Rachel Waller
Qigong & tai chi teacher
     

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Malaysian tai chi teacher

• 45 years old
• 31 years martial arts experience
• Teaches qigong, tai chi and self defence
• Fully insured
• Teaching tai chi since 2012


45 years old?

Rachel is a very healthy example of what daily tai chi, a good diet and a balanced lifestyle can offer. She doesn't look 45, does she?



Taekwondo black belt


Rachel was born in Kuching, Borneo. She is from Chinese/Kayan descent. Brought up on a steady diet of Chinese martial arts movies,
Rachel has been interested in martial arts training for most of her life.
She began learning taekwondo with the Sarawak Taekwondo Association (ITF), passed her first taekwondo black belt in 1994, and eventually became the president of the club.


Living in the UK


Rachel competed for a scholarship from Shell, and won. This enabled her to study at the prestigious Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar school before gaining a place at Durham University in 1997.
After passing her degree with Durham, Rachel became a permanent resident of the UK.
 

I like that there's no macho, aggressive attitude in the class, and that everyone is helpful and respectful of one another.
I also like the structure of the class, and the clear
syllabus that lets you see how you're progressing.


(Joel)

Kung fu (Chinese boxing)

By her late twenties Rachel had lost interest in taekwondo and was looking for a more advanced fighting style. She'd heard good things about Newcastle Tai Chi and attended the induction course.
Rachel was so amazed by Sifu Waller's high level of skill that she joined the class immediately. It was quite a surprise to find bona fide kung fu skills of this standard in the UK.


Qualified tai chi teacher

Rachel received an instructor qualification in 2014. She is qualified to teach qigong, tai chi and self defence. She has been Disclosure and Barring Service checked so that she can teach adults of all ages and has an up-to-date First Aid qualification.

 

The benefits of tai chi #1

Rachel's taekwondo practice put tremendous strain on her joints. The training was exertive, strenuous and damaging. Her hips and shoulders clicked and often felt painful.
By contrast, the tai chi taught by Sifu Waller uses the body in a very different way to taekwondo. Soon after commencing tai chi, Rachel's joints stopped clicking and hurting.
 


The benefits of tai chi #2

In 2007 Rachel sprained her knee whilst helping move office furniture at work. It got worse all day. The following morning Rachel was unable to walk properly... She experienced serious shooting pain.
The doctor told Rachel that it would take up to 6 weeks to heal up. Rachel contacted Sifu Waller and he asked her to show him what she had been doing at work.
He then explained what she was doing incorrectly.
Sifu Waller physically illustrated Rachel's habits so that she could see them, then showed her a better way to do each action and examples of functional biomechanics.
A day later the painful knee was improving. After that, Rachel experienced a fairly rapid rehabilitation of her injured knee and a full recovery. It didn't take 6 weeks. It took 1 week.

More...


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Page created 2 September 2007
Last updated 15 February 2024