Introduce yourself. What is your background?
My name is Bill Douglas, and I began doing Tai Chi about 25 years ago, because I was under a lot of personal and job stress. 15 years after that I began giving private Tai Chi lessons to a few friends, which grew until I needed a studio to teach in. I eventually began teaching Tai Chi and Qigong, stress management and health, classes for hospitals, health networks, and corporation. A few years after that Macmillan Publishing contracted me to write "The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong," which is now in 3rd edition and published in several languages. This book and publicity from it enabled me to found World Tai Chi Day, which soon was expanded to become World Tai Chi & Qigong Day, which is now celebrated the last Saturday of April each year in over 60 nations. It has since been recognized by the United Nations World Health Organization, and officially proclaimed by governors, senates, and mayors of many nations worldwide, and has been covered by national media in many nations.

What was your intention with the wtd?
Originally our intention was to create a mass media event, in order to partner with media to inform the billions of people worldwide of the emerging medical research showing how Tai Chi & Qigong could dramatically improve people's lives and reduce global healthcare spending by hundreds of billions of dollars each year. However, over time my vision of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day evolved, and I saw it as a powerful vehicle for altering humanity's sense of possibility. A European Tai Chi teacher sent me a message explaining that during World War I, during a Christmas cease-fire, enemy soldiers emerged from the trenches and played football (we call it "soccer" in America) together. Media reported on it, and now historians believe that powerful image hastened the end of that horrible war. Since I got that message, I began to realize that by creating a global image throughout the mass media of people from all walks of life, all religions, all colours, and all economic levels, spanning all geopolitical borders, "playing" together for the purpose of personal and global health and healing . . . we could have a profound impact on global consciousness over time.

Did you see this initiative immediately as a big, cross-border event or did it grew far beyond your expectations?
Originally the first event was only in Kansas City, USA. It was created to get media attention of Tai Chi & Qigong medical research and benefits, to enable local media to educate the millions locally who could improve their lives with Tai Chi & Qigong. However, that original event was covered by CNN News, and we were immediately contacted by other Tai Chi & Qigong schools, teachers, and groups who wanted to know how they could participate. We realized this healing event could benefit people worldwide, so we began actively encouraging Tai Chi & Qigong enthusiasts to spread the word of this event worldwide. The next year it was in 12 countries, the next 25, and today in 63 nations worldwide. The short answer is, yes, it grew vastly beyond our wildest imaginings. The world embraces it, and my wife and I spent our life savings to keep the event growing as fast as the world seemed to embrace it.

I have the impression that a lot of Taiji clubs use the wtd to spread out the red carpet to their centre.
I actively encourage this. Our hope is that all Tai Chi & Qigong groups and schools will see many more people coming to their classes because of our efforts, and this global event we all create together. Our view of Tai Chi & Qigong schools and teachers is that they are public servants. We hope that all Tai Chi & Qigong teachers and schools will make handsome livings and have abundant lives doing the good work of spreading their health tools in their communities and nations. My personal vision is that one day human beings will not "donate" small amount of time for good works, but rather their entire existence and their jobs that pay their bills will be a living embodiment of good works. My hope is one day our entire planet will be employed and living abundant lives, doing things that heal humanity and our planet. www.worldtaichiday.org refers tens of thousands of new students coming to us to teachers and schools worldwide who we've invited to list their local contact information for free. Our mission is to educate the world of the healing benefits of Tai Chi & Qigong, and then secondly to connect the world to teachers, schools, and groups in their areas.

What is the benefit of Taiji in the healthcare?
Tai Chi & Qigong are perhaps the most powerful stress management techniques known to humanity. Stress is responsible for almost all illness. Even organic dysfunctions that require surgery are mostly due to years and years of unmanaged stress. If this year the entire planet began educating children in daily Tai Chi & Qigong training focusing on health and stress management, within a few years we would see health care costs worldwide diminished by hundreds of billions of dollars each year. These savings could be used to end world hunger, promote agriculture and technology development for renewable energy resources for the developing world . . . and we could change our world in a healing way forever. Humanity's huge problems are easily solvable, the technology exists, and the only thing holding us back is our inability to "change." Tai Chi is a vehicle to loosen humanity's tight mental, emotional, and physical states of mind. Tai Chi can help humanity "let go" of tight old ways of behaving, and relax into a more limber, fluid way of living our lives. This is a powerful technology, just waiting to be embraced by billions worldwide.

Can we expect new books from your hand?
I have two books out now. My "The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong" is now in 3rd edition, and is a top selling tai chi book on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. I have another book also available at those amazon stores, entitled "The Amateur Parent - A Book on Life, Death, War & Peace, and Everything Else in the Universe," which is a collection of short true stories dealing with philosophy of life, prejudice, war, and of course parenthood, seeing life thru the eyes of our children to see life in a fresh way. I am now working on a screenplay, which I hope to be a major movie release eventually, that is autobiographical which is about my experience growing up with a father who suffered from Delayed Stress Syndrome because of his years of frontline combat in World War II, and how my life was spent attempting to heal from my trauma inherited thru him from his war. I have several other books in the works on health, environment, spirituality, and other issues.

If you come home after a wtd. What do you do? What goes on in your mind?
I am always very busy that day answering media queries, last minute questions from participants around the world, and then posting the thousands of beautiful photographs of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day events from around the world, that groups begin sending in all day long on World Tai Chi & Qigong Day. Seeing the photos of people from all walks of life, all colours, and countries, all with that same "look" on their faces, is so moving and exciting. You know that look of "calm" and "peace" they feel as they breathe chi through their bodies, hearts and minds. When you see that you realize that indeed we are "one world . . . one breath."

Does World Tai Chi & Qigong Day favour any Tai Chi or Qigong style?
No. We advocate, support and promote ALL styles and schools of Tai Chi & Qigong. We believe they all provide healing tools, and people can benefit from all styles. Since you charge no dues, and have no means of supporting this massive global movement and all the hundreds of pages of free resources you provide, how can people support your work? One way is by purchasing our Official World Tai Chi & Qigong Day (One World . . . One Breath) T-Shirts at www.worldtaichiday.org. Schools all over the world that participate in and support our healing vision have begun helping our efforts by purchasing our official t-shirts at wholesale prices and using them as fundraisers at their own local events. However, individuals can order them from us as well at retail prices at www.worldtaichiday.org. Individuals and schools are also encouraged to inform others they know locally or in other cities and nations of this annual global event, and of the free resources at www.worldtaichiday.org so that this event and our healing work can continue to spread around the planet year after year after year. This event is truly the work of the world; I only facilitate it through my efforts and through my managing of the website hub, www.worldtaichiday.org.

Warmest regards,
Bill Douglas, World Tai Chi & Qigong Day
www.worldtaichiday.org