About the Teacher
Anthony Fidler
My name is Anthony Fidler. I'm now 38, and have been a serious practitioner of Tai Chi since 1997.
I've been very fortunate over the years to have been able to carry out most of my Tai Chi training intensively in China, on a personal basis with good teachers.
My Tai Chi encompasses both Yang and Chen and I'm passionate about both.
I've practiced Simplified Yang 24 & Competition 42 for many years, but have recently have switched over to Traditional Yang Long Form. Yang 85 (108) is a very beautiful form.
My Chen Training has come more slowly, but I like Lao Jia Yi Lu very much, in my case with a highish stance, gentle stamping, and some relaxed FahJing. I love the twisting and turning of the movements around the dantian and the Chan Si Jing.
I've studied with a few teachers over the years.
First with a teacher called Wang Zhi Ping. We met 1-1 for many years in Yangshuo park and then later at his school. I liked his movement and it inspired me very much at the time.
Next I learnt Chen with Chen Gao Qiang, a young teacher from Wang Xi An's training school in Chenjiagou.
Chen Zhao Sen & Myself in Chen Jia Gou
Then in 2008, I switched to Chen Zhao Sen in Chenjiagou and am continuing my study with him there.
I've also been learning Yang Long Form with another teacher in China, Yang Dong Bao and I'm really happy with it.
Recently I got a chance to do 85 with Yang Zhi Fang, the grandson of Yang Chen Fu, creator of the 85 Form.
In the UK I've also studied a little with Chen Xiao Wang at his workshops, and I'm really grateful for the inspiration he gave me to train further in China.
My own journey is still an ongoing process, but Tai Chi is a very rewarding part of my life and one I wouldn't want to have missed for anything.
My first contact with Tai Chi was while a student at Cambridge University in 1989.
I attended weekly classes for a couple of academic years, but failed to integrate it into my life and eventually gave up.
I didn't give it attention again until 5 years later in 1997 when I met Wang Zhi Ping in the park in Yangshuo, China.
At this point Tai Chi entered my life and I returned to China year after year afterwards to continue my study.
I visited in 1998, 1999 and 2000 when I decided to give up visiting and just lived in China until July 2001.
Much of the rest of the time between 1997 and 2001 was also spent in Asia when I would set up lifestyles for myself which facilitated my practice usually in India.
Since 2001, I've visited in 2003, 2005 and 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009, most times training for 2-3 months except 2007 when I stayed for 7 months to train intensively with Chen Gao Qiang.
I cannot compare the experience of learning once a week in a class that I had at Cambridge with my experience of learning in China - for me, generally 6 days a week and 3-4 hours, sometimes 6-7 hours per day, usually one to one with my teachers.
However in the classes I teach myself, I aspire to convey the experience I gained and hand it over in a way which allows Western people to learn as quickly and well as they are able within the constraints of their lifestyle.
Tai Chi hasn't come easily for me. In fact I would say I was so uncoordinated and broken in my energy flow that I was literally ill and the learning path has been really hard but in recent years, it has become much easier. Great changes are possible in life, with some effort and heart.
This journey has left me with a lot of experience and patience for teaching Tai Chi and I'm excited about its potential therapeutic uses in the West.
At heart I am a traveller. I feel at home in India, the Himalayas, Nepal, Tibet and China and everything I do seems to be inspired by the connections I've made on my journeys.
I am only now starting to find myself in my work which I see as being a manifestation in the West of my ongoing life in the East.
My name in Chinese is 'Eastern Peace' and I aspire to live up to it.