The December open retreat has a flavour all its own. That’s partly due to the time of year – short days, unpredictable weather and the promise of Christmas to come – but it’s also because the group tends to be smaller than the August week so it’s a more intimate atmosphere. Crucially, as a fellow student put it, we students have more Sifu time because there are fewer of us.

About 35 of us enjoyed a memorable week that passed all too quickly. We worked hard and had a lot of fun – energised as we were just by being there doing what we love. Chum – sinking – was the theme Sifu chose to explore with us. Chum is fundamental to tai chi but from personal experience it’s a quality that is often elusive. It’s not always easy to remember the essentials. A simple line drawing on the whiteboard was a potent and constant reminder not to float but to sink at all times during the form and in two-person exercises.

As always, there was friendly mutual assistance in the training hall, so that we learned and absorbed a little more of Sifu’s teaching, expanding and moving our practice on further. The intensive tuition and practice during these retreats is so beneficial and so enjoyable that it’s hard to describe to any student who hasn’t been before, without sounding like an evangelist. But there’s no question that it feeds your understanding and appreciation of tai chi, and fosters the strong sense of community that exists in being part of the John Ding Academy. So many people of diverse backgrounds, nationalities, ages and levels of experience all coming together to practice in the spirit of curiosity and discovery – once again I was reminded of how lucky I am to experience this profoundly astonishing art with Master Ding and his students. Never have the boundaries between work and play been so blurred – in tai chi you work hard and play hard all at the same time.

Roisin Collins was assisting Sifu and her kindness, patience and finely honed communication skills were generously evident throughout the week – inspiring, too, in a special way for us women to have access to such a dedicated senior female instructor.

On Wednesday night, the snow fell and by morning the school grounds looked like Narnia. Icicles hung from the training hall roof. It made for a magical experience of chi kung in the early mornings for the rest of the week. The soft snow lay several inches deep, enough to muffle the sound of the far-off traffic and light up the darkness before dawn. It was bliss to stand outside in the pure light it cast over the landscape.

A Christmas dinner  was held on the Thursday so that those who had to leave on the Friday could enjoy it and we each had an excellent goody box stuffed with treats such balloons, streamers and party poppers, as well as turkey with all the trimmings. And, of course, there was the last-night party too … A wonderful time was had by all.