Wayne’s world: Tai Chi class whips up whimsical wonders

When asked why he went into Tai Chi, Instructor Wayne Keller very seriously replied, “Unwanted pregnancy.”

This is a perfect example of the non sequiters Keller peppers throughout his classes.

Keller has always been interested in the elegance of Tai Chi’s hidden power. The trick, however, was to find a quality teacher.

Luckily, he found one in Master George Xu.

Keller always smiles when he recollects stories about Master George. During his interview with The Print, he even broke out in song, praising his teacher to the tune of “George of the Jungle.”

Surprisingly, there is still time between discussions of the latest movie in theaters and hilarious stories about Master George to learn hidden Tai Chi secrets, such as Earth, Spiral and Yi.

And what secrets they are!

When the students in his Winter Term class challenged him to push them all over at once, Keller surprised them by having them all line up and push him together. Using his superior Tai Chi skills, he pushed back – and the whole class fell backwards like a line of dominoes.

“What old men call skill young men call cheating” – his favorite saying – was the only explanation given to his baffled students. Oddly enough, it is these sayings that make him a fun instructor.

But beneath the jokes and laughter, he is serious about his classes. Many of the stories told in class are in fact hidden secrets of Tai Chi.

“I think he is a very cool teacher who appears to know what he is doing,” said Kent Hall, one of the students in Advanced Tai Chi, “and he listens to the questions of the students.”

As if to confirm this opinion, Keller admitted that his favorite aspect of teaching is seeing the light-bulbs go on in people’s eyes when they suddenly understand his lessons.

On the reverse, he dislikes the financial strings that tend to come with teaching. Consequently, he is fond of teaching privately because of the personal intimacy that comes with it.

Keller hails from Portland, or what he calls “Land of Mist and Dew.”

His hobbies include camping and good food, particularly ethnic food. He also enjoys video games, such as Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for the Xbox. In addition, he also plays old-school Pong.

Keller has been teaching at Clackamas for 11 years, but his experience goes even further back. He has been teaching Tai Chi for a total of 16 years and Martial Arts for 20.

He also teaches private classes in Philippine Stick/Knife fighting and offers many types of bodywork and massage.

by Jess Sheppard
The Clackamas Print