Ian

Born 20 May 1972

My first introduction to martial arts was at the age of 7, where I briefly did Budo Ryo in Johannesburg. I trained in it for about 6 months.

At 19 I did Shukokai briefly in Fishoek, but left due to transport complications. I dabbled in various other martial arts over the years on and off. I then began doing Go Ju Kai in 1998 for about 2.5 years under the instruction of Sensei Burton Noble and Sensei Carlo Brown. I greatly valued my time in this style and have a great deal of respect for it, but felt that it wasn’t the right style for me.

After doing some soul searching and some research I felt that Tai Chi could be the style best suited to me. I began at Jing Qi Shen under SiFu Stephen Yap and SiSok Stine Yap in Jan 2003. Stephen and Stine are far more than my instructors, they are also close friends and advisors.

Tai chi to me is a way of life with lessons to be learnt every single day. You can improve and develop all the time, even driving in the car on the way to work. Self reflection is a vital part to this martial art. One can notice improvements in ones training largely as a result of this self reflection. Tai Chi is a personal journey one takes, during which you encounter many friends along the way who help guide you along your path. When you first start you cannot even see the path and need to be shown the way. Once on the path the training really begins.