adventures in being
Welcome to Taijiquan Quest, a space dedicated to Chen-style Taijiquan (Tai Chi) and the wider world of Chinese internal martial arts. Training in the Chen family system has been profoundly enriching in my own life, and I’m passionate about sharing it, doing my small part to help preserve and disseminate this remarkable art.
My aim is to show Taijiquan as it truly is, both
a sophisticated martial system that develops real, functional skill, and a uniquely refined practice for personal transformation, inner cultivation, and longevity.
My journey in movement began in 2002 with Capoeira, the Brazilian art of fluidity, rhythm, and acrobatic expression. Around 2005, I turned toward the inner dimension and began exploring meditation, which opened the door to the internal arts that would later reshape my understanding of movement and of myself.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be
- Laozi
taijiquan
In 2008, I discovered what felt like the perfect synthesis of my two guiding themes, embodiment and meditation, when I began studying Taijiquan (Tai Chi) with Master Wang Hai-Jun. I immediately fell in love with the art, and I have continued to learn under Master Wang ever since.
Training Taijiquan has been a natural continuation of the journey that began with Capoeira, yet it has taken me far deeper into presence, awareness, integration, and aliveness. It remains a constant revelation, and I’m continually fascinated by each new stage that unfolds along this path.
Over time, Taijiquan has also become both my primary therapeutic and meditative practice, a way of re-organizing the body, settling the mind, and inhabiting life more fully.
my ongoing gongfu journey
Since 2022, I have also been training in MMA and BJJ/Grappling to test, refine, and pressure-proof my Taijiquan skills in a fully live environment, an essential part of the journey to develop real Taijiquan Gongfu. This is one thread in a much broader journey that I explore in my blog, The Tai Chi Gringo, where I look at how Taijiquan supports integrative health, promotes longevity, and cultivates somatic and personal transformation, alongside its deep internal principles and training methods that reshape the body, mind and spirit.
For a more personal, chronological look at this journey in live martial arts, you can follow My Gongfu Journey page, where I reflect on skill developments, competitions, fights, and lessons learned along the way.
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour
- William Blake