Taoist Tai Chi Society of the USA, Oregon Branch

This place is great, and choosing to go here has been real important to me. If you want to learn a tai chi long form this is the place. My two teachers are very nice people – as is everyone here – and skilled in the form. Beautiful, centrally located building. And the price is super reasonable, around half of other places I looked at. I’m just going once a week, but your monthly membership covers as many classes as you want, in any of their locations.
They do a variety of other activities, including chanting, mah jong and tea tasting. Classes concentrate on the form, with little talk about philosophy or chi. Also very little individual direction from the instructors, I’m here to learn the form and the set up’s pretty perfect for me.

Taoism has an interesting legendary beginning. The story is that a wise and compassionate government official became disgusted with corruption and misdirection by officials. He decided to leave civilization and travel out into the wilderness. At the gate in the Great Wall, the guard, realizing him a great sage, asked that he write down a few of his thoughts. That is foundation document of Taoism and the only record of his existence. Taoism much later became a somewhat organized religion with monasteries who collected money, performed magic and created a small pantheon of immortal gods.
Tai Chi Chuan is one of the moving yogas of China. Tai Chi emerged in Taoist and Zen monasteries, as a method for Chinese monks to defend themselves from bandits. For generations, it was passed to new students in secret, through monasteries and families. For instance, one famous form, the Chen style, is closely connected to the Chen family village. So it is similar to yoga in having many styles and variations between teachers of the same style.
Tai Chi is based on growing the chi energy, harmonizing its flow and learning how to move it in the body. The chi is what acupuncture works with. it’s not necessary to believe that to do it though.
Taoism and Confucianism are the great philosophies of China, and they have always operated in dynamic equilibrium. Taoism is the yin and yang theory, the constancy of change. Confucianism is honoring parents and leaders (short version). Tai chi is strongly connected to Taoist philosophy, but it’s not necessary to believe that either.
The Taoist Tai Chi Society was created by a monk in China in the 1960’s. He was brought as a child to the monastery because he was chronically ill and his parents were unable to care for him. So he grew up with Taoism and developed his own tai chi form of the Yang style. He moved to Canada in the period of the Cultural Revolution and founded the society. He passed in 1998, but the society has prospered.
The organization is unique, all the teachers and staff are volunteers, the organization is a non-​profit. The membership fees they collect are dedicated to purchasing buildings and expanding the training to 25 countries and many US cities.
I stopped by the opening of their new building and chatted with some of the members; my friend studied with them, a requirement in the Linfield College nursing program, and a good stress reliever.
Their newly remodeled building has a huge open cork floor and an arching open frame ceiling. They have beginning and then continuing classes of their one form. This is different from some studios where there is a competition to teach as many forms as possible: Chen, Yang, Wu, Sun, Hao, and innumerable sword, staff, fan and other forms.
The same program is duplicated throughout the world. That also means a member can drop into an instant community anywhere in the world and one of the people I talked to had done that in Canada and Europe.
The Portland program has a very heavy representation of retired folks. They have specifically reached out to senior centers and promote the health benefits to hospitals. They even have their unique upper body-​only version of seated Tai Chi.
The school has a written philosophy which is nicely high minded in a good way. There was a Chinese altar with portraits of three Taoist Immortals and a small memorial to the founder. They also have chanting classes. So I’m not sure how the spiritual component plays out in practice. Certainly something similar is found in some yoga studios and in Akido. From my conversations, it seemed that there is somewhat a Confucian overlay to the studio in the teacher hierarchy and in relation to the founder. That’s the kind of thing that I don’t mesh with, all my tai chi training experiences have been much more truly Taoist. Plus I’m allergic to altars.
If you are interested in tai chi, where to study? In my experience, the level of tai chi required to use it as a fighting art is far beyond most people. If anything, it would take many years of dedicated study. It can be a complement to the external martial arts, like karate. But I don’t think it fits well in an external martial arts studio. Certainly teaching it as an external art or with that attitude is unfortunate. So the Taoist Tai Chi Society is on the right track there.
It’s an excellent place for people needing gentle exercise to retrain from injury. And with its new building, it has plenty of capacity to expand to a more diverse community of people interested in tai chi. Everyone I met was splendid and there were plenty of grandparents with their grandchildren there.
Has yoga peaked? Is tai chi the next big thing? Will the rise of China spark interest, or the opposite? Time will tell.
The Taoist Tai Chi Society is a great spot for gentle exercise, a welcoming community, and an ideal place to send the (grand)parents, and really anyone, to learn tai chi. Let’s see if, in a few years, it’s the new hot yoga!