Island Physical Culture is a unique distillation of ancient movement and healing traditions and their Practical application to modern life

Why Island Physical Culture? 

Engage & Heal

Healing is not about having someone else fix us. Healing is an undoing. Developing feeling awareness, we learn to listen to our own bodies. Listening allows us to recognize and release the tensions that bind us.

We offer nourishing practices based upon classical mind-body technologies such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Somatics, Herbal Medicine, Jin Shin Jyutsu Energetic Meridian Healing, and Breathwork.

Release pain, quiet the mind, befriend your body.

Strengthen & Embody

Traditional methods derive strength from recognition of wholeness, building aligned posture,  graceful movement and effortless power around an integrated core.

We offer practical tools of transformation drawn from the warrior traditions of China (Tai Chi, Xin Yi, Ba Gua), India (Club and Mace Swinging), and Persia (Meel and Shenna).

Train like a warrior.  Generate power with intelligence and efficiency. 

“Derek taught me to direct my feeling awareness and move through intention, creating pain-free and coordinated movement and giving me a deeper understanding of my own body.”

Satchel Tanner

Professional Ballet Dancer, Stuttgard Ballet

“After 15 years teaching yoga, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know until I started training with Derek. His teachings have dramatically changed my body, my knowledge of the body, and how I teach others.

Elke Pierre

Owner, Yoga Loft

“Learning from Derek has been transformational in ways that have far exceeded my previous studies over the last 20+ years with accomplished practitioners, including training intensively in China.”

Garth Reynolds, msTCM

Licensed Acupuncturist, Teacher of martial Arts

About Derek

With over 30 years of dedicated study, Derek is a master practitioner and educator who leads people deeper into their own embodiment.

Stay Connected

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.