A New Dharma Teacher

In January 2012 Master Jim  received an invitation to become a Dharma Teacher in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. On March 17 he participated in a Lamp Transmission ceremony, at the Deer Park Monastery near Escondido, which was the culmination of the invitation.

As part of the process he offered an insight gatha (poem) to Thich Nhat Hanh and he responded.  He is sharing the exchange on the page "Tai Chi Writings" titled "Insight Gatha." 

Master Jim hopes you enjoy them.

New Article by Phil Szpiech

Phil Szpiech, Nam Hoa Instructor with Bending Tree Tai Chi in Virginia has graciously written about his training and education on Qigong Therapy. To read his article, visit the Tai Chi Writings page.

Thank you Phil!

14th Annual Zaca Retreat

14th ANNUAL TAI CHI RETREAT AT ZACA LAKE in CALIFORNIA WITH JIM SCOTT-BEHRENDS

Nestled in the coastal mountains, three hours north of Los Angeles, is the magical retreat center of Zaca Lake. Come and enjoy a peaceful weekend of Tai Chi practice in a location of serene beauty. Participants of all levels of ability are welcomed.

Retreat participants will have the opportunity to practice a wide variety of Tai Chi related arts, such as form work, qigong, deep relaxation, and meditation. Swimming, hiking, and kayaking are also available.

Besides the wealth of activities, there will also be great food, live entertainment, and the chance to get together with old friends or make new ones.

 RETREAT DATES:  JUNE 29, 30   JULY 1, 2012

The cost for the weekend, including all meals, lodging and training is $285.00 (payable by June 15), $185.00 if you book your own cabin (check with Zaca for possible discounts for being with the Tai Chi group).

Zaca 805-688-5699    Space is limited    $50.00 deposit is suggested

For information contact Lindy: (email is preferred) philindy89@juno.com; 831-689-0852

For registration contact Mary:  mulliganmary10@gmail.com; 831-335-9390

RSS News Feeds ... What, Why, and How

The Nam Hoa website has several built in news feeds set up and ready to help everyone track what new items are posted to various sections of the site. There are many ways to follow an RSS feed and most people will have tools to do so already on their computer. For instance many of the latest browsers and email clients have those tools built in. If you don't have the tools already you can use free web based tools such as Google Reader or even Yahoo web mail. Personally I use a 3rd party application called NetNewsWire (sorry, it's Mac OS only, but the links below have some info on other apps).

Here are a couple of links to information on RSS, how to use it, and some links to tools to help you keep up to date:

iFeedReaders

Feed 101

Armed with that information, if you scroll down and look along the right hand side of our site there is a section marked Syndication. That list shows the news feeds currently available on our site.

I hope that this information helps and that you might sign up to use our own RSS feeds so that you are kept up to date with new information posted to the site.  ~Brett

Changing Chi

News, like everything else, can be yin and yang. We are sorry to tell Nam Hoa students and instructors of the death of Long Beach Instructor, Debby Winsberg.  Master Jim will be traveling to be with the Long Beach instructor group on November 20 for a memorial for Debby. Debby and fellow Tai Chi instructor Sue Ahrend have been long time instructors at the Long Beach Recreation center. 

Students and instructors who may want to contribute pictures of Debby may send them to our webmaster Brett Casto at brett.casto@gmail.com for inclusion on the Changing Chi page on this website.

Debby's chi has changed but she exists for us within our own energy. Wu Chi