

Classes

Basically, the courses consist of learning a form (a fixed sequence of movements) that is performed quietly, smoothly and in a relaxed way. Besides the form there is time for taiji qigong and each lesson ends with a short meditation. During the lesson, attention is paid both to the external and the internal aspects of taiji quan.
The group size is about 8 participants, allowing everyone enough individual attention.

Class Schedule

  • Beginners: Wednesday Night from 19:30 to 20:30
  • Advanced: Wednesday Night from 20:30 to 21:30

Holidays

  • Summer (20th July till 31st August)
    • Fall (20th October)

Location

  • Theatre KV Palm (3rd floor)
  • Palmstraat 34
  • 1015 HS Amsterdam

Classes for beginners

In April, we have started a new group.
This is a perfect moment to learn Taijiquan from the basics. We will spend a good amount of time at the basic principles of Taijiquan.


Feel like joining? You can always try a lesson on Wednesday evening, from 19:30 till 20:30.
Please send me an email if you want to join a lesson.

Taiji movement

Taiji quan or tai chi chuan?

People sometimes ask, why do you write taiji quan and not tai chi, qi gong and not chi kung? Do you pronounce it differently?

Chinese is not written with Roman letters, but with characters. To translate these characters phonetically with Roman letters, different systems have been developed over the centuries. From 1912 to 1979, the Wade-Giles transcription was the standard. Since 1979, in China (and increasingly beyond) the Pinyin transcription is being used. Pinyin uses a separate letter for each sound (combination), whereas the Wade-Giles has had to resort to punctuation to distinguish individual sounds..

Some letters in the Pinyin spelling, you pronounce quite differently than in English (x = sh). But, when you have learned the rules, your pronunciation will be pretty good.
The Pinyin spelling of 太极拳 is taiji quan versus Wade-Giles t'ai chi ch'uan, and of 氣 功 qi gong versus ch'i k'ung.
Nowadays, I see the different spellings used interchangeably: tai chi quan, or chi gong. This increases the confusion even more ....