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Meet our staff​​


MCT staff are experienced teachers who love to share their expertise and who are committed to helping you with your unique strengths and challenges. We are dedicated to helping you feel comfortable, engaged and well-oriented...so that you can learn at your natural pace and grow as a student. 
We are life-long learners as well as teachers. Each of us has studied extensively with high level master teachers, and each of us enjoys continued study and personal practice.    
In our classes, we recognize and teach foundational principles that are a part of every style of Taijiquan, but we don’t stop there...we also love the artistic nature of Taiji movement. While we teach you forms, we help you to discover your unique expression of the art of Taiji.  All while having fun!
 

We look forward to meeting you! ​

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Jason Ames

A full time Taiji & Qigong instructor teaching throughout Southern Maine, Jason currently teaches at: University of Southern Maine, The Dempsey Center, Bayside Neuro-rehabilitation Portland Adult Education, South Portland Parks & Recreation.

Founder and owner of Maine Center for Taijiquan, Jason began working as the office manager and teaching as a principal instructor at the Full Circle Synergy School of Tai Chi Chuan between 2001 and 2011.  

“My life force and life path has been profoundly influenced by the practice of Taijiquan and Qigong. Taiji practice has been the greatest and most continuously influential force in my life, for growth and self-discovery as well as for my health and wellbeing. As I deepen and refine my personal understanding of this sophisticated art, I am profoundly moved by the power of these living practices. When teaching, I deeply value making whatever I offer accessible for anyone wishing to learn. This helps the power and meaning of the practice naturally emerge for each student as they progress.”

 

Influential teachers: Dr. Yang Yang, Don Miller, William C.C. Chen, Ian Gamble, Master Duan Zhiliang, Kenneth Cohen, Dr. Paul Lam, Francesco Garripoli, Yun Xiang Tseng.
Current practice includes: Hunyuan Chen style 48 Form, C.C. Chen Yang style Forms, Evidence-based Taiji & Qigong curriculums, Dr. Paul Lam's Taiji for Energy, Zhan Zhuang, Primordial Qigong, Wuji Hundun Qigong, Chen style Saber forms, and Push Hands.
Began training: 1996
Began teaching: 2001
Certifications: Dr. Yang’s Evidence-Based Taijiquan & Qigong, Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Energy Program, Wuji Hundun Qigong Teacher Certification, American Heart Association First Aid & CPR

 

Susan Cromwell 
An acupuncturist with expertise in Chinese meridian science, Susan began studying Taiji in 1994 and has explored her love of Taiji and Qigong ever since. As a teacher, Susan especially enjoys helping her students experience how unique forms of Qigong & Taiji distinctly express and move Qi within the body/mind/spirit.
“As an acupuncturist, I love to bring my understanding of energetics and Chinese medicine to my teaching and exploration of Taiji and Qigong.  
I am thrilled to see Qigong, which is an important branch of Chinese medicine, help many students gain substantial improvements in health and wellbeing. I love to witness my students discover and deepen their own qigong practice.”
Influential teachers: Ian Gamble, Gene Golden, William CC Chen, Don Miller and Jeffrey Yuen
Current practice includes: Soaring Crane Qigong, Healing Sounds Qigong and Yang Style Taijiquan
Began training: 1994
Began teaching: 1998
Certifications: Licensed Acupuncturist (5 Elements Theory)

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Karen Rendall

Karen works full time as a Human Resource professional, and part time as a Tai Chi and Qigong instructor as well as volunteers her time to support a local non-profit organization. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with friends and family. She began studying Taijiquan in 2002 and has found her practice to be one of the most challenging and rewarding pursuits in life and works to share that with others. 
“In addition to my passion for the Taiji open hand and weapons forms, I truly enjoy exploring the yin/yang balance and interactive relationship between the soft meditative practice and the martial side of the art.” 

Current practice includes: Master William C.C. Chen’s Yang Short Form, Yang style Taiji Sword, push hands, Qigong forms, and Hunyuan Chen Style 48 Form.
Influential teachers: Ian Gamble, Susan Cromwell, William C.C. Chen, Don Ethan Miller, Dr. Paul Lam, Dr. Yang Yang and Scott M. Rodell
Began training: 2002
Began teaching: 2009
Certifications: Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Energy, Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Arthritis and Falls Prevention, Practice leader for Roger Janke’s Tai Chi Easy, American Heart Association First Aid & CPR.

Alex Wong

Alex works for a non-profit dedicated to assisting all public water systems in providing safe drinking water.  A cellist in his spare time, Alex shares his life with wife, 3 cats and their black lab.“I practice Taiji because it makes me happy. My teaching style is informal and dedicated to fostering self-discovery. I like to teach my students how to teach themselves.”

Influential teachers: Ian Gamble, Don Miller,  Master William C. C. Chen, and  Dr. Paul Lam

Current practice includes: Master William C.C. Chen’s Yang Short Form, Dr. Paul Lams Taiji for Energy, Primordial Qigong

Began training:  2000

Began teaching: 2005

Certifications: Instructor of Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Energy and Tai Chi for Arthritis, Practice group leader for Roger Janke’s Tai Chi Easy, American Heart Association First Aid & CPR

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Cal  Clark 

Cal has been a student of Jason's at MCT since 2017 and completed his Evidence Based Qi Gong Certification in 2020 through Dr Yang Yang's Organization, WAQI. He is a Licensed Massage Therapist and an Energy Healing Practitioner who offers Myofascial Release and Polarity Therapy in his private practice in Portland. He brings his working knowledge of Myofascial Release, physical alignment, as well as his experience with mindfulness meditation and energy medicine to the practical and essential Qi Gong and Taiji foundations. With a history of playing in bands in Portland's local music scene, he has shifted in the last couple years to focusing on writing, studying spirituality and philosophy, and spending more time with his parents and grandparents. 

Chris Teret

Chris has been a student of Full Circle Synergy and the Maine Center for Taijiquan and Qigong since 2008. His principle teachers were Ian Gamble and Jason Ames. He has explored the martial side of Taijiquan through push hands competitions and attending different martial arts schools. Currently a student of the Daxuan Daoist school of Serge Augier, Chris practices Xingyiquan in addition to the forms he teaches at MCT.

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