Tai Chi Academy of Los Angeles

This is the real thing.
Teacher Sun is very detail oriented and strives to teach his students the very essence of Tai Chi instead of just plain movements for the sake of movements. I find him to be extremely dedicated to his craft. He is also very reliable, punctual, and patient. He has 90-​minute group classes 4 times per week. 2 are during the afternoons (Wed’s & Sat’s), and 2 in the evenings (Mon’s & Fri’s). At first I thought that was too long, but I find the time flying by. Private lessons are available by appointment.
I too experienced not finding him when I first visited his studio. I tried again a few months later and learned he had been in China caring for his ill father.
You need to try out this place if you want the real deal not an Americanized version of Tai Chi. There’s parking in the back, and plenty of street parking as well.
I feel very lucky to have stumbled upon him.

I take private tai chi class with Master Sun. He is very detail oriented and really enjoys teaching Taichi. Taichi is much more than what we see on YouTube. Your movement may look perfect, but the essence of Taichi is to rejuvenate your body internally rather than externally. Master Sun taught me how to breath, how to excersise my dantian. For me it’s totally worth the 2hour drive!

I’ve practiced a lot of different training modalities in my life but never have I taken a martial art, group or private class. The time came a few months back while researching facilities in the Pasadena area. I decided on Taiji. Based on Unilocal reviews, internet and contact via email, Tai Chi Academy of Los Angeles was the place. After initial meeting with Sifu Sun Anguang I knew I had found a home. Sifu is patient but firm. Effective teaching is multifaceted — practical, patience, knowledge and application. I’ve learned history, health benefits, philosophy and of course internal and martial application to doing Taiji… specifically Chen style (learning long form).
Sifu is always generous with his time and in making private appointments. He has never missed an appointment or been late in fact 90% of the time we start early.
Taiji has helped my other physical endeavors as well, including rock climbing and mountaineering. More importantly is helped this type A reduce stress
So many aspects to learn looks like it will be a lifelong practice

I contacted the teacher by email and he invited me to come visit for a free private lesson. I came on time. He was nowhere to be found. I searched the entire building knocking on doors and calling out his name. Nothing.
The other tenants in the building said they didn’t know where he was. So I sat down and waited for him to come back. After 40 minutes of waiting I left.
When I sent an email asking why he wasn’t there, he replied that he had been there the whole day (if true, he would have looked around for me after I missed the appointment time).
Also, around the time that I was leaving, some people that looked like students came in. They didn’t greet me but simply stared at me with blank faces as they walked by. I greeted them and was ignored
I’m going to look for another place that is friendly with a honest and respectful teacher, and I recommend that you do the same.
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This is Tai Chi heaven.
Sifu Sun is incredibly knowledgeable in Chen, Yang, Sun, and Wu styles. He has a deep understanding of each style, including key points and applications. He is very generous with his knowledge and is a very effective teacher.

I’ve been looking for a Tai Chi place for a while and I saw the website and decide to finally check out a class. There isn’t a lot of Tai Chi around here. People would rather take yoga, bjj or kickboxing, which I have taken, so I understand the appeal, but people really should give tai chi a chance. It’s funny how you really don’t think about your health until something happens to it and you just want to be healthy. I’ve done other martial arts before, but have been told by the doctor that I can not do contact sports anymore, so I felt Tai Chi would be worth looking into. I know that Tai Chi has health benefits and there are also martial arts/​self defense benefits as well. I dabbled in Tai Chi in the past when I was learning kung fu and remembered Tai Chi as a close combat throwing art. I felt excited checking out this Tai Chi academy. I’ve checked out a couple of other ones and they were okay, but I got a good feeling from this place because this place has been around for a while and it’s the freaking Tai Chi Academy of Los Angeles! :p
So my first class was free and we went over what Tai Chi was as a healing art and as a martial art and we worked on very fundamental stuff like dan tien breathing and movement. He is super detail oriented, which I like. When I was learning bjj, I loved that about Shawn Williams at 5 Star Martial Arts… if you’re looking for bjj, train there. Technical and friendly crowd… anywho, I digress. He was patient and very enthusiastic when he spoke. You can tell he loves Tai Chi. He is 56 years old and is extremely healthy. He was a subject for a UCI study on effects of Tai Chi and the study concluded that Tai Chi was beneficial to the health and joints. There was another student there that has lupis and was in critical condition. He weighed over two hundred pounds, but after a year of tai chi, his lupis is in remission and he lost a bunch of weight and looks great. That is very encouraging for me and it definitely inspired me to practice and improve my health and eventually help improve others health as well.
There is a small parking lot in the back and there is street parking. I ended up signing up for a year and am loving it. I’ve been with Sifu since January 4 and hope to continue to train with him for years to come. So if you’re looking for Tai Chi or just to improve your health, come check it out. The schedule is on the website. Give sifu a call and start on your journey to a healthier you. :0)
Peace