The Nam Hoa Chi Kung/Tai Chi Tradition 
We invite you to learn more about our Chi Kung/Tai Chi Master, Jim Scott-Behrends, and our Teacher, Jude Forsyth. Read below why they began to study Qigong and Tai Chi, and more importantly, why they still practice.
Master Jim Scott-Behrends
Jim Scott-Behrends began his study of the Internal Arts over thirty-seven years ago. He had the good fortune to study with some of the most knowledgeable Masters in the field of the Internal Arts. In Yang style Tai Chi Chuan, Master Jim's main teacher was Master Kai-Ying Tung, a third generation Master who was instrumental in bringing Tai Chi to America. Master Tung's grandfather was the top disciple of Yang Chen-Fu, who was the grandson of the founder of the founder of Yang style. Yang Chen-Fu was the key to bringing Tai Chi to the general public in China. Master Jim also trained with Master Wen-Mei Yu who has been teaching Internal Chinese Martial Arts and Healing Arts for over thirty five years. She was recognized as the top instructor in Tai Chi in the Wushu Division of China in 1983. With Master Yu, Master Jim studied the complete Wu Tai Chi Chuan system and a variety of Qigong forms.
In the rare Nam Hoa Temple style, Master Jim (then a Teacher) studied over fifteen years with Internal Arts Grandmaster Kinh Nguyen. Grandmaster Nguyen (pronounced Winn) studied throughout China and Vietnam including the famous Wudang and Shaolin Temples. The Nam Hoa tradition includes six “forms” and supplementary practices to include both Qigong and Tai Chi practices. In time Mst Jim came to devote more and more practice to the Nam Hoa system as he found it to be so beneficial.
In the early nineties, after years of teaching in a variety of settings, Master Jim developed an instructor training program in order to bring the benefits of the practice to a larger number of people. He certified Jude Forsyth in 1994 in an informal instructor program. Mst Jim formed the American Wellness Institute and developed a formal instructor program to train several more instructors in Long Beach, CA. Some
instructors came together to form small Nam Hoa groups (Dancing Lotus Tai Chi in Long Beach, CA), while others chose to instruct in their own classes (Balanced Self Internal Arts in Oregon). He then moved his family to Northern California (Watsonville) in 1996.
In 1996 Jim Scott-Behrends was awarded the rank of Master and lineage holder in the Nam Hoa Temple system by Grand Master Nguyen. From 1996 to 2007 Master Jim taught classes, workshops and retreats traveling around Southern and Northern California and visiting the Virginia Beach group in support of both the students and the instructor programs that were rapidly growing. In 2008 he opened an instructor training program in his local area. In 2009 Mst Jim certified three new instructors for the Monterey Bay area. Their group, 
Blooming Lotus, joins other students and instructors enjoying the benefits of the practice, and the privilege of studying with the Master. The groups come together at beautiful nature settings on the west and east coast for retreat. Master Jim currently lives and teaches in the Monterey Bay area of California but visits Nam Hoa groups around the country. Aside from “offering the teaching” to students and instructors, Mst Jim is engaged in many projects to support the student body such as training DVD's, transcribing decades of notes, creating meditation CDs, and supporting new instructor programs. Here Mst Jim speaks about his practice,
“In my course of study and practice, I have benefited from many insights concerning the nature of the mind and body. As a result of my experiences and the support of my family, friends, and students, I have been privileged to dedicate my life to sharing the great gifts of the Nam Hoa Internal Arts Practice.”
Teacher Jude Forsyth
Teacher Jude came to the Tai Chi practice when her life changed in the early 90s, having suffered a serious car accident. Leaving a real estate career behind, she became a full time Tai Chi instructor. She explains,
"It was an unexpected surprise when Chi Kung/Tai Chi gifted me the practice to enjoy a calm, quiet, centered feeling as well as improved physical exercise. I thought I enjoyed that fast-paced lifestyle, but I didn't realize what a toll I was paying in my mental and physical life. Chi Kung/Tai Chi changed my life in so many wonderful ways. I had a strong desire to study with my Teacher.” That desire has been with me now for eighteen years.
Teacher Jude became an instructor in 1994 and moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia that same year. From 1995 to 2002 Teacher Jude (then an instructor) continued to learn and share her practice with her students. She traveled back to California as often as she could to continue her training with Mst Jim. As an instructor she developed a strong relationship with many of her advanced students and opened more classes for beginners.
In 2002, she and instructor Phil Szpiech, came together with their advanced students and made the commitment to open a Certified Instructor program. Under the watchful eye of Mst Jim, the instructor program grew over the years to graduate over 15 instructors. In 2004, she formed Bending Tree Tai Chi Kung. The entire group supported an effort to develop the first full time Qigong Tai Chi center in the Virginia Beach are
a and the beautiful center opened in October 2006. The center supported the Nam Hoa program, the Tai Chi for Health Program (Dr Paul Lam), two instructor training programs, advanced classes, clubs, events, and guest lecturers. With the support of three Senior Students, over a dozen instructors and hundreds of students, the “Tree” continued to flourish. To support and grow Tai Chi in the area, Jude founded the Tidewater World Qigong and Tai Chi Day in conjunction with the World Day organization founded by Bill Douglas. A Tai Chi community began to emerge in the area.
As the program grew, instructors from Bending Tree moved to new locations and started new Nam Hoa practices. Marty Kidder moved to Connecticut and formed Oak Tree Tai Chi. He and his students study the Nam Hoa tradition in the Canton area. Walt Merchant founded Cherry Tree Tai Chi in Roanoke, VA and hopes to bring the Nam Hoa tradition there as well.
Acceptance of change can be challenging. When Teacher Jude’s spouse was transferred to Florida in 2008, Jude founded a non-profit group from the Bending Tree instructor and student body. Jude later resigned from the board and now the Board of Directors at Tai Chi East-West Alliance mentored by President Tom Wolf, now owns and operates Bending Tree for the benefit of the group and the public. They have a broad and diverse mission and hope to continue the legacy to grow the Tai Chi community in Tidewater, Virginia area.
Teacher Jude now resides in the Fort Walton Beach area of Florida, and visits Virginia Beach to support the Nam Hoa Instructors and students. She travels annually to California to train with Mst Jim and to assist him at the annual Zaca Lake retreat. So now another branch of the Nam Hoa program grows again, this time on the Gulf Coast, as Teacher Jude founded Blue Willow Tai Chi Kung and has begun to teach classes in the panhandle area.
Master Jim and Teacher Jude continue to teach beginning and advanced classes. They have also been 
dedicated to the enrollment and support of students who have expressed a desire to be in the Instructor Training Program. As the program continued to grow over the last decade and a half, more Nam Hoa groups have been established in different areas of the country. Currently there are groups in five states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Oregon and Virginia.
To find a class near you, visit www.namhoa-internal-arts.com and see the Location page.
