2012 schedule coming soon.......
Events List 2011
February 12 Saturday Workshop - Double Fan Revision
Location TBC. 10.00am-12.30pm. Cost £15, Debbie will provide a revision class for those with knowledge of the Double Fan form.
February 26 Visit from Eva & Karel Koskuba
Holy Trinity Hall, Stratford. 10.30am-1.30pm. Cost £25
Knowledge of the first 15 moves of Laojia essential
March 19 Saturday Workshop - Cannon Fist #1/4
Tiddington Community Centre. 10.00am -12.30pm Cost £15, Paul will be providing the first of 4 sessions to learn the complete Chen Cannon Fist form – knowledge & experience of the Laojia form is essential.
April 30 Shakespeare Birthday Parade - Tai Chi Demo
Stratford Upon Avon Town. Details TBC. All participants welcome!
May 8 Sunday Bluebell Chi Gung
Oversley Woods, near Alcester 10.30am onwards. Spectacular bluebells!
May 21 Saturday Workshop - Cannon Fist #2/4
Tiddington Community Centre. 10.00am -12.30pm Cost £15, Paul will be providing the second of 4 sessions to learn the complete Chen Cannon Fist form – knowledge & experience of the Laojia form is essential.
June 11 Midsummer Moonlight Tai Chi
8pm onwards. At the Rollright Stones, price £5.
June 18-19 Leamington Spa Peace Festival
Visit our stand at this popular free festival at the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington Spa
July 2 - 3 Stonehenge and Glastonbury
6.15-7.15am amongst the stones. Cost £20, max 26 people
Followed by a weekend exploring sacred sites in Wiltshire… Book early!
August 6 Saturday Workshop - Cannon Fist #3/4
Tiddington Community Centre. 10.00am -12.30pm Cost £15, Paul will be providing the third of 4 sessions to learn the complete Chen Cannon Fist form – knowledge & experience of the Laojia form is essential.
September 17 10th Anniversary - Demo Morning
10am-12noon, Demonstration morning to celebrate 10 years of Swan Tai Chi in Stratford Upon Avon. Charity event. All welcome, bring a friend
Holy Trinity Parish Hall, Stratford
October 15 Saturday Workshop - Cannon Fist #4/4
Tiddington Community Centre. 10.00am -12.30pm Cost £15, Paul will be providing the final of 4 sessions to learn the complete Chen Cannon Fist form – knowledge & experience of the Laojia form is essential.
November 5 Saturday Workshop - Spear #1
At Ettington Community Centre. 10.00am-12.30pm Cost £15, Debbie will be providing the first session to learn the Chen Spear form. This is an advanced course and requires previous weapons experience.
November 12 Nigel Shaw and Carolyn Hillyer
Weaving Winter. Holy Trinity Church Hall.
Afternoon sacred song & drum workshop 2.30-5.30pm £25
Evening concert 7.30pm Cost £12, Nigel Shaw and Carolyn Hillyer will be providing a concert of their music inspired by the beauty of Dartmoor, featuring songs from their new album Weaving the Land. You may recognise the music from our classes. Details & tickets from Swan, or from Carolyn & Nigel.
News and Reviews |
New Classes: Many of our friendly classes welcome newcomers. We currently have spaces available in Blackwell, Stratford, Tiddington, Hampton Lucy, Warwick, Leamington, Henley-in-Arden and Wellesbourne. Please contact one of the Swan Team to discuss your requirements |
| Saturday morning and weekend events |
We have put together a series of study mornings and outings. If there is anything else you would like to try, or if you know any beautiful location which is crying out for Tai Chi practise then please get in touch! Our weekend retreat is under discussion, as we are still trying to locate a venue - any ideas? |
| Reviews |
Well, we all did it! We joined in with the Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations parade on Saturday April 25th 2009. The rehearsal at 8.30am was held in the rain and we were concerned that the rain was here to stay, but no, the clouds rolled by and the sun shone as we paraded down Bridge Street. One group did the Double Sabres on one side of the road, whilst the other group did the Chen Fan. It was an amazing sight as so much was happening at the same time - motobikes, skate boarders, BMX bikers, drama groups, circus skills, belly dancing and all to the beat of a Samba band! We paraded off Bridge Street behind the Coventry Brass Band into the Gardens where we demonstrated the Form, the Single and Double Sabre, the Fan, and finally Debbie and Paul demonstrated the Left and Right handed Double Sabre - stunning! Thank you to one and all who joined us in the celebrations, either demonstrating in Bridge Street in the Pararde or joining us in the demonstrations on Bancroft Gardens - and a special thanks to Sian, Rosie and Ceri. The photographs are in our rouges gallery page |
