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WESTWATER, UTAH — Twenty-five people perform the same graceful movements in unison.
It’s mostly silent, except for an occasional thump of the feet on the soft dirt floor inside the huge barn-like practice hall — that and the howling spring wind typical of this high desert Utah landscape.
Open windows bring in sunlight, views of the nearby juniper and cedar trees, and some wind.
Every spring people from around the world travel to this remote piece of desert to practice tai chi chuan with Alex Dong, a fourth-generation tai chi master who lives in New York.
Tai chi is a martial art form invented more than 1,000 years ago by Taoist monk Zhang San Feng after he looked out of a window and saw a sparrow and a snake fighting, Dong said.
“It’s based on the principle of yin and yang, the Taoist philosophy of using softness to counter strength,” Dong said.
While the modern styles are used most often by people for exercise and relaxation, more traditional schools teach a style of tai chi that could be used for self defense, Dong said.
In April, tai chi practitioners came from Grand Junction, Seattle, New Hampshire, California, England, Denmark, Italy, Canada and Greece to camp in the desert for nine days to study with Dong. Three two-hour classes were held daily.
Tai chi is an “internal” martial art that is often practiced in a slow manner, or form, with graceful, almost dance-like movements.
Dong, 36, has practiced tai chi since he was 5, and his 3-year-old daughter is starting tai chi. Tai chi is a “moving meditation” that helps people relax their minds, Dong said.
Roger Skiles, a Grand Junction tai chi instructor, owns the land near the Westwater exit. Dong is his teacher.
After Skiles and Andy Holmes, a Seattle tai chi instructor, met “Master Alex” more than a decade ago at a workshop in Hawaii, the two conspired to get Dong to the mainland to teach a workshop.
Skiles, 55, arranged for Dong to come out to his Utah property to teach a workshop that drew people from around the country.
People have continued to come, 11 years later, from around the world to what’s become an annual springtime tai chi retreat in the desert.
Holmes, 44, has missed only one Utah gathering since that first one held in 1997.
Patricia Roberts of California has attended the Utah camp six times. She started practicing tai chi in Hawaii in 1969 with Dong’s grandfather.
At first, “I thought it was just a fun thing, an exercise,” Roberts said. “At first I had no concept of the depth. The level of understanding gets deeper and deeper, and I’m still learning. It’s a lifetime of leaning.”
Roberts is a youthful 65-year-old with long, wavy black hair. Roberts, like many of the retreat-goers, attends Dong’s workshops all over the world. For most of them, the Utah retreat is a reunion.
“We’ve all kind of circulated around the world to where Alex’s teachings are,” Holmes said.
Adele Salem, 50, traveled from her home in London for the third time to attend the camp with “Master Alex.”
“I love the desert. I fell in love with this place the first time I came. It’s unspoiled by houses and roadways,” Salem said.
Chris McKenna, 49, is a flute maker from Penbroke, N.H., who has attended the camp four times.
In the evenings after classes McKenna enjoys “push-hands” — a two-person practice where “we push on each other, find each other’s center, test each other’s stances to see if we can uproot each other. It ranges from very light, energetic exchanges between people to all-out wrestling,” McKenna said.
“One person will say it’s a martial art, another person will say it’s a moving meditation, another person will say it’s a form of play, another person will say it’s a dance,” McKenna said.
People “play it” like another person plays golf, he said.
“It’s like a piece of music. You play it to the end,” McKenna said. “Every time, it’s different.”
Evelyn Anglim of Grand Junction doesn’t camp out during the nine-day retreat, but travels the 45-minute drive to and from Grand Junction to attend some of the classes. She practices several hours a week.
“For me it’s a beautiful blend of movement and meditation,” said Anglim.
Skiles remembers the first time he saw tai chi being practiced.
“I saw someone making these marvelous movements. I was riding my bike to class. I sat down, missed my class. I became mesmerized,” Skiles said. Twenty years later he found a teacher, later becoming a teacher himself. Skiles teaches classes at his Grand Junction home.
“It’s one of the best healing modalities. People have repaired themselves with tai chi,” said Skiles, who has a prosthetic knee. “It’s part of the reason I started — for its healing attributes.”
Skiles teaches tai chi Mondays and Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 10 a.m. at 170 Mesa Ave. in Grand Junction.
Another tai chi instructor, Don Morehouse, who also attended the Utah camp, teaches a class Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Fairmount Hall, 2511 12th St.
