Pytt Geddes

Gerda ("Pytt") Geddes (born Gerda Meyer Bruun; 17 July 1917 – 4 March 2006) was responsible for bringing tai chi to the UK. She taught classes at The Place in London.^[1][2]

She was born in Bergen, Norway, the daughter of a successful businessman and politician who served in the Norwegian government as Minister of Trade. During World War II, she joined the Norwegian resistance movement.^[2]

After she and David Geddes married in 1948, they moved to Shanghai, where she discovered tai chi. Soon after, the People's Liberation Army took power there. Around 1951, they were able to move to Hong Kong, where she studied tai chi with Choy Hawk Pang, and then with his son Choy Kam Man.^[1]

She became a friend of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.^[2]

She studied psychology in the US and underwent Reichian analysis in Oslo.^[2]

• Geddes, Gerda (1991). Looking for the Golden Needle: An Allegorical Journey. MannaMedia. ISBN 978-1872606019.

• Woods, Frank (2008). Dancer in the Light: The Life of Gerda Pytt Geddes. psi books. ISBN 978-0955918100.

• "Gerda 'Pytt' Geddes 1917-2006". T'ai Chi Holidays. Archived from the original on 24 August 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
• Robinson, Ronnie (6 March 2006). "Gerda Geddes - 2006". Tai Chi Union for Great Britain. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
• "Gerda Geddes - Tai Chi Pioneer". Connections Magazine Scotland. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 22 September 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2020. Interview with Gerda Geddes
• "Extracts from Tai Chi Chuan Magazine". Tai Chi Aberdeenshire. 2006. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2020. Tributes to Geddes

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