Chen Fan Saturday Morning Phew what a morning! It was brilliant fun, and oh so noisy with 20+ fans closing and opening together. It looked specatular as we all had different coloured fans and we fluttered and spun under our fans like a flock of happy peacocks - golds, blues, reds and blacks. The Fan is such a joy to do and we learnt the first fifteen moves over the three hours, it took a lot of concentration and co-ordination to learn, and we slowly added on chunks of the form, reviewed what we had learnt, then moved onto the next section. We stopped for cake, biscuits and teas at 11o'clock, and only then did we notice how much we had used our wrists - but it didn't stop us tasting the cake and biscuits! Again the morning followed the same agenda as in the Double Sabre, with the more experienced practioners joining us for the final hour.The time flew by in a snap of the fan, and when we all went through the Fan form together at the end of the morning it was super and felt, for me, a real acheivement - well done one and all! We are planning a review session on June 13th - more details later.... |
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Double Sabre Saturday Morning We had a great time at the Double Sabre Saturday on Feb 14th, with about 18 of us turning out for the class. We all learnt the first of four parts of the Form, with much swishing, clanging and swinging of swords! We stopped for tea and biscuits where we tried out the different types of swords - metal or wooden - and talked of the different grips and ribbons used as decoration. The more experienced group joined us about 11 o'clock, who worked on the second and third parts - it was inspiring to watch them and I was struck by how much they enjoyed learning and doing the Form. We ended the morning by going through Part One all together and feeling very proud of ourselves, if a little dizzy after all those Salute to the Sun's! We are going to have a revision day later in the year, so watch out for the dates. Thank you all for attending and making it such a success. |
Thank You!!! Our Open Session, where we demonstrated all the forms of Tai Chi, Chi Gung, Single and Double Sabre, Fan and Cannon Fist was a roaring success, raising £100.00 for the Stroke Association. About 60+ people turned up from all our different classes and other people to watch the demonstrations and meet other members of Swan Tai Chi. What was the best bit for me was when we started doing the form and apart from a handful of people, everyone stood up and joined in - It was fantastic. The coffee and cakes went down very well, with not a crumb left by 12.30... the receipes are below - enjoy Well done and thank you on behalf of the Stroke Association! |
Our thanks go out to the Guardian and Observer newspaper for including the Swan School of Tai Chi and Chi Gung in their guides to Massage and Relaxation (part two) page 38 - National fame! It has been great to meet new students and also old friends getting in contact with us - a double winner! |
If there is anything else you would like us to teach, almost a Tai Chi wish list, please just speak to Debbie, Judith or Paul. |
Tai Chi Cakes Seed Cake 6oz butter/sugar/SR flour 3 eggs 2oz ground almonds Zest and juice of one lemon 2oz mixed dried candied fruit 1 tablespoon marmalade ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar/caraway seeds Place the butter/sugar/SR flour, eggs, ground almonds, zest and juice of one lemon, tablespoon marmalade and the ½ teaspoon baking powder in a magimix and mix together until smooth, and lightened in colour. It should be a soft dropping mixture. Add milk to soften if required Add candied fruit, pulse to mix. Pour into 2lb loaf tin. Add the demerara sugar/caraway seeds to make the crunchy topping. Cook for 1 to 1 ¼ hours 170 degrees
Marble cake 6oz butter/sugar/SR flour 1 oz cocoa powder 3 eggs A little milk ½ teaspoon baking powder Place butter/sugar/SR flour, eggs and ½ teaspoon baking powder into magimx and mix together until smooth. Divide mixture into two by adding half to the baking tin. Fold in the cocoa powder and milk to the remaining mixture Add to baking tin Using a knife, draw the mixture in a figure of eight to achieve the ‘marble effect’ Cook for 30 mins (approx) 185 degrees
Lemon cake 6oz butter/sugar/SR flour 3 eggs 2oz ground almonds Zest and juice of one lemon ½ teaspoon baking powder Juice of one lemon (for pouring sauce)
Place the butter/sugar/SR flour, eggs, ground almonds, zest and juice of one lemon and the ½ teaspoon baking powder in a magimix and mix together until smooth, and lightened in colour. It should be a soft dropping mixture. Pour into 2lb loaf tin. Cook for 1hr 170 degrees Once the cake in out of the oven, immediately pour over the lemon juice. It will bubble up then soak into the cake. Leave to cool in the tin.
Chocolate Brownies 5oz butter 4 eggs 11 ½ oz sugar 1 Teaspoon vanilla essence Pinch of salt 5 ½ oz plain flour 1 big bar of plain/white chocolate (200gramme) broken into small pieces Melt butter and cool In a large bowl add eggs, sugar, vanilla essence, salt and plain flour Add butter and beat together Fold in chocolate piece Pour into baking tin – large roasting tin style 35-40 mins 170 degrees for soft centred, slightly longer if you want a more ‘solid’ texture
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As always, please contact Debbie, Judith or Paul for further information |