Join host Nancy Kahn for a dynamic conversation with Stephan Berwick, on
Lou Reed’s Art of the Straight Line: Tai Chi as the Ultimate Wellness Practice for Life.
What was it really like for Lou Reed to practice, heal, and grow from Tai Chi? Renowned for its physical and mental benefits, Tai Chi as a practice comes in many forms that address almost any goals.
In part two of our exclusive interview with Chinese martial arts master, Stephan Berwick, learn more about Lou Reed’s Tai Chi training. From Reed’s story, Berwick details how to begin Tai Chi, how to maximize your practice, and recognize its amazing benefits. Berwick shares his personal experiences of how Tai Chi contributes to meeting essential human needs that include wellness, protection of the body and the freedom to change your energy.
Stephan Berwick is a martial arts instructor, performer, and researcher, specializing in Chen Tai Chi and Chinese swordsmanship. As an original student of Master Ren, Berwick conducted primary research at Tai Chi’s birthplace in Henan, China over two decades ago. From that research, Berwick published the first English language profiles of the emerging Chen village masters, and other works on traditional martial arts. Before devoting himself to Chen Tai Chi, Stephan was one of the two first Americans – with Asia’s top action star, Donnie Yen – to train in Xian, China under its national martial arts champion, Zhao Changjun and his coach, Bai Wenxiang. With Yen, Berwick went on to perform in Hong Kong action films under the tutelage of the director, Yuen Woping, as one of the few Western martial artists to star in Chinese action films. Years later, he met and befriended Lou Reed in 2003 at a national martial arts event with Master Ren.
To learn more about Lou Reed’s book, The Art of the Straight Line, My Tai Chi, visit www.harpercollins.com/pages/ArtoftheStraightLine (new website on Lou Reed’s Tai Chi)
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