I have been learning from Sifu Lenny for more than a decade. Sifu Lenny is knowledgeable in kung fu, creative in his approach, and makes learning the art of Tai Chi Chuan approachable. Practicing the forms has taught me patience and persistence, and the breathing exercises are techniques I apply in everyday life. I have profound appreciation for these lifelong practices that challenge my mind, train stability, and activate joy. Classes are always informative and fun. I especially enjoy the opportunity to practice together and learn from each other. Sifu Lenny also makes sure to give all his students the individual attention they need to progress. Under his tutelage, our school has developed into a supportive and lighthearted community of dedicated longtime Tai Chi practitioners. I am grateful to be a part of it all!
~ Linda
***************************************
My Experiences with Sifu Lenny Aaron
I first learned Tai Chi and the Yang form in 2000 when Sifu Lenny started a class on 29th street on the west side. I spent 2 months working hard and learning everything I could. His instructions were clear, the classes were fun and the experience was wonderful. When he finished, he invited some of us to join Sifu Shum's class. I joined Shum's school and began learning the Wu form next. Unfortunately, my life changed and I had to stop.
25 years later, I realized I had to go back and study with Sifu Lenny again. My legs had debilitated due to medical problems, and Tai Chi would help regain my ability to walk like I used to. I started in April of 2025 at the school in Chinatown. The space is large and classes are fun. While the people are different in the current class, they are still the same kind of people I knew back from Shum's class, they are all kind, nice and helpful.
As a result of studying again with Lenny, I have regained a large amount of strength in my legs, my balance has improved, and I am once again learning the Yang form.
I will never leave this school again.
~ Mark Edwards
***************************************
My first day at Tai Chi Forever with Sifu Lenny was in 2012 in the elementary school auditorium on Hester Street, where it still meets, and where images of all the immigrant children who came here still color the stairway walls. I had just moved to New York, and when I walked in, two people stopped practicing their tai chi movements and gave me a small bow in greeting. Bowing is not in my culture and I didn’t know what to do, so I sort of ducked my head, feeling elevated in some odd way, and asked if Lenny was there. We had spoken briefly on the phone when I called the number that I found online. Lenny came quickly forward with an easy smile and immediately introduced me to people who very soon became my family.
Sifu means “teacher” or “Master” in martial arts, and is a formal title, but Sifu Lenny has made it the leader of a family. We care about each other. In class, we give each other moral support as we struggle to learn the movements of each “form”. It is like learning dance steps, but on a deeper level which Sifu Lenny explains over and over. We are all at different stages of learning and the newer ones follow those who know. In between doing the “forms”, we chat, joke about our lack of success, and are encouraged. Over the years, my posture has improved, my muscles are stronger, and my balance is good. And I feel more grounded. This is because Tai Chi Forever is a family, Sifu Lenny says.
We bring treats on our birthdays, we worry about each others’ illnesses.
When I came to New York that winter of 2012, I knew no one and my own family lived on the west coast. When I joined Tai Chi Forever, I made friends. New York stopped being a place of strangers and became my home.
~ Janet M.
***************************************
Sifu Lenny, is one of these rare masters, that, the minute you have opened the (secret) door and entered their class, you know you found that true and rare gem you were looking for. His ordinary manner, presenting the Art and Life of Tai Chi is warm and welcoming, available to anyone who wishes to benefit themselves and/or others.
I've been his student for almost 8 years, traveling to class for 1-1.5 hours each way. I feel lucky and I am grateful to have been introduced to him.
I am a committed Zen practitioner, and have been given his name as a recommendation from a fellow practitioner who teaches Tai Chi at our local temple. I find the two Arts complement each other and provide a solid foundation for grounding in everyday life.
~ Nili S.
***************************************
Did you ever want to calm yourself…
hold yourself together?
absorb the day?
Functioning in the positive?
Being able to extract from it?
There’s always positive energy that circles and permeates around Sifu Lenny’s Tai Chi class.
Together we find good vibes.
Together we move to soft quite music.
Sending “Chi” around the room.
Healing our mental and physical being.
Yes, Tai Chi does that!
Sifu Lenny leads the group to find the “Chi”…stay in the moment and remembering the life’s journey has its rough edges.
Together or singly, we can do this!
We can find the vibes!
Sifu Lenny devotes his time, his life, his passion to this outlook.
He leads the way caringly.
The journey of life has been better ever since our paths crossed.
Life is to be celebrated “with good Chi” and better with Sifu Lenny.
Tai Chi has changed Sifu Lenny’s life
Through his devotion, his passion, his knowledge
He just may change yours.
~ Kathie L. 2026
***************************************
After practicing kung fu for a number of years, I met Sifu Lenny through the well-regarded Leung Shum’s Ying Jow Pai, where he invited me to join his Tai Chi class.
Through his patient teaching, my appreciation for both kung fu and tai chi grew. The external energy of kung fu was supported and complimented by the internal energy that Sifu Lenny helped me discover. As I developed my internal awareness, I was able to apply the lessons of tai chi to my kung fu practice and cope with every day frustrations outside of class in a much more positive way.
The part of Sifu Lenny’s classes that I treasure most of all, is the community of fellow tai chi students. These are some of the warmest, more genuine people I have met in my 40+ years in New York. Sifu Lenny and my classmates created a fun and constructive environment where we all learned. I have since relocated, and this class is one of the things I miss most about New York.
~ Donald Rose
***************************************
“When the student is ready the teacher will appear.”
What little experience I’d had with Tai Chi before had not prepared me for Sifu Lenny’s Tai Chi class. My first class with Sifu Lenny started out with breathing and stretching exercises. I would come to know these as the movements that gently gather and ground us every class. I remember thinking, ”Well, if I just learn this, I’m good. This will be more than enough for me!” Then as I took notice of the many beautiful Tai Chi forms that are part of our system I became drawn in, fascinated and even a bit overwhelmed by the their complexity. Some with dangerous weapons! I remember thinking, “What do all these swords have to do with Tai Chi?” Seeing two of his advanced students break out into the Two-person Wu Form, I thought, “...and why do those two keep fighting…?” Clearly, I had a lot to learn.
But what was obvious right away was that Lenny is a warm, welcoming teacher, and had created a feeling of community with people who show up not just for the exercises, but for each other. As an educator, I understand that a teacher shapes the culture of a class, and the remarkable Tai Chi class I walked into that first day was a direct reflection of its unique teacher. Sifu Lenny’s passion for Tai Chi makes us all want to be immersed in his methods of structure and adaptation, flow and rootedness, and community connection- lessons that can permeate every moment of our everyday life if we allow them to.
Sifu Lenny is the rare teacher who is as approachable and laid-back, as he is exacting, detail-oriented, and rigorous in his instruction. He gives a lot of attention to people new to Tai Chi to ensure that they develop a strong foundation and stresses the importance of these fundamentals with all of us. Ultimately, I’d say Sifu Lenny’s belief is that Tai Chi is for the PEOPLE! There is a place in his class for everyone, no matter how fast or slow they may learn, or what prior Tai Chi they may have experienced beforehand. Thank you Sifu Lenny for your creative approach to teaching, your dedication to preserving Segun Shum’s systems, and most of all, your patience.
~ Carlos