Shifu Andy James (Wu Andao) is the Founder and Chief Instructor of the Tai Chi and Meditation Centre. In 1984, he gave up a career as a Chartered Accountant to teach Buddhist-Daoist mind-body disciplines fulltime.

Shifu James was trained as a teacher of Insight Meditation (Vipassana) by the renowned Thai meditation master and author, Dhiravamsa, one of the first Eastern meditation Masters to come to the West. His first and main teacher in the Internal Martial Arts of Taijiquan, Baguazhang and Xingyiquan was the globally recognized Master, Miss Rose Li (see Lineage). Shifu James subsequently studied medical and martial Qigong under Professor Jerry Alan Johnson, a martial arts and healing Master, who is an undoubted pioneer in bringing Medical Qigong to the West.

As a martial artist, Shifu James has been a successful competitor, coach and judge. He has coached Tai Chi & Meditation Centre competition teams to numerous international medals and he himself was a member of the Canadian Masters' demonstration team at the World Wu Shu Championships in Maryland. He has been the President of the Canadian branch of the Wudang Internal Martial Arts Association, Vice-president of the Canadian Taijiquan Federation and a Director of the Canadian Kuo Shu (Martial Arts) Association. He has judged at the World Wu Shu Championships in Baltimore and the Pan American Wu Shu Championships in Toronto.

Medically, Andy James is a qualified Medical Qigong Therapist under the auspices of the International Institute of Medical Qigong (IIMQ), which has been educating Westerners in Chinese energetic medicine for over 23 years. The IIMQ currently has branches in 13 countries and 15 states. Fashioned after the Medical Qigong College at the Hai Dian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing, China, the IIMQ is known internationally for maintaining the highest standards in Medical Qigong instruction and clinical therapy. Mr. James is also a certified Zen Shiatsu therapist and has been a Vice-president of the Canadian Practitioners' Association of Asian Medicine (CPAAM).
 
Mr. James' current passion is Interconnection: specifically the body-energy-emotion-mind-spirit connections within individuals and the many interconnections within the "external" world , whether classified as environmental, cultural, social, political etc... He is a member of the Forge Guild, an international association of trans-traditional spiritual leaders and teachers.

Andy James is the author of The Conscious I: Clarity and Direction through Meditation, Ageless Wisdom Spirituality: Investing in Human Evolution , The Spiritual Legacy of the Shaolin Temple: Buddhism, Daoism and the Energetic Arts and the co-author of Eco Harmony Dawn Cooking: Balancing your Internal and External Environments".

Andy has been a passionate, interesting and sensitive interviewee, Speaker and Workshop leader. Contact Andy at andy@powerofbalance.com; www.andyjames.ca or www.harmonydawn.com