Authentic Yang Style Tai Chi · Milton, Ontario
Root · Flow · Rise
Monday and Wednesday, 6:30–7:30am — 725 Main St, Milton, inside The Dance Shoppe
Weekend classes coming soon
An ancient art for a lifetime of movement
You do not need to be injured, athletic, flexible or experienced to begin Tai Chi.
Some people come to move better. Some want to improve their balance. Some are looking for calm in a busy life. Others simply want to learn a traditional art they can continue practising for decades.
Tai Chi brings these together through one practice: Movement · Balance · Breath · Awareness.
Through slow, intentional movement, Tai Chi develops greater awareness of how the body moves while encouraging coordination, balance, mobility and calm. It can be gentle enough to practise into later life, yet deep enough to spend a lifetime learning.
Don’t wait until you need Tai Chi. Begin now — and carry it with you through life.
Or just come and see — drop in to any class for $20, no commitment.
Root · Flow · Rise
More than our name. It is how we practise.
Root — Build on foundational principles
Learn the principles that underpin Yang style Tai Chi: how to stand, settle, shift weight and move with awareness.
Principles · Posture · Balance · Foundation
Flow — Move without unnecessary force
Through steady practice, learn to connect movements with softness, coordination, breath and continuity.
Softness · Coordination · Breath · Practice
Rise — Grow through discipline
Deepen awareness, mobility and confidence through disciplined, continued practice that carries into everyday life.
Awareness · Mobility · Balance · Discipline
Root in foundational principles.
Flow through practice.
Rise through discipline.
What Tai Chi can develop
Movement, balance, breath and awareness — brought together through one practice.
Become more aware of your centre
Tai Chi repeatedly shifts weight from one side of the body to the other while maintaining controlled posture and movement.
Everyone responds differently. Some students notice changes in awareness, relaxation or movement relatively quickly. Other changes develop gradually with consistent practice. Tai Chi rewards consistency more than speed.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Shiv Shankar
Shiv began studying Tai Chi under Sifu George Thomas in 2006. Over the years, his practice developed from learning movements into a deeper appreciation of balance, awareness, softness and the connection between mind and body.
His professional background in physiotherapy gives him a modern understanding of human movement, but his teaching at The Taichi Academy remains rooted in the Tai Chi passed to him by his Sifu.
Traditional teaching. Modern understanding.
Four stages. One lifelong practice.
Tai Chi is not learned by collecting movements. It is learned by building foundations, repeating them and gradually understanding what lies within them. Our curriculum follows a progressive path.
Root
Basic 8 Forms
Where everyone begins. Learn foundational stance, posture, weight transfer and the essential movements of Yang Style Tai Chi. By the end of Root, students have a short sequence they can continue practising independently.
Flow
Traditional 85 Form — Part I
Individual movements begin to connect. Students develop continuity, coordination and a deeper understanding of the principles introduced in Root.
Rise
Traditional 85 Form — Part II & Completion
Continue and complete the traditional Yang Style 85-form sequence while developing greater consistency, awareness and flow.
Mastery
28 Form, Refinement, Principles
Completion of a form is not completion of Tai Chi. This stage is about refinement — revisiting movement, understanding principles, exploring applications and continuing to deepen the practice.
The goal is not simply to remember the form. The goal is to understand what you are practising.
Not sure? Drop in to any class for $20 and see how it feels.
Read the full curriculum and fee structure →Taught in an unbroken line
Grandmaster Fu Sheng Yuan
Fifth-generation inheritor of the Yang family Tai Chi lineage.
Sifu George Thomas
Fifty years in martial arts and a direct student of Grandmaster Fu Sheng Yuan. Founder of The Taichi Academy.
Shiv Shankar
Began training under Sifu George Thomas in 2006. Completed the advanced 85-form long form, the 28-form set, and full instructor certification in both basic and advanced forms. Teaches in Milton.
Tai Chi is more than choreography. Its principles, details, applications and understanding have traditionally been passed directly from teacher to student through practice. We honour the lineage by preserving the art — while making it accessible to a new generation of students.
A new class, forming now
The Taichi Academy carries a lineage taught for years across seven Indian cities. What is new is not the practice — it is that it has arrived in Milton. The first class is forming now, and there is no better time to begin than at the start.
Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:30am
One hour, twice a week, before the day starts. Dawn practice is traditional — and it means Tai Chi does not compete with anything else in your schedule.
Where
725 Main St, Milton, L9T 3Z3, inside The Dance Shoppe. Free parking. Enter through the main door and head to the back.
Your first morning
Arrive five minutes early. Wear loose clothes and flat shoes. Nothing else needed. You will be taught the first stance in the first ten minutes.
Cost
Drop in for $20, or start the Root course at $240 for eight weeks.
Cannot make 6:30am?
We intend to grow. As the Academy develops, additional classes, workshops and locations may be introduced. Tell us what would work for you — we will try our best to accommodate, depending on broader interest.