Extracts from Tai Chi Chuan Magazine
Issue 22 Summer 2006
Published by the Tai Chi Union and reproduced here with its consent
Ronnie Robinson
I didn’t know Gerda Geddes that long, over a period of 4-5 years we met less than 10 times, I never even saw her performing tai chi, but one thing I did know she was a woman who exuded a particular quality of being, which one may imagine comes from the work of investing many years in the art of personal cultivation.
The first time we met, she travelled a round trip of 150 miles to attend a small qigong day I was teaching in a remote part of Scotland. On hearing that she was booked to attend, I was curious and perhaps a little guarded on why she was coming but any reservations were immediately set aside when this small, dignified lady introduced herself in an open, enthusiastic manner. During that day, we spent a good time talking over lunch and I decided to interview her for this journal (see issue no: 16).
Gerda was a fascinating woman with an incredible life behind her and her contribution to tai chi can never be underestimated. Being the first person in the UK to learn and teach the art, she set the tone for much of what tai chi is today. Being a woman, training in China, at a time when women weren’t being taught, she learned no partnerwork, as etiquette wouldn’t allow any teacher to place their hands on a woman. I know that she was aware that many of the so-called ‘traditionalists’ who insisted that the martial aspect was an integral part of the art, were at times, less than charitable towards her approach. I also know that during her nearly 60 years of dedication to tai chi she touched more people, in more ways, than any other teacher ever will.
Caroline Merry – early student & subsequent teacher.
I first met Pytt - Gerda Geddes in the summer of 1969 when I was studying dance and drama in London. I caught three glimpses of T’ai Chi – a choreographed study of shadow boxing in a ballet called ‘Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain’ by Glen Tetley, the turn of a samurai warrior slowly drawing his sword by a gate, in the Seven Samurai by Kurosawa and the one book in England (in Watkins bookshop) by Robert Smith. Intuitively and instinctively I knew it was something I wanted to learn.
BUT in 1969 I couldn’t find a teacher in London. By chance a friend had once seen a demonstration by Pytt at the Insitute of Psychical Research and gave me her address. I wrote to Pytt asking if she knew any T’ai Chi teachers in London or should I try and teach myself from the book. Pytt replied in her usual direct way. ‘Impossible to learn from a book, you’d better come down and see me.’ So I caught the train to Kent.
I still remember the sun slanting into the room as Pytt showed me a few movements of the Yang style Long form – time stood still, I felt my spine tingling and I knew I had found something wonderful. Pytt impressed me with her clarity and profound understanding of the movements of the T’ai Chi and the body. Her inclusion of the symbolism and the allegorical journey, which she discovered for herself touched me deeply and has stayed as a increasingly significant and illuminating part of my T’ai Chi form.
When I first met Pytt, and for many years, I was in awe of her knowledge and ability – but as the years rolled on, especially in the last 10 years, I felt closer and closer to her as a person, and enjoyed her warmth, humour and humanity as well as her wisdom and curiosity. We shared stories over the phone, swapped information about books, articles about T’ai Chi, Taoism and life. I went to Scotland several times to stay with her – last August was the last time. In 2003 Pytt accepted an invitation to a course I was co-teaching in Corfu. She had never been to Greece and loved the colour, the warmth, and the friendliness of the people. She enjoyed sitting by the sea and meals in tavernas, and also the attention and love she received from everyone on the course. She watched every T’ai Chi session in the garden, swapping verbal notes with my mother – two lively octogenarians together – and contributed when she felt inspired, which was often – we were lucky.
Pytt’s contribution to T’ai Chi was manifold – not only was she an elegant, insightful and inspired teacher, she communicated a deeply lived inner life. Her T’ai Chi grew from that source as much as from her teachers in China Choy Hawk-pang and Choy Kam-man. She also had the grace to acknowledge continually learning from her many students as we learned from her and from her life, which was so fully lived.
Caroline Merry teaches Ta'i Chi and QiGong in Oxford and Corfu, also for Denman College - the residential college for the Womens Insititute. She works as a student counsellor at Oxford University.
Catherine Robinson – close student and teacher of tai chi.
"My firstmeeting with Pytt was in 1974 in a noisy, crowded corridor at The Place, leading to the refectory. Jostled by chattering, sweaty students just out of class, Pytt was totally focussed on describing to me the fundamental principles of Taoism, and how they were expressed through the T'ai Chi.I knew that I had at last found my teacher.
For the rest of her life we kept in close contact, first at her weekly classes and later through visits to her home. With her unwavering attention to detail she would cast a critical eye on my form, then talk enthusiastically about her continually unfolding T'ai Chi journey, and listen intently to mine. Through her example I am learning to trust the teachings of the T'ai Chi and to recognise the creative possibilities in welcoming change, as I follow my own thread."
Frank Woods – biographer
There are thirty thousand ways to climb the mountain, she'd say. Everyone gets the same view from the top.
Elisabeth Ratzenbock-Wearden – successor to Gerda at the Place dance studio.
Before Pytt handed her classes at The Place down to me, she made me come along to lots of classes to watch and then co-teach with her. Watching her teach tired dance students was amazing. Like a loving but also strict grandmother she told them stories and gave them advice weaving the allegorical journey of the Tai Ji into the richness of her life experience. The authority, clarity and certain strictness in her then made the students stand up again after a little sit or lie down and move through the Tai Ji with her, exchanging their tiredness for a flow of movements.
She was also an example of practising the discipline which the Tai Ji encourages in oneself. No matter how she felt and how awkward the journey to London was on certain days, she always found the discipline and enthusiasm to turn up and teach.
Jane Innes – student 
When Gerda Geddes (known as Pytt to her friends and students) moved to Aberdeenshire and came out of retirement to teach Tai Chi Chuan, I felt very privileged to be have been amongst her students. With great patience she taught us the Yang Style Long form; often referring to her book ‘Looking for the Golden Needle’ in which she described the form as an allegorical journey for the soul. She was a psychologist of the Reichian School so that was her main model for contemplating the Tai Chi. She understood the connection between mind, body, spirit and encouraged her students to use the Tai Chi Chuan to discover their creative potential. When she finally stopped teaching classes she remained a role model and mentor offering unconditional love and support to anyonewho sought her out.
Even in the last days as her health declined, she maintained her independence and zest for life. She never wished to place the slightest burden on anybody so when the time came she was also fortunate to bow out gracefully.
It snowed continuously and nature seemed to be silently marking time as she prepared to ‘ride the tiger and shoot out the arrow’ for the last time. The trees were heavy with snow, as I imagine the trees in her native Norway to be in winter. The sun shone and everything looked crisp, clear and perfect as we practiced tai chi, treading softly, drawing pictures in the snow that framed her life.
Gerda Geddes touched so many hearts with her integrity, warmth and generosity of spirit I hope she will be remembered as the first lady of tai chi in the UK.
Gary Wragg - former student and chairman of the TCUGB.
Gerda Geddes was one of the original practitioners and teachers in the UK. emphasising the form, its essence and spiritual function….”