Jing Ling Tai Chi Academy

Two years ago, I first came across Sifu James’s Tai Chi school among a list of other schools. What initially made me pay attention was Sifu James’s participation and winning in not one, but two recent national push hand championships in Australia. Usually, masters of martial schools strive to maintain their reputation by not risking failure in open competition, and instead encourage their own students to compete. So in my mind, this person must either be supremely confident, or that he is not afraid of failure. Either option was enough reason for me to pay him a visit. Ego is the enemy. I firmly believed that a practitioner would only reach his highest potentials if he consistently challenges himself and risks failure, with his allegiance being only to the pursuit of the art, pushing superfluous things such as reputation or ‘saving face’ to the sidelines.I received a warm welcome during my first visit to Sifu James’s tai chi class. Having previously practiced internal Wing Chun for 6 years at the time, I was not a novice in internal martial arts and force generation. That evening class consists mainly of tai chi exercises and forms. At the end, I kindly requested Sifu if he could show me the kind of power he was alluding to during the lesson. Sifu James agreed, and demonstrated a perplexing display of power and softness combined in a perfectly-controlled manner. Even more impressive was his mastery of Change - which he used to elicit force out of me and use it against myself, without even needing to add much of his own power that he displayed earlier. I would later learn this to be Tai Chi’s infamous concept of “four ounces moving a thousand pounds”. It was only then that I saw a glimpse of how much more there was to learn from this man. Back then, I knew just enough to appreciate how much my previous training was missing (e.g. practical yielding, yin-yang applications of empty-hand forms, continuous changes, evenness, rooting power, theory of following, etc and much more). I joined up the school on the spot.Throughout the last two years, Sifu James had been insanely generous in sharing his teachings and knowledge of the intricacies of Yang Style Tai Chi Quan. Every worthy martial artist go through their own periods of training with blood and sweat and abandonment, all in the name of acquiring insights and progress along the ladder of improvement. So it is no wonder that many of the ‘real stuff’ of martial arts have remained closely-guarded secrets for so long, because acquiring them was such hard work! But Sifu James showed incredible high-mindedness in sharing his ‘secrets’ to his students. Part of the reason I believe is because his own skill levels were also accelerating at such a fast rate that he feels inspired to share with those around him (I’m reminded of a quote by Maya Angelou - “You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”). Even so, such levels of no-fluff breakdown and dy-mystification of what is often hailed as the most supreme internal martial art is rare.Smart people never stopping learning from others’ experiences. Sifu James is a humble avid reader who is well-versed in both English and Chinese martial literature, especially ancient Tai Chi Classics. This is important because the classics were where Tai Chi concepts originate.Having years of experience in other Chinese and Japanese martial arts, Sifu James is as open-minded as his experience is diverse. He intimately understands the relationship between form practice and martial applications, and where everything lies on the spectrum between the ideal and practical. He is a dual-lineage 6th generation master of Yang Style Tai Chi. But all the qualifications in the world mean nothing if the Sifu is not willing to share; does not have the patience to share; or is simply not a good teacher. Sifu James is none of the three. He always has your best interests at heart, and relates with you in the most genuine way. To me, this is the kind of Master that can take you along the most enjoyable journey.

I started learning Taichi and Xingyi off Master James after my wife introduced me to him. He has over 30 years experience in practising and teaching with in depth knowledge of other martial arts eg Karate and Wing Chun. It has been such an honor to be his students.Being a healthcare professional myself, I have to say it is not easy to find someone who can teach both health benefits of Taichi as well as traditional martial arts aspects. Jing Ling Tai Chi Academy might be the solution.

excellent learning experience from the Taichi master, great Journey of knowing and expanding yourself via Taichi. highly recommended.