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| James Tam arrived in Toronto in 1972 and soon after took up martial arts in Karate under Sensei T. Masuko, who was 3rd dan and head of the Genwakai school in Canada. Later, entering university in 1974, James began to take up Taijiquan classes on campus at York University. However, he soon gave that up and began to practice (Yoshinkai) Aikido under the direction of Sensei T. Kimeda (now 8th dan) for several years. In 1987 he returned to Taijiquan (Wu-style) and trained under E. Wu Shifu for two years. Moving to Ottawa to take up a research position with the federal government in 1989, James continued his studies in Taijiquan (Yang- & Wu-style) under M. Wong Shifu, and some push-hands instructions (CMC-style) from R. Ng Shifu. Lucky to be participating in the 10th Anniversary celebration of the Canadian Chinese Kuo Shu Federation in Toronto in 1997, James was extremely impressed by the behind-the-scene and on-stage performance of Master Joseph Chen and, the normally-shy James braved himself to approach and introduce himself to the Master. In 1998, James was honoured to be accepted as a disciple of Chen Zhonghua Shifu (aka Master J. Chen) and his training in Chen-style Taijiquan began in earnest. Currently, James practices with his Ottawa classmates on a regular basis and teaches taijiquan and qigong at the Beacon Hill Community Centre as well as at the Breast Cancer Action Ottawa. |
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