Iain Naylor has been a student of taijiquan (tai ji / tai chi) since 1980 and has been teaching since 1995, when he established the Hands of Light school. In 2025, he will celebrate his thirtieth year of teaching. Iain is registered as an Advanced Level Instructor (Health) with the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain (TCUGB) and is also a member of the British Council for Chinese Martial Arts.

Iain opened his first class in Tay Street, Perth, in 1995 with a small group of 10 students. The following year, he expanded his classes across Tayside, and by 2024, he has over 200 students.

Everyone has heard of tai chi, often as the slow-motion exercise practised by elderly people in parks - but what really is tai chi?

What is Tai Chi?

Taijiquan is not simply an exercise for the elderly, which is perhaps what it is known best as. Originally developed from Qi Gong (chi kung) as a martial art it is, in fact, a combination of Yin and Yang, Tai Chi and Infinity. It is an art requiring perfect control of the mind. It integrates stillness and movement, from external to internal, and back from movement to stillness.

Taijiquan not only directs internal power to external movements, but it also combines the mind with breathing, resulting in good health. Tai chi is, once perfected, meditation in motion and once in motion remains in motion. Quote from Bruce Lee “moving water never grows stale.”

Iain’s Tai Chi Journey

Iain began his studies in 1980 with simple qi gong and Yang style tai chi. In 2005 he was invited to travel to China to study, this was part of a program to help promote Chinese culture in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Over the next seven years he travelled back to China regularly to continue his studies.

These tours were organised by Master Chen Lei, four times Chinese National Champion. Chen Lei became Iain’s mentor and teacher until, recommended by Wu Bin (the coach of the martial arts actor Jet Li), he began his studies at Wudang mountain under the tutelage of Master Chen Shiyu.

Chen Shiyu is the founder and principal coach at the Wudang Daoist Martial Arts Academy located at the Temple of the Returning Dragon (Huilong Guan 回龙观), in Wudang Mountains. It was on Wudang mountain that tai chi was first developed although modern tai chi is regarded as having been developed hundreds of years later at Chen village. Chen Shiyu is himself a 15th Generation Master of Zhang San Feng Wudang Kung Fu and is a multi-champion in Wudang kung-fu and tai chi.

After training at Wudang mountain, Iain changed to teaching Wudang tai chi, dao yin qi gong and other associated Taoist arts.

Wudang Taiji

Tai Chi originated from Infinity. It is the basis for all movement and stillness and is the originator of the Two Extremes (Yin and Yang). Yin and Yang are the equal and opposite pairs recognised by the tai chi symbol, each with the seed of the other contained within. Yin stands for female and Yang stands for the male, however within the concept of Tai Chi, Yin represents stillness and Yang represents movement.

Although it looks simple tai chi can be quite complex. In Tai Chi, there is stillness in movement and movement in stillness. The two are interconnected and cannot be separated. Internal power is built and directed through control of the mind and breath. The concentration of mind moves the internal energy before any external movement.

Qigong

Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice for cultivating the internal energy of the body (Qi), for the benefit of the physical body, mind, and spirit. Qigong practices are varied and constitute thousands of different systems. They include hard and soft qigong, healing qigong, and general conditioning qigong. Wudang Qigong is based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) principles and Taoist teachings.

Qigong is a good practice for everyone, at any age to keep healthy in both body and mind. A simple explanation of Qi Gong would be meditation in motion and acupuncture without needles.

Join Iain’s Tai Chi Class

Mondays 13:15 – 14:15 in Fitness Studio 2 at Dewars Centre, Perth

Book on the app or online

Fitness Members can book 14-days in advance, Live Active Subscription Holders can book 7-days in advance, and non-members can book on the day.