Joining Mid-Session

Thank you for your interest in Cloud Hands T’ai Chi classes. The current class schedule is already underway.

New students: If the class you want to join has already started, you are welcome to try one class for free and then decide whether you want to join a class in progress now, or if you prefer to wait for the start of the next Beginner Part 1 classes, I only start a new Beginner Part 1 class in the January – April session. If you decide to join, you can pay $30 per class for the remaining classes in the current session, or pay $260 and attend classes at more than one location to make up for missed classes.

New Beginners

If you are new to T’ai Chi and want to try a class, you should start with the Beginner Part 1 class, if it is being offered. (If a Beginner Part 1 class is not being offered, students may try a Beginner Part 2 class). When Beginner Part 1 classes are offered they meet:

• Sundays from 11:00 m to 12:00 pm at the CityDance Center at Strathmore
  (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 20852)
• Mondays from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Crossings, in downtown Silver Spring
  (8720 Georgia Avenue, Suite #300 Silver Spring, MD 20910)

Continuing Students

If you are a student who is familiar with the entire 37 posture T’ai Chi form as taught by Cheng Man-ch’ing, you can continue your study in a class called Corrections. In these classes no new choreography is taught; instead we focus on refining the external movements as well as focusing the attention internally in an effort to maximize relaxation and balance while doing the movements of the T’ai Chi form. Corrections classes meet:

• Sundays from 9:00 to 10:00 am at the CityDance Center at Strathmore
  (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 20852)
• Mondays from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Crossings, in downtown Silver Spring
  (8720, Suite #300, Silver Spring, MD 20910)

How the Sessions Work

My classes introduce students to the “T’ai Chi Form,” or the choreography of 37 T’ai Chi movements and postures. Students learn the 1st section of the form—the first 12 of 37 movements in the Beginner Part 1 class. Movements 13-24 are taught in the Beginner Part 2 class. The final 13 movements are taught in the Beginner Part 3 class.

Learning the entire form takes three 10-class sessions, spread over the calendar year, although you do not have to learn the entire form. You can stop taking classes at any time and continue to practice and benefit from the part of the form that you have learned. The Beginner Part 1 class is offered in the January-April session. Beginner Part 2 is offered in April-July. The final section, Beginner Part 3, is offered in the September-December session.

What happens in the classes

In my teaching we build the choreography of the T’ai Chi form one posture at a time, adding a new posture each week. I start each class at the very beginning of the form. We then review everything we have done from the beginning of the form up to what was taught in the previous class. After the review, I teach the next posture in the sequence of T’ai Chi movements. What I recommend to students starting late is to focus on the posture being taught to everyone the week they join the class. Filling in the missing postures occurs over the remaining weeks of the session, through the review at the beginning of each class. If requested, I also offer a written description of the postures, as well as links to instructional videos to assist students while practicing at home between the classes.

Please feel free to call me, Michael Ward, at 301-525-8266 or email me at CloudHandsTaichi37@gmail.com . I would be happy to speak with you about the classes, my teaching, or any questions that you may have.