This year Wisconsin Tai Chi Academy celebrates its tenth year of providing classes and other services in Tai Chi and Qigong.

Established by Founder and Head Instructor, Sifu Ray Gates, in 2015, WTCA has grown from its initial five students in a single class to over fifty across five locations in the Southeastern and Southern Wisconsin.

“It all started with me in a park encouraging people to try Tai Chi for free,” said Sifu Gates. “My intent was to give people who may have heard of Tai Chi but really didn’t know what it was about.” From there WTCA commenced its first class in the town of Porter with only five students. “I was very grateful to those students who lived in the area who were looking for a teacher and were willing to provide a venue for us to use. Without them, who knows if WTCA would’ve even got started?”

“It’s only because of our students that we’ve been able to grow and achieve as much as we have in ten years,” he said. “I’m very fortunate that the people who stay with us are themselves passionate about their Tai Chi, and are very willing to put in the time and effort to taking it as far as they can.”

WTCA currently offers classes in Brookfield, Cedarburg, River Hills, Wauwatosa and Whitewater. “We’ve had to move locations a few times over the years for different reasons,” said Sifu Gates. “However we’re hopeful the locations we have now will remain so for sometime.”

Sifu Gates hopes the next ten years will see further expansion of WTCA both in terms of students and locations. “Ideally, I’d like to double the number of students we have,” he said. “That would give me the opportunity to focus on WTCA on a more full-time basis, which in turn would allow me to plan other offerings, such as more workshops and potentially more classes. I’d also like to be doing more with our Corporate and Community Programs, and would also welcome more private students.” He also currently has at least one student training to become an Instructor in their own right. “I hope to have several students become Instructors and take on more of the running of classes, especially at the Beginner level,” Sifu Gates said. “I still plan to remain active in that role, however again that will allow me more time to keep adding to what we’re able to offer. I have a lot I can teach, and by then I expect to have even more.”

WTCA also promotes the benefits to Tai Chi to all peoples and actively works to increase the breadth of its accessibility to the community, both in terms of its sociodemographic representation, and the ages of people taking on Tai Chi. “People think Tai Chi is only for ‘old people’. That’s a common misperception because many Tai Chi sets are performed slowly. In fact, Tai Chi is a lifespan art; the younger you commence, the more you get out of it as you get older.” Sifu Gates noted that Tai Chi will feature as part of the inclusion of a wushu event in the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakkar, and its success may pave the way for its inclusion in the future Summer Olympic Games, perhaps as early as 2028 or 2032.

“I’d love nothing more than to have students from WTCA representing the US at either the Youth or regular Olympics,” he said. “But we’ve got to get younger people interested first.” WTCA has already had several students compete in State, National and International competitions, with multiple gold medal wins across several events.

More information on WTCA’s classes, events, and other offerings can be found on the website.