On Saturday, May 31, 2025, the 1882 Foundation hosted a tai chi workshop with Terence Nicholson, practitioner and teacher of Chinese martial arts, curator, artist, and musician. The event was hosted in person at the 1882 office and had 17 attendees.
The workshop began with a sharing circle and all attendees shared their name, where they were from, and their experience with martial arts. There was a wide variety of experience levels with tai chi; some had become familiar with it at their local community centers while others had never tried the sport. Terence explained his introduction to tai chi, which was mostly based on watching kung-fu movies as a child. He liked the fighting action scenes in the movies, how actors leaped across the screen and beat up the bad guys. However, upon entering his first kung-fu class, he realized it would take a long time before he would be doing the same moves as the ones on TV.
Terence mentioned that many new students of kung-fu or other martial arts often struggle to maintain their interest after realizing most of the sport is not cool kicks, punches, and jumps. Nonetheless, Terence stuck with kung-fu into his adult life, and eventually expanded his learning into several different kinds of martial arts, like tai chi. Cool kung-fu moves may have gotten Terence in the door, but what made him stay was the effect it had on other people in his community as a child. Growing up in Anacostia, DC, was not easy for Terence; but watching other kids who studied martial arts seemed calm and collected in a time of chaos. Terence wanted to have that same demeanor – so he stuck with kung–fu.
One of the life long benefits of studying martial arts is the patience and discipline you gain. Terence recalled a story of after a long day of practice, his sifu would often have him help around the giftshop in DC’s Chinatown. Standing on ladders, or balancing between the walls and various shelves to fix various things. While his legs were already shaking from repeating forms, sifu would push his body even further. In hindsight, Terence now sees that these chores were really another way of training his mind – to continue forward even when you are exhausted. He said he “views time differently,” now because of this; not just in the context of learning a new form or move in tai chi, but in other areas of his life, such as creating art or music. Practice is no longer an obstacle to overcome, but is a vehicle to assist you to wherever you want to go.
The workshop included a short demo of tai chi by Terence, and even offered individual advice on forms. Thank you, Terence, for sharing your story and knowledge with us!
