About Me

I have been practicing martial arts for about 18 years.  When I was 19, I was encouraged by my first Tai Chi teacher, Mark Lord, to take a trip to Taiwan and meet his teacher Liu Hsi-heng, a disciple of Professor Cheng Man-ching.  What began as a six-month trip, turned into five and a half years as I became completely fascinated by this lively man in his mid-eighties who would slap and push around much younger, bigger, and stronger people. And who did it all with a easy smile on his face.

More later . . .

14 Responses to “About Me”

  1. matt stampe Says:
    July 14, 2009 at 9:44 pm | Reply

    you said the following:

    “since I have no classmates whom I can practice with in the Washington, DC area it is necessary for me to start a group of my own, if only for the sake of helping me to remember everything that I learned in my years of studying overseas.”

    You have many CMC yang short form brothers and sisters in the DC Metro area. There are many free groups that train in the parks-

    Location: CARDEROCK PARK, Clara Barton Parkway, MD

    Schedule: Every Sunday morning, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.,

    June 14 through August 29, Free of Charge.

    also-
    Cheng Man-ch’ing Yang style t’ai chi / No charge

    Saturday morning

    8 – 9 Form class and practice

    9 – 10 Push hands practice,

    Lincoln Park, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., 11th and East Capitol St., SE, 20003.

    Info: 202.544.6035.

    http://www.capitolhilltaichi.com

    • danielpfister Says:
      July 14, 2009 at 10:34 pm | Reply

      Thank you Matt,

      I actually just got in touch with Dave who leads capital hill taiji through the process of constructing this blog.

      Who practices at Carderock Park?

      Best

  2. matt stampe Says:
    July 16, 2009 at 1:26 pm | Reply

    The person is Julian Chu- they have alot of people in the park doing form and push hands. many good people there.

  3. Jon Katz Says:
    August 14, 2009 at 1:39 pm | Reply

    Hi, Daniel- I look forward to meeting you. I attend the Carderock practices every Sunday morning. Before the Carderock summer practice sessions restarted, I was practicing with the Capitol Hill group.

    • Daniel Pfister Says:
      August 16, 2009 at 1:53 am | Reply

      Hi Jon,

      Thanks for checking out the blog. My group in Takoma Park has been meeting at about 5:35pm Mon, Wed, and Thurs. I would like to start a form class on the weekend, but so far no one has been willing to give up their “day of rest.” Perhaps that’s partially because the conditioning routine we do is so rigorous. I set a bed example as I often sleep in on Saturday when I had planned on going out to David’s Capital Hill group.

      Let me know when you think you might drop by and I’ll keep an eye out for you.

      Take Care

  4. Jon Katz Says:
    August 14, 2009 at 1:42 pm | Reply

    FYI, you might be interested in some of my t’ai chi links at http://katzjustice.com/jklinks.htm#T'ai%20chi .

  5. Jon Katz Says:
    September 2, 2009 at 4:25 pm | Reply

    Hi, Dan- I can’t find an e-address for you. Where does your Takoma group meet? Is it outdoors? I can only come once in a blue moon that time of day, because court finishing times usually have me with clients through at least 5:30 p.m. Thanks. Jon

  6. kirk talbott Says:
    December 11, 2010 at 2:47 pm | Reply

    Jon and Dan: Paul Ramos has free t’ai chi push hands tuesday night 7-9 pm at Liz Lerman studio in TP. I am a grateful student of RWSmith and we have pa kua and hsing i practice with a bit of t’ai chi sunday at Fleming Park (free, from 8-10 am) off old Georgetown just north of bway in Bethesda. We have a small group that play t’ai chi in TP on weekends pretty spontaneously as well when a few of us can easily meet up. You’re welcome to join all. Regards, Kirk

    • Daniel Pfister Says:
      December 11, 2010 at 11:45 pm | Reply

      Thank Kirk,

      We’re quite regular on Sundays at 12pm. If you’re in TP, perhaps we can meet sometime. Send me an e-mail.

  7. Russ Mason Says:
    July 11, 2011 at 2:17 pm | Reply

    Hi Daniel,

    Glad to hear that you have found the practices organized by Ben Lo’s students, David Kaufman and Julian Chu. Many students of Mr. Smith are also in your area and, of course, the senior representative of Liu Laoshi’s method in the Balt/Wash area is Jeff Herrod.

    Regards,
    Russ Mason

    • Daniel Pfister Says:
      July 11, 2011 at 2:32 pm | Reply

      Hello Russ,

      I have heard of you, but I don’t think we’ve met. I did meet Jeff when he came to visit Mr. Liu in Taiwan once, but I haven’t gone up to see him since I’ve lived on the East coast.

      Where are you located?

  8. Russ Mason Says:
    July 14, 2011 at 9:22 pm | Reply

    Hi Daniel,

    I’m in Newark, Delaware, just west of Wilmington.

  9. Hal Says:
    July 15, 2011 at 8:11 pm | Reply

    Hi dan
    I am in the dc area if you want to get together to practice I thought it might be fun
    Hal

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