About Jonathan

I first became interested in the mind, body and energy arts in the mid-1980s. 

My practice of qigong and meditation of over 30 years was an essential part of my career as a City employment lawyer.

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Teachers

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In 1986, I became a student of John Kells, founder of the British T’ai Chi Ch’uan Association, who included elements of Qigong in his classes. 

In the early 1990s, I was introduced to the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Master and Thien Buddhist monk known as the "father of mindfulness". I had the privilege of going on retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh in 1997 and together with friends I met there, started a small sitting group in West London. 

I also met my first dedicated Qigong teacher at that retreat who introduced me to the writings of Grandmaster Kiew Wong Kit of the Qigong Shaolin Wahnam Institute. Although based in Malaysia, Grandmaster Wong ran a series of summer camps in the UK which I attended and where I also met Tim Franklin who later became an instructor of Shaolin Cosmos Qigong.  Tim Franklin is now my regular teacher and mentor and has given me permission to teach the 18 Lohan Hands.  I am also certified to teach Qigong by the The Qigong Academy. 

I am also a student of Julian Daizan Skinner, the first Englishman to become a Zen master in the Rinzai tradition, who after 20 years of study in Japan established Yugagyo Dojo, a Zen training place in London. I have completed a teacher training course with Daizan and am qualified to teach his Practical Zen course in Meditation and Mindfulness.