My name is Allan Murota and I have been practicing Tai Chi (Yang style) for over 30 years and teaching TaiChi for last 15 years.
I started martial arts training in my teens in Budokan Karate. At the age of 22 I was in a bad car accident, broke my back, had a spinal fusion and became restricted in my lateral motion. At that time the doctors indicated how important it was to keep the muscles around the mid-section in good condition, since they were the only support of the lower back.
At this point I started doing several types of exercises and activities to keep in good physical condition. Due to long hours of work and a lot of stress I developed a gastro-intestinal ulcer. My doctor told me that I would have to take medication and there was no cure for this. I really had an aversion to taking any type of drugs or especially to dependant on any drugs. I did a lot of reading on meditation, Qi Gong and various relaxation methods with the objective of cutting down on my medication.
Around 1970, I was introduced to Tai Chi through my wife�s aunt who taught Taichi and performed Cantonese Opera. I learned several of the forms and I found them very relaxing and meditative. Later, I was introduced to Sifu Raymond Chung. He was in his 60�s at the time and was teaching from the basement of his house just off Inverness and 49th Ave. He had around 100 students and we were all studying Taichi for various reasons. Sifu Chung had escaped from China by swimming to Hong Kong. He came from the original lineage of the Yang Tai Chi family from China through Yang Ch'eng-fu .
I learned the traditional 108 Yang long form. From there we practiced join hands, then moving join hands, sword, knife and finally, the application of the forms. Taichi is an on-going, continuous learning process and you never stop learning. After a year, I started to reduce my medication from 3 times daily, to once daily. After 2 years, I had completely weaned myself off medication, and only took it a few times a year when I felt I needed it.
In 1987, I began teaching TaiChi in Vancouver�s Chinatown at Strathcona Community Centre. I had quite a range of students, from teenagers to retired folks, and from diverse ethnic mix. I even had some black-belt karate students who wanted to learn and apply the softer side of martial arts. My approach was to teach Taichi as a subtle method of keeping muscle tone and as a moving meditation and method for relaxation and health.
I have also put on several TaiChi workshops at BC Tel, Vancity Savings, Buddhist Temple. Etc.
I teach taichi mainly from a health and muscle toning perspective as well as a method of finding balance within life, stress reduction and meditation. Everyone's body is different and uses energy differently. Rather than focusing on the specifics of the forms, I focus more on the experience, and the "getting in touch" with yourself. As a byproduct of learning taichi, your body naturally becomes more healthy along with your mind and as a result, your life.
contact: Allan Murota - yutakamurota@hotmail.com
