The Dragon's Head Blog

There were 120 participants who spent the last weekend in May, 2017 attending a central region program at the International Centre near Orangeville, Ontario. Program leaders John Balinski and Jim Gazzard emphasized the importance of learning by watching so that we can disengage our “thinking” mind and access our “feeling” mind. Although the weekend started […]

As the doors of the practice hall opened the warm wind wafted in giving new life to the space. The tai chi practitioners filtered in a few at a time on this lovely spring day. I was about to come alive again! I am the twenty-legged green dragon resident at the International Taoist Tai Chi […]

It was nice to give my mom flowers on Mother’s Day at the International Centre in Orangeville. Frazer

“Keep it simple”, says Frazer Smith as he leads 31 participants at the May Health Recovery program at the International Centre in Orangeville.  “Up, up, …” go the participants as the instructor guides us through the first few moves of the set. And slowly, gently, softly day one ends with a shifting to balance.   […]

On a sunny and crisp Saturday, April 29, the 10-leg dragon was prodded from its lair at the International Centre in Orangeville by a posse of 18 participants from Toronto, Quebec and Halifax. The sleepy dragon patiently allowed its head to be reattached after a long winter sleep before going outside for a good stretch and run. Energized by a morning of […]

It has been a real privilege to attend the tai chi sword workshop here at the International Centre near Orangeville, Canada. Our instructor (and chef!) Blaise Baillargeon led us through the sword set, teaching each move with very calm and clear instruction. The workshop began with none other than the humble danyu! Blaise was demonstrating […]

After 13 years of practising Taoist Tai Chi® arts in Denmark, I finally had the opportunity to come to our center in Orangeville. I arrived on March 17th which was in the middle of the maple syrup season and Jesse, a resident volunteer who picked me up at the airport, was happy to tell me all […]

To celebrate 10th anniversary of the Quiet Cultivation Centre in Orangeville, we are hosting a photo contest open to class participants and the public. Check out these submissions so far and enjoy the beauty of the centre. Photos do not need to be current. If you have photos from the last 10 years share your […]

Calling all maple fans. The season is off to an early  start  and we would greatly appreciate your  help. Trees need tapping and new lines need to be set up. The fire needs tending, the bottles must be labelled and filled. All tasks are lighter with more hands and there is no finer way to […]

Toronto Wong Dai Sin just celebrated the year of the Rooster at midnight. Well attended by the local Chinese community. The next celebration of the new year will be the Lantern Festival & Lighting Ceremony. FLK will follow the Chinese tradition, and will host the festival in Orangeville on February 11th, 2017 with a delicious […]

To celebrate the Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi® 47th Anniversary & The Quiet Cultivation Centre 10th Anniversary in 2017, we are hosting a Facebook photo contest.   What: Photo submissions should be of the EXTERIOR or INTERIOR of the Fung Loy Kok International Centre, a temple near Orangeville situated on a beautiful 100 acres of land.   […]

Did you know that Taoist Tai Chi® arts can straighten out severely damaged osteoporotic vertebrae without the aid of analgesic or prescription drugs? These two X-rays show: left the spine in 2016 and on the right 2015. 2016 shows the expansion created by straightening things out so now I can sing again as the air […]

Completing our exploration of opening in the first 17 moves,  we played with appear to close entrance and cross hands. Listen to the push and the elasticity of the body, connect and open. Listen to the roundness of the move. One individual cannot know everything, together we learn from each other.  The 108 moves reflect […]

Lines, angles, timing, balance. Things go where they need to go. The expression comes from the inside. We continued to explore the feeling of opening in the beginning of the set. The movement of hands is driven by the push from the feet. We enjoyed a preview of the preliminary results of the Canadian Health […]

Building on yesterday’s strong foundation, we continued to work on opening up,  focusing on the don-yu and the first few moves of the set.We were reminded that when we drop our elbows, the Latissimus dorsi muscle relaxes. Going all the way up will align the structure, allowing a natural drop with the knees following. We […]

Over 130 participants are gathered for Fall Tai Chi week, lead by Marsha Eberhardt, at the International Centre in Orangeville.  We worked together on our Tor-yu, one of our foundations, and continued to explore our feet, the foundation we stand on. We discussed the physics of the 49/51 forces coming from our foundation and put […]

All Taoist Tai Chi® arts play is about health recovery. The 108 people who attended the recent Health Recovery Day at the International Centre had the opportunity to witness the courage, persistence, grace and dignity of people with a wide range of health problems in their practice of the set and foundation moves. Hearing first-hand […]

Spending a weekend as a volunteer at Orangeville was a great experience. We had the chance to work together digging and planting new flower beds, but more than that, we got to know other tai chi practitioners from all over the world. We enjoyed classes together, great food and pleasant surroundings. When people thanked me […]

México presente en el Awareness Day – Contributor (Mexico)  

On the Friday night of CIT Week we had a wonderful banquet that started with an outside reception. The wine and beer flowed and music played as we hosted some special guests and learned how to entertain a large number of people — more than 600. The atmosphere was so relaxed and friendly and we […]