Meet Your Teachers
Behind every great Tai Chi practice is a dedicated teacher. Our collective brings years of experience rooted in Professor Cheng Man-ching’s lineage. Trained by the Tai Chi Foundation, we are passionate about helping you find strength, balance, and peace through this ancient art.
Margaret Olmsted
Los Angeles, California, USA
Margaret, a legacy holder for the Tai Chi Foundation, has been studying and practicing tai chi for over 45 years and teaches all over the world. Margaret teaches the tai chi form, qigong, push hands and sword to students of all ages and also teaches privately. Her local school is the School of Tai Chi Chuan Los Angeles.
Kimiko Tucker
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Kimiko is passionate about sharing the ancient practice of Tai Chi, helping others experience its many health benefits. Over time, she has come to realize that Tai Chi is more than just a movement practice - it’s a transformative journey that nurtures both body and mind. As both a student and teacher at Tai Chi Nash in Nashville, TN, she is dedicated to deepening her understanding and guiding others on their own path to balance, strength, and inner harmony.
Edna Brandt
Chapel Hill / Durham, North Carolina, USA
Edna Brandt has been practicing and teaching tai chi for over 40 years, and still loves it. Her favorite Tai Chi practice that she enjoys is the sword form. She loves to research the meaning of the images of animals and nature in the Tai Chi forms.
Though mostly retired these days, Edna practices and teaches acupuncture. Living in North Carolina, she enjoys Chinese brush painting, especially bamboo and plum blossom.
Claudia Gebhart
Götzens, Austria, Europe
Claudia chose to teach Tai Chi because of the profound positive impact it has had on her life. Through Tai Chi, she discovered a powerful way to nurture her health, find balance, and disconnect from the stresses of a demanding work environment. These transformative experiences inspired her to share the practice with others. She teaches locally at the Tai Chi Chuan Schule - Götzens.
Steve Shulman
New York City, New York, USA
Steve Shulman has been teaching tai chi form, push hands, and sword since 1984. Currently a member of the NY School of Tai Chi Chuan faculty, Steve is also tai chi instructor at Barnard College and for Columbia University. Steve also serves on the Board of Directors for Tai Chi Foundation and for NY School of Tai Chi Chuan.
Linda Bisberg
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Linda, based in Chicago, came to Tai Chi after 16 years as a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo, seeking a practice focused on whole health. She found her path with the Tai Chi Foundation and her local school, The Human Process in Chicago. Now, Linda shares her practice by teaching Tai Chi and fostering a sense of community, completing the circle of giving and receiving.
Ian Lopez
Ericeira, Portugal, Europe
Ian’s Tai Chi journey began in Chicago, inspired by its numerous health benefits. After learning the form virtually and training globally with the Tai Chi Foundation, he now teaches online and with schools in the US and Europe from his home in Portugal. Ian is passionate about sharing how movement meditation builds balance, resilience, and inner calm, creating a supportive space for students to explore their unique path to well-being.
Fran Snyder
NYC, New York, USA
Fran loves teaching tai chi. After a career as a university professor, she discovered through tai chi an ability to teach from the body, as well as the mind. Tai chi allows her to literarlly reach out to students, to awaken their natural sense of balance and body relaxation. Fran is on the faculty of the New York School of Tai Chi Chuan and serves as president its Board of Directors. She splits her time between NYC and her home in Chatham NY, where she recently founded the Upstate NY School of Tai Chi.
Anna Teeples
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Anna is a dedicated Tai Chi teacher based in Nashville, and affiliated with the Tai Chi Foundation and Tai Chi Nash. She discovered a passion for Tai Chi through its ability to harmonize the body and mind, fostering calm in daily life. She finds joy in sharing the transformative practice of Tai Chi with students of all levels.
Lieneke Viergever
Amsterdam, Netherlands, Europe
Lieneke’s path began with years of exploring yoga and meditation. When she discovered Tai Chi, starting her own practice online, she was immediately captivated. She found that "meditation in movement" offered a flow and a profound depth that she hadn’t found elsewhere As a tech lawyer, mediator, and mother, Lieneke moves between different worlds every day. Tai Chi has become her anchor, cultivating a deep sense of presence that she carries with her throughout the day. Now teaching at the School of T’ai Chi Chuan Amsterdam, she loves "paying it forward", guiding students to find their own grounding and vitality, no matter what the day brings.
Bob Etherington
Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA
Bob Etherington began studying Tai Chi in 1981 while pursuing a career in classical music, drawn to its centering, relaxation, and breathwork. His journey led him to the New York Schook of Tai Chi Chuan and later to a career as a Feldenkrais Practitioner, deepening his understanding of movement. A senior teacher and former President of the Tai Chi Foundation, Bob is now launching a Tai Chi School on Martha’s Vineyard in summer 2025. Visit TaichiMV.com this spring for more details.
Richard Tucker
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Richard was drawn to Tai Chi for its physical, health, and mental benefits. His journey is grounded in the belief that Tai Chi fosters a balance of body and mind, leading to vitality, clarity, and inner calm. He is a student and teacher at Tai Chi Nash and has worked with senior teachers from the Tai Chi Foundation (TCF). Richard’s approach to teaching is rooted in connection and compassion. His mission is to share Tai Chi as a lifelong path—supporting each person’s health and well‑being, and helping them discover their own center and potential.
Our collective is proud to carry forward the legacy of Professor Cheng Man-ch’ing, who introduced Tai Chi to the West as an art of profound simplicity and depth.
Through our training with the Tai Chi Foundation, we remain deeply connected to these authentic teachings, ensuring every class stays true to this rich tradition.
