David Christopher has been teaching Tai Chi in Milton Keynes since 1983.
He studied Tai Chi with Gerda Geddes and attended her classes for six years.
The Tai Chi form that David teaches is essentially as he learnt there.
"I’m happy to say that my mind and body are still learning from the Tai Chi form."
Gerda (Pytt) Geddes (1917-2006)
Mrs Geddes was a lovely person.
Having studied Tai Chi in Hong Kong, she started teaching it in Britain in the 1960s (a time when ‘Shadow Boxing’ was regarded as mysterious and practised only by Chinese people).
Mrs Geddes was a trained dancer and precise in her teaching of the movements.
At the same time she was innovative in exploring the symbols contained within the form - bringing an added dimension to the practice of Tai Chi.
In her words: “Always remember that as long as you are in this life you must live through the wholeness of yourself, not just the body in one place and the spirit in another.”
Choy Hak Pang (1886-1957)
Mrs Geddes was taught by Choy Hak Pang and later by his son Choy Kam Man.
Choy Hak Pang was one of the first people to teach Tai Chi openly in the United States (around 1939).
He had been a student of Yang Cheng-Fu (1883-1936) who is credited with having
stabilised the large, high Yang style.
