Bradford C Bennett

Bradford C. Bennett, Ph.D., began his study of Tai Chi with Hubert H. Lui in 1985. Shortly thereafter a knee injury led him to begin his study of the somatic arts. These two endeavors along with his modern dance background revealed a new way of thnking about movement. Each activity reinforced the other with their similar holistic views of the human.

By 1990, Dr. Bennett was attending, assisting, and teaching Tai Chi six days a week. He also had a private practice as a certified Trager Practitioner and had studied with Thomas Hanna. By 1993, Dr. Bennett was impelled by his interest in human movement to leave his position as a Senior Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center to work full time teaching people how to move through Tai Chi and somatic education.

This pursuit of a dedication to full-time Tai Chi and somatic education soon ended, as Dr. Bennett was recruited to the faculty at San Francisco State University's Department of Kinesiology. He would subsequently spend the rest of his academic career researching human movement. In this "second career," Dr. Bennett received more than a dozen research grants, including grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health resulting in more than 25 papers and book chapters on human movement.

During this time, Dr. Bennett continued to practice and teach Tai Chi. For over 35 years, he has organized the teaching and taught at annual Cloud Hands West Tai Chi retreats in California. He continues to teach annually in California and regularly in local classes near his home in Crozet, Virginia, along with online classes in both Tai Chi and somatic education.

More information on Dr. Bennett's Tai Chi and somatic education can be found at his website.