About Us

Laughing Mountain Taiji was born out of a desire to provide an location where triangle internal martial artists can create community.

Coming together from two different taijiquan schools, our goal is to nurture an inclusive environment where we can share art forms and learn from each other in a space that is welcoming and positive. Classes and workshops offered through, and in conjunction with, Laughing Mountain Taiji draw and benefit from that wealth of shared learning, providing a well rounded experience for any beginning student. We invite you to explore our diverse course schedule and join us while we explore and learn more!

Violet Anderson
Founder

Violet Anderson has studied and taught taijiquan for over 20 years. She was the Number One Senior Student of LaoMa, the founder of the Black Bamboo Pavilion Taijiquan school, which she now heads. She has won medals in weapons, empty hand forms and push hands competitions. Violet teaches empty hand forms Wudang 108 Taijiquan, Liuhebafa, and Tangquan, as well as two person forms, several weapons forms, interactive taiji, push hands and shufa (Chinese calligraphy).

James Sutton
Founder

James Sutton is a teacher with the Magic Tortoise Taijiquan School. He began training with his primary teacher, Dr. Jay Dunbar, in 2005 and has since also studied with many teachers, including Almanzo "Lao Ma" Lamoureux, Kathleen Cusick, Ethan Rasiel, Nick Gracenin, Wang Ming Bo, and Rose Oliver. He attended the 2009 International Tai Chi Chuan Symposium in Nashville, TN, and has won medals in several Taiji tournaments in NC and Maryland. He practices Chen and Wu/Hao styles of Tai Chi, Liuhebafaquan (water boxing), as well as push hands and some weapons including sword, stick, and dao.

Dan Pasek
Visting Inst

Dan Pasek is our co-teacher for the push hands class. Dan has been practicing Taijiquan (太極拳) since 1979, starting with a Yang (楊) style variant. His teacher during the early 1980’s emphasized interactive work and taught classes, in part, to develop practice partners. He has followed his teacher’s example and emphasizes interactive work, with and without weapons, in his school (Entwined Dragons Taijiquan, in Pittsboro, NC). He later studied Chen (陳) style as well as some study of Wudangshan (武當山) and Sun (孫) styles. He has also had minor experiences with Xingyiquan (形意拳) and Baguazhang (八卦掌), as well as studying the art of ILiqChuan (意力拳) since 2004. He has served as a judge at Taijiquan competitions since 1998, after competing and medaling at tournaments earlier in the 1990’s. In addition to solo forms (without and with various weapons), he has also studied several paired forms, paired drills, cooperative or free play with various rules that emphasize differing skills, and free fighting with various rules and equipment requirements to maintain safety while training.