Tai Chi Chuan: Background and Teaching Philosophy

by Dr. Dennis Dilday

My tai chi journey began some years prior to 1995 when I joined a class at the Everett
Community College taught by Ian Blogg and Gordy Halgren. What they taught was an eclectic
collection of styles, but the Hand Form was from the Wudang style of Master Chen Tin Hung of
Hong Kong (1956 South East Asian Middle Weight Champion), and they would often bring
books to class written by him and two of his top students, Dan Docherty and Ian Cameron. For
many years my attendance was spotty, my commitment was minimal, and my daily practice
was non-existent. But at some point, following decades of violent sport, I began to think of tai
chi as something I might want to delve into deeper. I knew by then that it was a big time,
energy, effort, and financial commitment - and I did not want to make that kind of commitment
unless, in the end, I obtained real transferable self-defense skills.

So I bought and read the books. I began with Complete Tai Chi Chuan by Dan Docherty. A
legal background, nine years on the Hong Kong police force; a guy who could read, write and
speak both Mandarin and Cantonese; who had made many trips to China investigating and
documenting tai chi history - and written several books by then; who won the Open Weight
Division at the full contact 5th South East Asian Chinese Pugilistic Championships (defeating
the guy - 30 pounds heavier than Dan - who won the Heavy Weight Division the year before);
and who was also the lineage holder of the Chen Tin Hung Wudang school of tai chi.

From my reading, I learned about tai chi lineage, schools, syllabus components, etc. I came to
understand that the world of just tai chi, let alone Chinese martial arts, was vastly complex and
full of much confusion, chaos, and conflicting authorities jockeying for credibility and market
share - few of which had a lineage, a school, or any measurable evidence of their tai chi being
effective against hard style martial artists. I was 42 by then and not interested in sorting
through all the possibilities to find my way and discern fact from fiction.

So, in 2002 I flew to London and Scotland to meet Dan and Ian. While Ian would meet my
definition of the world’s nicest guy, Dan wrote and thought like a lawyer; he was analytical and
prolific in his writings - a columnist for Combat Magazine, for example. Given that (and all the
above), I decided to trust him and asked him to be his student. He agreed, looked at my Form,
and decided that we would start all over from the beginning with the Long Round Hand Form. I
spent two weeks attending the classes he taught in three different London locations. I left
London with a video of Dan doing the Hand Form to study… and probably a thousand pages
of notes.

On subsequent trips to London, usually two-to-three weeks each, I was allowed to undergo Bai
Shi (becoming an Inside the Door disciple, paying respects, and learning the tai chi ethical
code of conduct) and began receiving Internal Strength exercises in addition to the other
training. I accompanied Dan to seminars taught in various places in England and Europe. At
other times various students of his converged on London, and I was able to meet and train with
them there. Many lifelong relationships and friendships began in those training sessions. Dan
coined the phrase and named his organization “Practical Tai Chi Chuan International” since his
students spanned the globe. All who trained under him or his students are part of that
“school”.

In 2003 Dan told me that I should start teaching tai chi so as to have training partners for
Pushing Hands and Applications, etc. He gave me a certificate (Level Four) authorizing me to
teach Tui Shou (pushing hands), San Shou (self-defense), Hand Form, Spear, Qigong, and Tai
Chi theory. Dan Docherty was my tai chi Master, my Sifu, and a friend. Sadly, in December
2021 he passed. In the history of Tai Chi, few have made a larger contribution.

Returning to the Everett Community College tai chi classes, I did attend and contributed over
the years. Ian Blogg eventually left the college, and Gordy Halgren and Alex Moser continued
teaching. In 2017 Gordy stepped down as the primary instructor for the college and I and Alex continued teaching classes, interrupted only by Covid policy mandates. In addition, I have taught at several gyms in the area over the years going back to 2004. That ended when Covid policies put many gyms (including the one I taught tai chi at) out of business. Concurrent with classes at the college and at local gyms, our tai chi group has always offered a free class opportunity at Legion Park, 8 a.m., on Saturday mornings. These continue and are always available to those interested in discovering more.

Sifu Paul Silfverstrale is a Level Nine instructor of our Wudang style from Sweden, and a
student of Dan’s with over thirty years experience - I met him on one of my London trips. He is
an accomplished competitor who has made many trips to China - often with Dan - to study tai
chi. For many years he has conducted seminars across Scandinavia, Europe, and Great Britain,
offering seminars particularly wherever he has students who have students to teach. He also
has developed an extensive online presence, and following, on various platforms, including
Patreon. Following Dan’s passing I joined his group and have followed his work continuously
since. In 2024 he will be conducting a training camp here in Everett, Washington.

Tai Chi Chuan is almost infinitely broad and equally deep. And though it was a nine thousand-
mile trip, deciding to train under Dan Docherty and become part of the Practical Tai Chi Chuan
school was, for me, a life-changing decision. As part of a lineage going back hundreds of
years, and an association of many hundreds of tai chi sisters and brothers across the world, I
feel rooted in an authentic tradition that provides knowledge and skills that can be used daily in
today’s world. This network of people and the body of knowledge in our training syllabus offers
endless possibilities for anyone wishing to learn tai chi - from the most cerebral of soft
meditative aspects to the vast array of beneficial physical health impacts, to the hardest of
hard fighting aspects - Practical Tai Chi Chuan has it all. (By the way, a YouTube search of
“Practical Tai Chi Chuan” will yield a large selection, most of which is our tai chi, though not all
of the same quality.) You may also search my Blog or my Tai Chi Chuan Page for more.

I have been a fitness fanatic for over 50 years, a chiropractor for over 40 years, a dedicated tai
chi chuan student for over 20 years, and a tai chi chuan teacher for most of that time. My
teaching philosophy is to try to find a way to be useful. A teacher's job is to learn from the
student what it is that will benefit the student the most, and provide that if we can. Tai chi is not
about forcing people to understand what we understand, learn what we know, or do what we
do; it is not our job to make you love tai chi as much as we do, but tai chi chuan is the “perfect
exercise”. Fifteen minutes a day of practice will change your life. Do not take my word for it
though, find out for yourself.

Tai chi is about being sensitive (we call it “listening”), being aware, and responding to others.
Teaching for me is about gauging a student's interest and commitment by providing what will
satisfy the student’s interest and at the same time opening up their awareness to what more
there is. It is an offering, not a pitch; an invitation, not a demand. We know where the tai chi
path leads and would like to guide the student along that path as far as they want to go. The
student decides. If, like me, they wander in the wilderness for a period of years, and then want
to get back on the path, we welcome them back. I enjoy all aspects and every bit of it. Now, as
a Level Five instructor able to offer Bai Shi to my students and teach some of the inner aspects
(e.g., Internal Strength), I am even more mindful of the teacher-student dynamic. Level Five is
supposed to be associated with applying wisdom and humility in our teaching. I strive to live
up to that.
 

Dennis Dilday, D.C.
Everett, WA
23 June 2023

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