20 Years in.

Well...how did I get here?

It’s now been twenty years to the day that the Blue Lotus Tai Chi Club was formed (prior teaching aside) by one of life’s affable eccentrics – politest way I could think of to describe myself – with all but a second hand cd player, a new bank account opened with the minimum £5 and the obstinate will to keep a dream alive...I guess as far as business plans go mine was pretty minimal!

But that’s the thing, for me this has never been or felt like a job. It’s always been a calling and always will.

It all began when I was in my mid to late twenties when I watched a documentary featuring Chi Kung and how it had been adapted to needle throwing skills, powering them to the point where they could penetrate glass! I was so impressed by this skill which bordered on the impossible I wanted in.

So after raiding the local libraries for every Chi Kung book they had I quickly realised that I was going to need tuition, but where on earth from? A few days later lo and behold there’s an advert in the paper for a Chi Kung class in Orrell.

This is where it gets weird, firstly what are the odds of me finding this esoteric art practically on my doorstep (especially over twenty years ago when it was unheard of in the mainstream)? Secondly I found out in the fullness of time that my soon to be Sifu Margaret Bursnoll never ran the advert – it was picked at random to fill a space on the broadsheet.

Margaret herself confided in me years later that she was wondering who was going pass things on for future generations and had asked the universe for assistance, one week later and I ramble in through her door, to quote the lady herself “I took one look at you and knew, don’t ask me how, I just did.”

I instantly took to the internal arts and all their varied aspects, one class a week turned into three when I had the time, extra workshops were a joy (plus training with other teachers – which Margaret always encouraged). These arts brought together so many other disciplines I had studied I knew I wasn’t just in my element I was walking my true path.

A few years later Margaret required cancer treatment and asked me to cover for her, which is how I first gained some teaching experience (confidence) sadly during treatment she picked up MRSA which led to her untimely passing.

We’d often chatted about me starting a class of my own, but I never felt ready. Now I had no choice – God I felt lost...but I had help, all the students were so encouraging, full of advice even supplying me with equipment. Bereaved as I was it was impossible not to notice how everything just flowed and worked out for the classes continuation. Over the past two decades I’ve tried not to rock the boat and just let things develop of their own accord in their own time, I like to think of it as a more synchronistic universal plan.

I chose the name Blue Lotus Tai Chi with consideration. I wanted to give a respectful nod to my origins (Margaret’s club was Lotus Tai Chi), and add my own stamp – the blue lotus is not only a symbol of purity but also of compassion, a fine ethos for the classes.

So since then it has been my supreme pleasure to pass on these incredible arts to the very best of people, and with a little luck I’ll be passing them on for a long time to come.

To all my wonderful students past, present and future thank you so much for attending, you all make it so very worthwhile and bring to the classes such humour and a love of life I’ve never encountered anywhere else. May you be happy and healthy always.

Blessings ❤️

Mathew

Additional note:

To this day I’ve never lost my fascination, enthusiasm, awe and flat out sense of magic for the internal arts. I’d like to say that I came to Chi Kung for the most noble of spiritual reasons, the truth is I was just some nut who wanted to learn how to throw a needle through the side of a fish tank, it’s funny where life can lead you! 😂

The following video is where it all began:

https://youtu.be/x7JByZs2Kys?si=LV00XxiIJZzUcvuu