18:00 Tuesday 09 May 2017

The first Shefford Tai Chi Festival was declared a success as it was held mark an important date in the calendar.

The last Saturday in April is designated by the World Health Organisation as World Tai Chi and Chi Kung Day, and this year the festival of Tai Chi and related arts was held at the Community Hall.

Ian Deavin, who runs Shefford Tai Chi, said: It was brilliant. As a first event we set our sights high but our expectations low - both were exceeded and we lost count of the number of visitors and were totally impressed by the enthusiasm of the demonstrations.

For those who dropped in on spec the atmosphere was warm and friendly with a multi-generation make up - so much a community event.

Tai Chi demos took the form of a short beginners class with lots of people joining in and some demonstrations. This was the sort of class that beginners can expect at classes in the afternoon on Mondays and Sunday evenings at the Community Hall.

Among a host of other demonstrations was Les Hummel with a taster class of yoga, David Sheppard with massage tasters, Wing Chun students under the direction of Master William Wong and Shash Gajjar with a pilates class.

Other Tai Chi classes were held and the Community Hall Taekwondo group, led by their fourth degree instructor Tom Delve, showed a high energy level with a routine that culminated in a brick breaking demo!

Judy Hammond took over with a class on Alexander Technique where she worked with individuals on their posture and then Ian gave a fast demo of the Chen style Broadsword form which was enjoyed by all.

Visitors watched Thai kickboxing by Master Miggy Marcantonio and a brilliant class of enthusiastic young students doing a 30-minute routine.

The final event was another Tai Chi class to finish off a very successful day.

Ian said: Many thanks to all who gave up their time to demonstrate and take classes - and of course to all our visitors.

Thank you to everybody who donated to charity for their tea/coffee and cakes - we collected over 73 which will be split between the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and a local charity for the homeless.

Visit http://www.sheffordtaichi.org

See the original post here:

First Tai Chi festival draws the visitors - Biggleswade Today