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Gerda
'Pytt' Geddes
1917-2006
 Catherine
Robinson learnt T’ai Chi in Pytt Geddes’s classes
at The Place (the studios of the London School of Contemporary
Dance) in the early seventies. She remained in close contact
with Pytt until her death in March 2006; they would frequently
discuss and debate many aspects of the practice, the meaning
and the symbolism of the T’ai Chi and over thirty years
Pytt made many guest appearances at Catherine’s courses
and workshops.
Before
she came across the T’ai Chi Pytt had originally trained
as a dancer and as a psychotherapist, and as a teacher she
was renowned for her clarity and her wisdom. For her, the
essence of the T’ai Chi was to be found in its meditative
and balancing qualities; she was always ready to acknowledge
its roots in the martial arts but was not personally drawn
to exploring the martial aspect. Her daughter Harriet said:
“the guiding principle of her life was that everyone
should find their own creative potential.” Pytt described
what she saw in T’ai Chi as ‘body and mind in harmony’,
opening channels and pathways to encourage the flow of energy.
Many of the teachers who trained with her over the years have
maintained a similar approach, and while some have gone on
to study more combative or defensive forms with other masters,
many more (including Catherine and Gudrun) are still teaching
essentially the same form they learnt from Pytt.
Pytt
Geddes’s legacy can be found in many a T’ai Chi
class in England and Scotland, in four or five states in the
USA, in Holland and Austria and Sweden and several other parts
of the world. Nowhere will it be felt more strongly than at
our annual Summer T’ai Chi Holidays, where many of the
participants will remember her with warmth and affection,
and those who never met her will know her through her reputation
and her writing.
Pytt
is author of Looking
for the Golden Needle.
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