We are delighted to announce that White Crane Online is now live!

Subscribe as a Bronze level member to the site and you can learn gigong and meditation, as well as follow stretching and mobility routines for free.

High quality Tai Chi tutorials have for far too long been unavailable on the web but now with White Crane Online, as Silver and Gold members, you can subscribe and be guided through the stunning 66 move White Crane tai chi form, ‘Frost and Sun White Crane Gentle Art’.

Each move is looked at in detail and broken down with clear instructional videos, close ups, multiple angles and you are guided through typical errors and common difficulties.

To support you through your training, there are forums on the website where we hope to develop an active community of people training together and helping with the process of learning tai chi. Mark and Hamish will be active on the forums offering tips and advice.

We have a very limited number of Gold level subscriptions available (only 10 remaining!) where as well as receiving all the access open to Bronze and Silver, you can log on to an Elite level forum with regularly updated tutorials, as well as receive a Skype one to one lesson with Mark twice per month.

Check out the site, we’d love to hear from you about what you think – either on the forums, in the White Crane Online Facebook group or by email.

We have plenty of classes on over the Easter period, check below for classes in your area:

Haywards Heath
Classes on Easter Saturday will be held at Lindfield Village Hall (opposite the pond) – times remain in the same.
No classes on Easter Sunday, bank holiday Monday on as normal.

Balcombe:
Good Friday – kickboxing on as normal.

Horsham:
No tai chi on Good Friday, classes on as normal next week, no classes for the week commencing the 9th April. Resuming as normal from the 16th.

Due to the tremendous success of our weekend family kung fu classes and our weekday evening kickboxing classes, we are now delighted to be announcing a weekend family focussed kickboxing class…

Starting on Saturday 17th March we will be adding a kickboxing class to the schedule, after the regular kung fu class, taking place at St Richard’s Church Hall on Sydney Road in Haywards Heath.

The class will take place from 12-1pm – it will be a fast, fun and energetic training session!

The weekend classes have developed a fantastic reputation as a family friendly place to come along to get fit and healthy together as well as learning new skills.

We also have kickboxing classes on a Monday evening (Bolnore), Tuesday evening (St Francis Social Club, Haywards Heath) and Friday evenings (Balcombe).

We have two new regular classes on our timetable this year in Haywards Heath:

Tuesday evenings 7-8pm: Kickboxing at St Francis Social Club.

Thursday evenings 7.30-8.30pm: Tai Chi at Linear Fitness.

See the timetable page for more details of these and other classes.

Christmas Opening…

Haywards Heath Classes:
The last classes will be on Wednesday 20th. There WILL Tai Chi and Kung Fu classes as normal on Saturday 30^th, then nothing on 31^stand 1^st, before resuming as normal on Tuesday 2^nd.

Horsham and East Preston: 
Last class is on the 22nd, starting again on the 9th Jan

Balcombe:
Last class is on the 22nd, starting again 5th January.

Cameron McDermid recently graded to be an assistant Kung Fu instructor. You can read Cam’s profile HERE

One of the most highly anticipated events of the year was the multiple opponents masterclass, held last Saturday in Haywards Heath.

The event was really well attended and we had a good mix of adults and juniors, which is always pleasing to see!

Whist equipping those in attendance with tools, tricks and techniques to increase the odds of surviving an encounter with several opponents, I did not want anyone to leave the afternoon session with the impression that they were the latest Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan who could now be invincible in the midst of battle…. The prime target of self-defence (whether against single or multiple opponents) is to get the hell out of there, or even better don’t be there in the first place – and that was drilled in from the very beginning!

The first 45 minutes was spent in what I like to call the pre-fight and it’s a part of the ritual that fascinates me the most! After avoidance we spoke about being calm and did an exercise on breathing evenly and calmly under pressure – almost hacking our own natural tendency to raise cortisol (and take control of our fight or flight response).

We went on to partnered exercises in projecting confident body language and tone of voice as well as working on distancing and positioning ourselves favourably  and being aware of the surroundings – with awareness and practice all of these elements can be incredibly subtle and it’s almost as if you’re luring your opponents into a trap where you will use the element of surprise to either rapidly retreat or remorselessly attack!

After the mental elements of the pre-fight were discussed and practiced we went on to go over the best basic and most effective in such a situation – which then led onto pad work and a long time practicing and refining combinations before finishing with some – serious, yet – fun light sparring against two or three opponents.

It was an endlessly fascinating two hours – as I kept on drilling in to those in attendance, this is not a situation you ever want to find yourself in – but as with any self defence – or even life in general – it’s better to be prepared and have some tools in your arsenal which you can bring out if absolutely necessary.