Tai Chi

Participants will be learning the Yang Family (Yang Shr) short form, the progenitor of the Classical Tai Chi form currently taught in Beijing. Its thirty seven movements are routinely performed in eleven to fifteen minutes. The focus will be  chi cultivation in a medium stance meant to gently stretch your soft tissues; proper skeletal alignment for improved balance and coordination; meditative natural breathing for improved concentration; chi amplification that produces a palpable feeling tone in your body during solo and partner practices.



No prior experience is necessary and classes are for all ages. Flat soled shoes and loose clothing are recommended. The instructor supplies illustrated materials and has a Youtube channel featuring instructional videos to assist you in your practice.


Tai Chi Class Schedule

Thursdays, January 23 - February 27

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in the Sanctuary


This is a six week orientation to Tai Chi. $10 suggested donation per class.

No registration required. All are welcome.


Mark Small 

Mark discovered tai chi chuan in 1958 when apprenticed in the theater as a child actor but began serious practice as a teenager just as Bruce Lee’s kung fu fame introduced the world to the “cultural pearl” that is kung fu. For over fifty years Mark sought out dozens of prominent master teachers, both stateside and overseas, who practiced the many internal styles of Chinese health, sport, and self-defense regimes —all which are predicated on classical chi kung principles known as nei jia. Hence the title of Mark’s book: “A Nia Jia Primer” published in 2011. His master teachers include Colonel Y.W. Chang, the Taiwanese inventor of Wang Computers whose fellow student was Chiang Kai-shek —leader of the Nationalist Kuomintang party in the 1920’s; Chang Tung-Sheng a Kuomintang undefeated champion whom Mark chauffeured around the United States in his 1973 visit; Chan Pui founder of the Wah Lum Kung Fu Temple who’s students regularly perform at Disney World; Jou Tsung-Hwa master teacher at the Tai Chi Farm Festival in Warwick, New York; and at least a dozen other internationally recognized kung fu masters. 



Mark has led workshops and presented at symposia of the National Chi Kung (Qigong) Association and has published in T’ai Chi and Qi Magazines and the Journal of Chinese Martial Arts. He now resides in Black Mountain with his wife Donalyn and teenage son Haiden, happy to be associated with St. James Episcopal Church and honored to be teaching a six week orientation to tai chi before offering a more in-depth on-going practice.



Mark established his Mountain Dragon (Long Shan) School in Asheville in the early 80’s and because a number of his students are now teaching independently Mark is privileged to wear the formal moniker of “Master Small” among his peers.  Mark holds a number of certifications: a 5th generation Yang Family teacher from the Choy Kam-man Academy, San Francisco; a 1st generation Ling Yun Pai “inner door student” in the Chen Pan-ling International Martial Arts Association; and a 4th degree Black Sash Master through the International Wushu San Shou Dao Association based in Vancouver, Canada. He is a long time member of the U.S. Kuoshu Federation (USKSF) and a retired board member of the Central Atlantic Chinese Martial Artists association (CACMA).