Tai Chi Chuan is a slow-moving, meditative exercise for relaxation, health and self-defense.  Originally from China, Tai Chi is practiced in this country primarily for its health benefits.  It can provide benefits to the mind, body and spirit, while adding inner and outer strength.   
  Hudson Valley Tai Chi instructors, Bobbie Kosnick and John McGowan, will be teaching the Yang Short Form or Cheng Man-Ch'ing form, which is a sequence of 37 postures and transitions.  Classes will consist of instruction in postures, qigong (energy work), and relaxation techniques in order to increase balance, flexibility and strength, as well as the meditative qualities of relaxation and inner calm.  Advanced classes focus on form correction and application.
   It is easily practiced in your home.  Books will be made available to complement the class.

Our  Beginnings

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Cheng Man-Ch'ing
Cheng Man-Ch'ing brought a shortened Yang Tai Chi form to America in the 60's.  He was a "Master of the Five Excellences"--T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Chinese medicine, calligraphy, poetry and painting.  One of his students was William Phillips, who taught Jill Basso, our Sifu.
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William "Bill" Phillips and Jill Basso
 After her Physical Therapist recommended Tai Chi to Bobbie Kosnick over 20 years ago, she tried it and was hooked!
When Bobbie returned to class, she met Chris DeRoller.  Chris and Bobbie continued taking semi-private lessons from Jill, their Sifu, teacher and friend, and soon Jill asked them to assist in teaching her class.  Jill took a sabbatical and asked Bobbie and Chris to teach in her absence; then when Jill moved to Santa Fe, Bobbie and Chris decided to continue teaching the Tai Chi class.  

Bobbie and Chris have been teaching  the class for over 15 years with lots of help from John McGowan.  In the spring of 2020 Chris announced she was relocating so John has stepped up to fill her shoes.

 PictureChris, John, Bobbie


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John always had an interest in Asian arts and culture and when he saw Tai Chi practiced by groups of people in San Francisco, he never forgot it.  He tried to teach himself from a book but in 2006 he met someone wearing a Tai Chi shirt and discovered Hudson Valley Tai Chi.  After studying the form for several years, he started helping students with corrections and then naturally progressed to teaching the form.  

​Bobbie and John look forward to sharing the Tai Chi form, making new friends and always learning from our students.