Moy Lin Shin wanted to create a true sense of community in the Taoist Tai Chi Society he had founded. Members came and went to tai chi practice at all the local clubs, but there needed to be something more, a sense of connection to an overall community. Banquets in the Chinese community of Toronto were seen as an opportunity for coming together and enjoying each other’s company in a convivial atmosphere.

Sunday afternoon, at Yu’s Mandarin Restaurant in Schaumburg, members of the Midwest Chapter, Taoist Tai Chi Society met to carry on Mr. Moy’s tradition and celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Metal Tiger at a festive banquet for members and invited guests that featured special New Year’s menu items.

Jean Latz-Griffin, President of the Midwest Branch and the TTCS-USA Northeast Region, welcomed everyone to the event, saying that Mr. Moy looked forward to the annual banquet each year and viewed it as a “family dinner”. Continuing Instructor and Northeast Regional Secretary Darcy Carter spoke of participating at the International Taoist Tai Chi Society New Year’s banquet in Toronto last weekend and meeting celebrants from branches all over the world.

Speakers included State Representative (D-66th Dist) and TTCS member Mark Walker who spoke of his insights from the Taoist texts on achieving balance; Continuing Instructor Ken Growney, on the health benefits he has experienced from his practice, and Beginner Instructor Loren Beneke, who talked of his experiences instructing new students, reminding everyone “We are all in this to improve ourselves”.

Coinciding with the New Year’s celebration is the 40th Anniversary of the International Taoist Tai Chi Society, now with 40,000 members in over 25 countries. Instruction is provided by nationally accredited volunteer instructors who have personally experienced the health benefits of Taoist Tai Chi.
Mr. Moy arrived in Canada in 1970 and set about teaching Tai Chi, which he had learned as a boy living in a Taoist monastery in China. He had been a sickly child and attributed his recovery to the practice of tai chi as a healing art. He established the parameters for the teaching and practice of Taoist Tai Chi internal arts and methods to all his students. The 'methods' are the methods of training in these arts and of cultivating virtue (in a Taoist sense) in a spirit of selflessness, compassion and service to others.
These parameters, which are still followed today by all Society members, are as follows:
• Taoist Tai Chi† internal arts and methods are not to be practiced as a martial art technique or in a competitive spirit, but rather as a means to cultivate health;
• One must work at improving one's own health and understanding the subtleties of these arts before attempting to use them to help others;
• Students should share their knowledge on a volunteer basis and not for personal gain, and should seek to help others improve their health;
• Students should cultivate an attitude of compassion and service to others.
Locations in the greater Chicago area include Arlington Heights, Chicago, Lombard and Elmhurst. For more information, visit http://illinois.usa.taoist.org/ or call 847 734-6044.