Today we’d like to introduce you to Ellen.
Hi Ellen, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Wu’s Tai Chi Chuan Academy-Ann Arbor grew out of classes taught by my teacher, Sifu Genie Parker. She began teaching at the Ann Arbor branch of Jewel Heart, a Tibetan Buddhist center in town. Her classes were some of the satellite classes offered under the auspices of the academy in Detroit. In 2000, she was asked by the Grandmaster, Eddie Wu Kwong Yu, to open an independent academy, and consider taking on disciples of her own. I was a new student at that time, and luckily found a space in the old Ann Arbor Circuits building, where the Ann Arbor Y stands now. In a 2003 ceremony at the school, presided over by the Grandmaster, I became the first of her eight disciples to become spiritual members of the Wu family, pledged to continue to promote Wu style tai chi chuan. (It is one of the five traditional styles of tai chi chuan.) We later moved to several different locations, ending up in the Chapelle Business Center in Ypsilanti. The academy is now owned by myself and another of Sifu Genie’s disciples, Paul Lennon.
Many of us were certified by the Grandmaster to become teachers. I have continued to teach beginning and intermediate students, as well as weapons classes in our academy.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like many schools of tai chi chuan, we have seen waves of students come and go. Learning tai chi is not like many physical endeavors–one often thinks of studying yoga as similar. Since ours is an endeavor that involves learning sequences of many moves, it involves concentration, memory, and a lot of practice. After we have taught a student a move, and practiced it together a number of times, we leave the student to work on it in silence. This is different from many practices, in which the teacher narrates moves throughout the sequence.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our school is one with a true lineage–a direct line to the founding Wu family. We work with the Grandmaster himself at least once a year. Recently, Paul and I spent four days in Ontario on a retreat with many others from our sister academies all over the world. We spent two mornings training with the Grandmaster as part of this set of events.
I have a history in education: I retired in 2018 as Professor Emerita of Art History in the School of Art and Design, Eastern Michigan University, after 41 years of teaching.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I was lucky to have fallen into Wu tai chi, at an impromptu class at Camp Michigania, a family camp run by U-M, in 1999.
Pricing:
- Monthly, one class per week: $60
- Monthly, two or more classes per week: $85
- Senior/student rate: monthly, one class per week: $55
- Senior/student rate, two or more classes per week: $75
- Multi-month payment discounts available. Single class drop-in fee: $20
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wustyle-annarbor.com
