About Thomas Hayes
Thomas Hayes has studied and practised the Daoist Arts for thirty years. In addition to Chen style 太极拳 tàijíquán, he has studied nèi gōng內功, the 易经 Yìjīng and metaphysics with several Chinese Masters of different traditions. He has also studied and practised in other Buddhist and Yoga traditions.
He met Grandmaster Chen Zheng Lei in 1997 and has been a friend of the family since. In 2001, he went to China to offer Master Wang Hai Jun the opportunity to come to Manchester, England to teach authentic Chen style 太极拳 tàijíquán. He works in Information Management and is a Fellow of the British Computer Society. He lives in Manchester, England. He never ceases to learn and practice and has a life long devotion to self-cultivation.
From a Mentor and Good Friend – Grand Master Chen Zheng Lei – Translated into English – 19th generation of Chen’s family and the 11th generation direct-line successor of Chen Family Tai Chi Quan
I met Thomas in the summer of 1997. He was one of the taijiquan groups that came to Henan to study. At that time I was the Vice-President and Coach of the Henan Sports department of Martial Arts.
The group consisted of over ten people who were learning taijiquan. They practised really hard and conscientiously. They sweated a lot but didn’t complain! When their training finished, they travelled to Chenjiagou village, the birthplace of taijiquan to pay homage to the ancestors.
In the summer of 1998 Thomas visited China with the taijiquan group consisted of more than 20 people. They went to Chénjiāgōu to study taijiquan and also visited the Shaolin temple and invited my family to Zhang Jia Jie National Park. My family consisted of my wife, younger and elder daughters and son. They had a really great time in Zhang Jia Jie. The National Park is amazing. We also undertook some White Water Rafting during the day, practising taijiquan in the mornings and evenings.
Thomas loves all things regarding Chinese culture; taijiquan, the Yì jīng, Dao de Jing, qigong, Traditional Chinese Medicine etc. He also met a girl from Xiang Tan, who was really pretty and young and he met the girl in hospital and got engaged and brought her to England. They have a Hunan cuisine restaurant in Chinatown, Manchester. In 1999 my son Chen Bin went to Manchester to study, Thomas helped him a lot in his studies, in his life and with travel. He encouraged Chen Bin to study hard and took him around the UK and taught him English and in exchange was taught Chinese and taijiquan. He spared no effort to learn from Chen Bin. They became really good friends and both of them learned a lot from each other.
This year 2013, I came to London to teach. Thomas heard and came to meet me at the train station so he took us for lunch and sightseeing, taking in the British Museum as it was raining. I have known Thomas for 17 years. In my mind, he is a man with a lot of knowledge and high moral standards and is an English gentleman. He is an expert in computers and has an enormous interest in Chinese culture. He never stops learning and practising taijiquan, qigong, Dao de Jing, and Daoism. I think that he has a deep understanding of Traditional Chinese culture,
When we were in London Thomas mentioned that he and Wang Hai Jun wanted to write a book about taijiquan and Daoism. This would be based on the Western perspective of understanding Eastern culture. He asked me if it would be okay for me to write this foreword. I was touched by his devotion to Chinese culture and I have always known him to be of high moral standing. He will write with Wang Hai Jun and I was happy to agree without any hesitation.
As it was, my schedule was so tight at that time and all of the events had been booked a year in advance and so I needed to complete my European commitments within one week. I had meetings and demonstrations and scheduled appointments, I was extremely busy and could only squeeze in a little time for this foreword. Do not think that famous people can’t manage their time! – So I wrote this over three brea