Skiles can be reached at 260-9756.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
It’s mostly silent, except for an occasional thump of the feet on the soft dirt floor inside the huge barn-like practice hall — that and the howling spring wind typical of this high desert Utah landscape.
Open windows bring in sunlight, views of the nearby juniper and cedar trees, and some wind.
Every spring people from around the world travel to this remote piece of desert to practice tai chi chuan with Alex Dong, a fourth-generation tai chi master who lives in New York.
Tai chi is a martial art form invented more than 1,000 years ago by Taoist monk Zhang San Feng after he looked out of a window and saw a sparrow and a snake fighting, Dong said.
“It’s based on the principle of yin and yang, the Taoist philosophy of using softness to counter strength,” Dong said.
While the modern styles are used most often by people for exercise and relaxation, more traditional schools teach a style of tai chi that could be used for self defense, Dong said.
In April, tai chi practitioners came from Grand Junction, Seattle, New Hampshire, California, England, Denmark, Italy, Canada and Greece to camp in the desert for nine days to study with Dong. Three two-hour classes were held daily.
Tai chi is an “internal” martial art that is often practiced in a slow manner, or form, with graceful, almost dance-like movements.
Dong, 36, has practiced tai chi since he was 5, and his 3-year-old daughter is starting tai chi. Tai chi is a “moving meditation” that helps people relax their minds, Dong said.
Roger Skiles, a Grand Junction tai chi instructor, owns the land near the Westwater exit. Dong is his teacher.
After Skiles and Andy Holmes, a Seattle tai chi instructor, met “Master Alex” more than a decade ago at a workshop in Hawaii, the two conspired to get Dong to the mainland to teach a workshop.
Skiles, 55, arranged for Dong to come out to his Utah property to teach a workshop that drew people from around the country.
People have continued to come, 11 years later, from around the world to what’s become an annual springtime tai chi retreat in the desert.
Holmes, 44, has missed only one Utah gathering since that first one held in 1997.
Patricia Roberts of California has attended the Utah camp six times. She started practicing tai chi in Hawaii in 1969 with Dong’s grandfather.
At first, “I thought it was just a fun thing, an exercise,” Roberts said. “At first I had no concept of the depth. The level of understanding gets deeper and deeper, and I’m still learning. It’s a lifetime of leaning.”
Roberts is a youthful 65-year-old with long, wavy black hair. Roberts, like many of the retreat-goers, attends Dong’s workshops all over the world. For most of them, the Utah retreat is a reunion.
“We’ve all kind of circulated around the world to where Alex’s teachings are,” Holmes said.
Adele Salem, 50, traveled from her home in London for the third time to attend the camp with “Master Alex.”
“I love the desert. I fell in love with this place the first time I came. It’s unspoiled by houses and roadways,” Salem said.
Chris McKenna, 49, is a flute maker from Penbroke, N.H., who has attended the camp four times.
In the evenings after classes McKenna enjoys “push-hands” — a two-person practice where “we push on each other, find each other’s center, test each other’s stances to see if we can uproot each other. It ranges from very light, energetic exchanges between people to all-out wrestling,” McKenna said.
“One person will say it’s a martial art, another person will say it’s a moving meditation, another person will say it’s a form of play, another person will say it’s a dance,” McKenna said.
People “play it” like another person plays golf, he said.
“It’s like a piece of music. You play it to the end,” McKenna said. “Every time, it’s different.”
Evelyn Anglim of Grand Junction doesn’t camp out during the nine-day retreat, but travels the 45-minute drive to and from Grand Junction to attend some of the classes. She practices several hours a week.
“For me it’s a beautiful blend of movement and meditation,” said Anglim.
Skiles remembers the first time he saw tai chi being practiced.
“I saw someone making these marvelous movements. I was riding my bike to class. I sat down, missed my class. I became mesmerized,” Skiles said. Twenty years later he found a teacher, later becoming a teacher himself. Skiles teaches classes at his Grand Junction home.
“It’s one of the best healing modalities. People have repaired themselves with tai chi,” said Skiles, who has a prosthetic knee. “It’s part of the reason I started — for its healing attributes.”
Skiles teaches tai chi Mondays and Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 10 a.m. at 170 Mesa Ave. in Grand Junction.
Another tai chi instructor, Don Morehouse, who also attended the Utah camp, teaches a class Thursdays at 6 p.m. at Fairmount Hall, 2511 12th St.
Skiles can be reached at 260-9756.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
