Your Coach

Despite decades as a Public Affairs consultant and broadcast journalist, my heart has always been with the martial arts and the eastern approach to health, fitness and philosophy.  Alongside the business suits in my wardrobe were a Taekwondo dobok, a 2nd dan black belt, Aikidogi, Kendo armour and a boken and a Pilates mat.  On the bookshelf, next to the textbooks from my University Masters degree sat the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita, my Pilates training books and all my martial arts favourites like Musashi's Book of Five Rings.

But during my 50s, the hectic pace of a career and the lifestyle that came with it began to really wear me down.  Slowly, being a Taekwondo coach, personal trainer and Pilates instructor gave way to running a consultancy business and being a journalist. I gained weight, slept badly and was ill-tempered.  I got cholesterol problems, enlarged prostate, aches and pains.

But when I "really properly" retired from the rate race, it was like throwing a switch.  I fixed up my diet, returned to reading philosophy, resumed meditation and above all, returned to exercise.  But as well as Pilates, I turned to Tàijí and Qìgōng, because of the wealth of studies into the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of them, especially for those of us over 50.

Now, at 63, I am well into a personal renaissance, enjoying my second prime. In fact, I feel better than I have in decades.  But I'm in the same boat as everyone else.  Far from having all the answers, I'm a fellow traveller.  And it's my pleasure and purpose now to share this time with friends and neighbours and anyone else embarking on a personal renaissance of their own.