Tai Chi or similar in SF?

[I am...]

I have a good friend looking to take up Tai Chi or something similar in the San Francisco area. He has a Hung Gar and Shaolin background from years back. Does anyone have recommendations? I figure there are probably quite a few talented people down there.

Thank you

[ashe]

Bernie Langan is in Oakland and teaches Luo's Bagua as well as I Liq Chuan, or Mark Wataan is on the SF side of the bay also teaching I Liq Chuan.

[I am...]

Thanks Ashe, that will go on my (short) list of stuff to suggest to him. Does anyone else know of any IMA in San Francisco? I figured there would be quite a bit, but don't know the town myself.

[nicklinjm]

I think Jane Yao (Yao Peijing) is based in SF. If she's still teaching publicly she would be worth checking out, as she studied with Ma Yueliang and his wife before becoming an indoor disciple of Hao Shaoru (Wu/Hao style), not to mention learning bagua and xingyi from Ji Jinshan, another giant of the Shanghai IMA scene. Think this is her website: http://www.geocities.ws/niwah64/JaneYaosBaguaTeacher.html

[Daniel-san]

Not sure if this is in the SF area:

http://wuhaotaichi.com/schedule.htm

[Michael]

This is a bit tangential, but what the heck. A big part of tai ji quan is the mind-body connection, which many people come to understand as a sensitivity to their internal energy flow that they gradually develop with TJQ and accompanying cultivation practices, such as jibengong, neigong, qigong, etc. Many people who've practiced Pan Gu Shengong for just a short while, perhaps as little as a month or three, have found that when they later learned TJQ postures, they were immediately able to sense the meaningful difference of subtle changes in body alignment that it takes a lot of people months or years to develop with TJQ practice alone.

This was my experience and it made learning TJQ a lot easier and quicker for me to understand its value. Because I could feel the effect of the posture and the difference between subtle changes from the very first TJQ class, I never had to ask teacher, "Why should I move this way or not that way?" Several other PGSG students I've met had the same experience.

Pan Gu Shengong originator, Ou Wen Wei is based in downtown SF. It's the easiest to learn energy cultivation I've ever seen. A single, one-hour class and that's all you need as far as supervision.

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[I am...]

Thank you all for responding. I sent the information down his way, hopefully he will be in contact soon.