Tai Chi or Qigong: what’s the difference?
Two names, one source. Why Qigong is the root and Tai Chi the branch, and why you don’t have to choose.
I’m Wendy-Joyce Meijer. I’ve practised Tai Chi and Qigong for eighteen years and have taught since 2016. I help you get out of your head and back into your body: live online, wherever you live, or every week in Abcoude and Amsterdam Zuidoost.
Free trial classFor every levelYou can’t get it wrong
Choose how you’d like to begin: online, in a group, or together with your team.
Tense, tired, stiff, or simply too much in your head? You know you need some calm, but your mind just keeps going. That’s no surprise: you don’t find calm by thinking about it. You find it by moving, breathing and feeling.
Different in form, connected by the same source. Looking for Tai Chi, or Qigong? You’ve come to the right place for both, and there’s no need to choose: in my classes they come together naturally.
The branch
Just as branches sway with the wind, in Tai Chi one movement flows into the next. This Chinese martial art developed within family and teaching lineages. You move with attention to your posture, your breathing and your balance.
What is Tai Chi?The root
Just as roots nourish a tree, Qigong stands for attention, breathing and connection with your body. The exercises come from medical, Taoist, Buddhist and martial arts traditions. With simple, repeated movements and still postures, you take the time to feel and to settle.
What is Qigong?The red character in the middle is Góh: awareness, waking up, feeling. That is what it’s all about, in Qigong and in Tai Chi alike.
Not living nearby, or can’t fit a regular evening into your week? Join a live class on Zoom every week, from your own living room. I see you, give you pointers and guide you step by step.
Missed a class? You can watch it back for seven days. That way you build a steady practice at your own pace, and it’s exactly that regularity that makes the difference.
There’s nothing to prepare. Just comfortable clothing and a little space around you.
Online via Zoom or in person in Abcoude or Amsterdam Zuidoost. Not sure yet? Start with a free trial class and you’ll soon feel what suits you.
You move within your own range. There’s no need to memorise the exercises: I guide you calmly through every class, and the movements become familiar all by themselves.
After a few weeks you’ll notice you settle more quickly. Less in your head, more supple in your body and calmer in your breath. That’s the power of practising every week.
Accessible and clear. A trial class is always free, and you’re never tied in for longer than you want.
Join live every week from home.
per month
Most flexibleA live class on Zoom every week
Watch back for seven days
Cancel any month
Try a class for free, online from home or in person in Abcoude or Amsterdam Zuidoost.
Free
Online or in person
No obligation
You can’t get it wrong
Ten weekly classes in a regular group.
per 10 classes
Abcoude or Amsterdam Zuidoost
Missed one? You can make it up
Group full? Join the waiting list
Prefer one-to-one guidance? A private lesson costs € 69 per hour. For organisations, I’m happy to put together a tailored proposal.
Jenny Wesly (1948 - 2016)
With me, there’s nothing you need to be able to do and nothing to prove. Drawing on eighteen years of experience, I guide you in a warm, down-to-earth and personal way towards more calm, suppleness and balance in body and mind. After years of martial arts, I found the soft side of strength in Tai Chi and Qigong. They helped me recover from illness, and that is the experience I want to pass on. When my teacher Jenny Wesly passed away, I was given the chance to take over her school. Eastern and Western blood runs through my veins: in my classes I bring together Western knowledge and Eastern wisdom, without anything airy-fairy.
Work pressure, constant stimulation and a full head? In a corporate session, your team learns to come back into the body through simple movements and breathing exercises. People then respond more calmly and with more stability, to customers, colleagues and the unexpected.
It’s also a lovely, original idea for a team outing, wellbeing day or staff event. Accessible to everyone, whatever their age or fitness.
18
Years of experience with
Tai Chi and Qigong
8
Group classes
a week
2
Class locations around
Amsterdam
7
Days to watch back
an online class
Curious how it feels? Join in with a few short exercises for free. Right in your living room, at your own pace.
Tai Chi
A simple Five Elements exercise following the seasons of winter, spring, summer, late summer and autumn. Easy for anyone to follow and deeply relaxing.
Tai Chi
A simple yet powerful Five Elements exercise with a harmonising effect on the deeper layers within you.
Qigong
A connecting exercise built on rising and sinking, front and back, left and right. From your own centre, you connect with everything around you.
“I’ve been coming to Wendy’s Tai Chi classes with great pleasure for years. I started when I burned out from taking on too much. After the trial class I was hooked straight away. It was the kind of movement that suited me perfectly. Wendy’s classes are a unique blend of structure and freedom, which makes the flow a really intense experience.”
“Wendy has a great passion for Tai Chi. The classes are wonderful, a place where I unwind and de-stress. They’re taught with warmth and plenty of humour. I relax and let everything be for an hour. Even with my physical complaints, I can keep up well.”
“The workshop gave me insight into the causes of stress and practical tools for dealing with it. The morning was a perfect mix of information and exercises, under the enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable guidance of Wendy and Marcel. I’m looking forward to the next workshop!”
No. Tai Chi and Qigong don’t ask for muscle strength or stamina. You move within your own range and respect your own limits, even if you have doubts about your fitness. Everyone is welcome, young and old.
Not at all, remembering isn’t the point. I guide you step by step in every class and the movements become familiar by themselves. With the online classes, you can also watch each class back for seven days.
Qigong is the source: working with life energy, breath and attention, often through simple, repeated movements. Tai Chi grows out of it, in flowing, connected movements. In my classes they come together, so there’s no need to choose. Read more about Tai Chi and Qigong.
That’s exactly when it helps. A class lasts an hour, and you can watch the online class back for seven days at a time that suits you. At home, too, just a few minutes a day is enough to notice the difference.
An experienced substitute teacher takes over, so your class simply goes ahead.
I don’t offer a hard guarantee of results, because everyone experiences Tai Chi and Qigong in their own way. What I do guarantee is a safe, accessible and expertly guided class in which you can’t get anything wrong. And you’ll go home with at least a moment of relaxation, more awareness and perhaps even a little piece of happiness.
You can make up a missed in-person class with another group. Online, you can watch the class back for seven days. So you won’t miss a thing, not even when you’re on holiday.
You join live on Zoom every week, from home. All you need is a laptop, tablet or phone and a little space around you. The monthly membership can be cancelled any month. Explore the online classes.
Yes, a trial class is always free, online or in person. Book your free trial class.
On the difference between Tai Chi and Qigong, a calm mind and balance in your body.
Two names, one source. Why Qigong is the root and Tai Chi the branch, and why you don’t have to choose.
Too much stimulation and a mind that won’t stop? This is how moving slowly brings you back into your body, with a five-minute exercise.
Tai Chi is one of the most thoroughly researched forms of exercise for balance. What the research shows, and what you’ll notice yourself.
Join a live online class, wherever you live. Or come and try a free class in person in Abcoude or Amsterdam Zuidoost first.
You don’t need to be able to do anything. You can’t get it wrong, only differently.