T'ai Chi Ch'uan

Sharon (Shaz) started studying T'ai Chi Ch'uan (the traditional Yang 108 long form - medium frame) with Bob Davies in Durban in 1997; began assisting with teaching classes as a licensed trainee instructor in 1999; and ran her own T'ai Chi classes in 2000 under the auspices of the T'ai Chi Institute of Health - part of the Wu-Shin Foundation for Self-Development. She started teaching full-time at the beginning of 2003 and has been head of the T'ai Chi Institute of Health since February 2003.

She obtained her black sash in 2000 and red sash in 2003 and has attended specialised training courses in T'ai Chi in the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. 1999 - some training in Chen Man Ching short form with Aarvo Tucker; 2000 and 2001 - attended courses in Pretoria run by Dr Yang, Jwing Ming. 2002 - attended T'ai Chi Caledonia in Scotland for a week's training; 2003 - attended the 13th T'ai Chi Rehan in Switzerland as well as training with Cornelia Gruber in Neuchatel and La Chaux de Fonds and private training with Luigi Zanini in Vicenza, Italy; 2004 - attended internal strength seminars run by Mike Sigman in Frankfurt, and internal strength and push hands seminar by Mike Sigman in La Chaux de Fonds in Switzerland.

Sharon also chose to study other martial arts to broaden her knowledge base for T'ai Chi - this includes fours years of TodeJutsu (up to seventh level from 2000 to 2003) and Arnis de Mano for two years (1999 and 2000). She continues to study Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu.

She produced a small bi-monthly T'ai Chi publication, The Internal Ways, for two years (1999 and 2000), including research work for articles and conducting interviews. She has also written a number of articles on T'ai Chi, as well as compiled a set of comprehensive instruction notes.

Sharon has run Chi Kung courses since 2002, teaching the first and second sets of T'ai Chi Chi Kung and Hun Yuan Chi Kung. She has taught annually at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo since 2003, where she runs workshops on breathing life into chi kung and chi whiz - introducing chi into your practice.

She runs ongoing T'ai Chi classes as well as teaching morning Chi Kung, T'ai Chi and meditation sessions to companies on an ongoing basis, as well as conducting ad hoc sessions for conferences and break away sessions as required.

Katori Shinto Ryu

Sharon began to study the art of Katori Shinto Ryu in 1999, following the Sugino style, and attended summer schools in Amsterdam with Hatakeyama, Goro Sensei and Erik Louw Sensei in 2000 and 2001, and with Sugino, Yukihiro Sensei in Switzerland and France in 2003 and two separate seminars in Switzerland in 2004. She also had private tameshigiri training with Luigi Carniel in Switzerland in 2004.

She was awarded her shodan by Sugino Sensei in Switzerland in 2003.

She has also attended numerous training seminars in South Africa conducted by Erik Louw Sensei in 2001, 2002 and 2003; by Willem Bekink Sensei in 2002 and by Loris Petris Sensei in 2004.

In 2005 Sharon changed to the Otake style of training, taking keppan in September 2005. She participated in a summer school conducted by Otake, Nobutoshi Sensei in South Africa in 2005 and travelled to Japan to train in the dojo in Narita under Otake, Risuke Shihan in December 2005.