Simon Robins

When I first started Tai Chi almost 30 years ago (thank goodness it keeps people looking young) it was because my body was in poor shape. I had been on crutches several times with foot and ankle injuries, ripped my back muscles and had internal bleeding; sawn off the tip of one of my fingers (although I like to tell small children it was a shark!); been run over by a transit van as it span off the road; injured a shoulder (it’s still a bit clicky) and had a few whiplash injuries from car accidents; impaled my foot on a spike (twice); come off my bicycle in a variety of painful and amusing ways... and the list goes on. In short, I’ve had more injuries than a squirrel has nuts!

I had loved my Judo (started way back in 1974), was passionate about Aikido and enjoyed Ju Jitsu – but my body was too broken to continue with those arts. Initially, I only saw Tai Chi as a way to get my body fit and healthy so that I could get back to training again. However, as I continued there were other changes...

My mind became calm and still. As you may be able to work out from the list of injuries above I had been the kind of person who trained hard, played hard, generally lived life in a “hard” way. My emotions became more stable. The promise of Tai Chi became real to me through a series of profound experiences. I realised this was a journey in wisdom.