Free tai chi

Yes, it’s happening and for the 8th year in a row!! The free summer tai chi and qigong sessions with me in Cornwall Park are back for summer 2025. Details below

These FREE sessions are outdoors in Cornwall Park from mid-January to the end of March 2025. All welcome, ideal for beginners and suitable for all ages and abilities.

Dates and times:

  • Starting Sunday 12 January 2025, 9 – 9.45am: Please note there is no tai chi on Sunday 26 January, which is during Auckland Anniversary Weekend. There will be tai chi on all other Sunday mornings from 12th January until 30th March 2025 (weather permitting)
  • Starting Tuesday 14 January 2025, 6 – 6.45pm and every Tuesday evening until 25th March 2025 (weather permitting).

Location in the park: Same as in previous years. If coming into the park from Greenlane Road West, you’ll be on Pōhutukawa Drive (the main road into the park). The tai chi sessions will be under the trees on the left-hand-side about half-way up Pōhutukawa Drive. (If you get to the roundabout, you’ve gone too far.)

Bring your water bottle and a sun hat/sunblock. Wear comfy clothing and footwear. Registrations are not required, just show up 5 – 10 minutes before each session starts.

As all of the sessions are outdoors, the weather needs to be on our side to go ahead. If you are uncertain on whether the session will be held you can:

I can’t wait to see everyone again who attended in previous years and also to meet anyone new, who would love to try tai chi and qigong this summer.

Curious about tai chi and qigong? Find out more here: https://www.kiaorataichi.nz/tai-chi/

Please be aware that Cornwall Park is NOT owned by Auckland Council. It is a private park, thanks to the generosity of the founder, Sir John Logan Campbell. He gifted his land, which became known as Cornwall Park, to the people of Auckland. Also, huge thanks to the Cornwall Park Trust Board, which administers his legacy and provides funding for these sessions so you can attend for free.

Contact me or sign up for my free monthly newsletter to get an early ‘heads up’ on when there are even more free sessions of tai chi and qigong.

Tai chi for anyone who is blind or has low vision

Wait, there’s more at Cornwall Park this summer…the Cornwall Park Trust Board are also funding four accessible tai chi sessions for anyone who is blind or has low vision, and who wants to be more active.

The lessons will be held immediately after our general sessions on Sunday mornings and in the same location in the park. The timeslot will be 10.15 – 11am on these four dates: 16 February, 23 February, 2 March and 9 March 2025. (Weather permitting)

These free tai chi sessions in the park will be designed and developed by me. I have specialist skills and experience in teaching accessible tai chi to adults and young people, including at the Homai campus of Blind, Low Vision Education Network NZ (BLENNZ) and James Cook High School in Manurewa.

Tai chi is gentle on joints and is designed to improve balance, mobility, strength and fitness.
Another big thank you to the Cornwall Park Trust Board for funding these accessible sessions.

If you’d like to know how I got started with teaching tai chi to students who were blind/had low vision, it all began with my successful pilot project in 2017. My work in this specialist area has grown from there. You can read a summary of my pilot project in this link: https://www.kiaorataichi.nz/success-with-teaching-tai-chi-to-blind-students/