I am writing from the UK where I am part of a Tai Chi School in Portsmouth. This summer I had the opportunity to reconnect with Master Mei after she arrived in the UK en route to a cottage in the north-west of the country for a break. I first trained with Mei when she still had her Tai Chi school in a sleepy village on the outskirts of Yangshuo. That must have been as long ago as 2008 and since then I have managed to visit the school from time to time. I have yet to visit the new school atop the mountains overlooking the Li River but it’s on my travel list and I am sure it will happen soon.

Five Elements Academy Tai Chi in Portsmouth IMG_5776More recently I have been learning Yang Ban Hou style Tai Chi with Cristian Lopez at the Five Elements Academy Tai Chi School in Portsmouth on the south coast of the UK. Though the school has been a little restricted due to the lockdown in the UK, Cristian has kept things going by posting videos online. It’s been a great summer here and when the lockdown eased classes started again but this time outside in a park near the seafront in Southsea. Practice in the garden out the back of the Butterfly Museum has been amazing. The weather perfect and the people I have been training with very friendly and welcoming.

When I heard Mei was coming to the UK I spoke to Cristian and we quickly agreed we should invite Mei as a guest to lead one of our morning classes in the park. Mei agreed and we set a date, offering a free class to anyone who wanted to come along. In the end, we had about 30 people all from different Tai Chi schools in the city, we even had some complete beginners. As Cristian said at the time, it was amazing to see everyone together as one family of Tai Chi brothers and sisters. The sun shone on us that morning and we had a lovely hour of guidance from Master Mei in the arts of Tai Chi and Qigong.

Mei ran through some basic principles for us, taking us through stepping, shifting our weight and spiralling through our movement. All of which applies to any form of Tai Chi and everyone was very attentive. Mei concluded the lesson with a few movements of her own Qigong form under the huge tree that dominates the park. I think I can safely speak for Cristian and all the other Tai Chi fans at the Five Elements Academy that we really valued Mei’s teaching. In fact, people are still talking about it and we all look forward to a time when Mei can visit us again.