Taiji With Eldan

I started martial arts training in Britain with the Nam Pai Chuan kung fu school, training under Matt Gross and Lai Khee Choong, and the Nam Yang Pugilistic Association under Dougal Simmons and Tan Soh Tin. These two schools introduced me to Chinese martial arts and the traditions around them, and started me on a journey inwards that led to taiji and qigong. I approach Taiji as all of a practical martial art, a spiritual exercise, and a physical antidote to desk work.

Since 2011 I have been primarily a Chen style Taijiquan student of Sifu Viola Brumbaugh, in Chen Zhenglei’s lineage. As well as benefiting from Viola’s dedicated and precise instruction, I’ve had the privilege of learning Chen style from Chen Zhenglei, Chen Bin, Wang Haijun, and Byron Hartman at international workshops, and studying push hands and taiji principles with David Leung, Art Baner, and Sam Masich. I have recently started taking Yang Style classes with Minnie Wong in Vic West and Gabriel Shaw in Burnside - a context in which I'm a beginner all over again.

I started to teach as an assistant in Sifu Viola’s classes, and led an advanced class for my last couple of years in Seattle. I received my instructor certification from the Chen Zhenglei Taijiquan Federation in April 2022. I see teaching as a way of giving back to a tradition which has given me so much, and sharing the joy of it with others. I believe that anyone can benefit from some Taiji practice, whether they have any natural talent for it or not. I try to make my classes an invitation to explore what works for each individual.

I practice Chen style Old & New Frames, broadsword and straightsword, as well as Yang 24 and straight sword, and the Ba Fa Pen Gan and Five Animal Frolics qigong sets. I am currently only teaching empty hand forms, because it’s important for students to get a solid grounding in stance and technique before complicating things with a weapon.

Outside of taiji and qigong, I work as a freelance GIS consultant, and outside of that you’re likely to find me on a bike or in a kayak or at a loom.

Melinda started studying Chen Taijiquan in 2016 with Sifu Viola Brumbaugh, and quickly found that it benefited her mental health as well as her violin technique more than any other movement practice she has tried. Since then, she has studied mostly Chen style with a number of different teachers, and her practice includes the Chen style Old & New Frames, double and single broad and straight sword forms, and the Ba Fa Pen Gan, Five Animal Frolics and Yin Yang Medical qigong sets. She is privileged to have Eldan to practice with at home, and delighted to help out with teaching his classes.

When Melinda isn't doing taiji and qigong or playing the violin, she makes her living writing software.