The Dragon's Head Blog

  The tea party at Colchester has become an annual event. This time it had a 60’s theme and was at the weekend.  As always there was lots of fun and lots of food.

The mango pudding is chilling, the buses and cars have flocked to the International Center, with a record of more than 400 participants for a seniors day, and there is a excitement in the air for what’s ahead. Seniors Day is always the largest one-day event at the International Center but this year it takes […]

Over the Memorial Day weekend holiday the International Center in Florida hosted an international sabre program lead by Sean Dennison.  Over 90 participants took part in the program coming from as far as New Zealand. The first day started with the USA Board receiving a guided tour of the historic Fenway Hotel from the Dunedin branch […]

What do you think of when you think of Taoist Tai Chi® arts? Here in Colchester we are busy with gardening, tai chi and plenty of food. The dragon now has eyes.

It may not seem like a lot has changed by looking at the photos below of windows and construction studs but we now have over half of  the 500+ windows installed. The hurricane rated windows are quite modern despite the 1920’s appearance. Each window is attached to metal beams that are attached to support beams […]

Tampa Bay Times Article – http://www.tampabay.com/news/growth/dunedins-historic-fenway-to-become-public-boutique-hotel/2277713 DUNEDIN — The revamping of the historic Fenway Hotel has long been a dream for residents and city leaders. By next spring, when the 1920s building is expected to once again open its doors to the public, developers say that dream will become reality. The building’s owner, Taoist Tai Chi […]

Doing the daily chores in small groups without group leaders was a new experience for most participants. For some it was a challenging way of working together. It was an opportunity to learn from each other and to learn more about ourselves. There are many ways to practise flexibility. The beautiful weather during the workshop gave […]

  Every day we started with chanting. Some members said that the more they chant the more they learn to appreciate it and enjoy the benefits of it. It’s like tai chi: the more you do it, the better the understanding. What a pity we only have one more morning left during this forever young […]

Today the focus was on the continuous circling movement in the toryu and wave hands like clouds. A lot of us experienced a massage of the inside. It was so great we can’t wait to find out what we will be learning of Taoist Tai Chi® arts on days four and five of the workshop.

Talking about the incredible health benefits of practicing Taoist Tai Chi® arts, Marsha and Andrew suggested that next year we won’t call such an event a seniors week but rather the workshop could be called a forever young workshop.

On the first day 95 seniors (and future seniors) listened to Andrew Hung and Marsha Eberhardt who helped us to better understand coiling and also to stand up fully.

The day started off with a continuing class. We deepened our understanding of the danyu and applied our practice of Taoist Tai Chi® arts in appear to close entrance and cross hands.  About 30 people enjoyed delicious tray-baked chicken for lunch.   The market stall with cuttings and seedlings was a meeting place throughout the […]

It was a perfect 65°F early morning as we gathered our “single whip” grabbers, buckets and bags. We volunteer to keep a mile clean on our Pinellas County bike and walking trail and are fortunate to have our mile near the International Center in Florida. We also like that our portion of the trail parallels […]

Nearly 130 participants from many parts of the globe arrived at the International Centre for Spring Tai Chi Week. Along with the blush of early spring the delicate blooms of the season and the hardy heather we came to learn and practice Taoist Tai Chi® arts including, among other things, how to work together. For […]

Things are progressing at the International Center in Florida. In building A, the historic Fenway Hotel, a mock-up room is being constructed to allow for changes that may be needed.               The electrical room had 12 feed lines installed under the footer and then concrete was poured to secure them. […]

The International Center Florida hosted 230 participants for lunch and a tour of the facilities on April 14th. Members of the Dunedin Branch were very busy in preparation for participants from all over the Tampa Bay area coming to Dunedin Thursday morning. Upon arriving, participants walked the grounds outside of the construction fence around buildings A […]

Restoration work continues at our second International Center.  Framing teams continue construction of the load-bearing walls and have begun replacement of the girders on the second floor of the northeast wing. Plumbers continue to work in the southeast wing. The lobby scaffolding around the new support column has been removed. Work on the new lobby […]

On Friday, March 18th, the Tampa Bay Times will run the following article with an online video of the work being done at the International Center Florida, Fenway Hotel and the Society. Watch the video Tampa Bay Times Article Even during its latest 10-year stint as a vacant building, the historic Fenway Hotel has remained […]

Centre volunteers have been busy working long days harvesting and preparing the sap collected from our property’s maple trees. Once in the evaporator the sap is boiled down until it reaches the right level of sweetness. The delicious liquid is then brought over to the kitchen to be filtered and bottled.

There has been lots of activity in the southeast wing of the A building (the Fenway Hotel). This wing has had the roof dried-in. This refers to the process of applying a layer of roofing paper, tar and a thick rubber material to waterproof the roof. The final roofing material layer for all of the wings […]