Why Tai Chi?

Recently one of my class members returned to Tai Chi after an eight month absence through a serious disability.One of the original members at The Warwickshire class she had regularly attended for three and a half years and had been confident in completing the 140 moves in our form.

But she had been away and hadn’t been able to practice very much at all. She was unsure about attending because the balance and control required to perform the movements well, and the focus she had been able to bring to previous classes may be missing.She need not have worried.

Almost from the beginning of the class, the breathing exercises she fell straight back into the routine of the hour long session and, apart from our Makka Ho exercises, it was as if she had never been away. The form came back to her without effort, her body quickly attunned to the co-ordinated movements and powerful leg strength required to move effectively from one position to the next smoothly.

And, this is the answer to the question Why Tai Chi.
Over the twelve years I have practised the art, the make up of the class has changed very little, the four stages of the session moving smoothly from one to another. Yet, over all that time the classes have never bored me, or more importantly, the members. On each week the core of the group have been consistant, each class ending with a bow and a smile. But, more importantly each week has brought a little more understanding of the form, a little more understanding of the relaxation involved in breathing well and a little more strength in the chi gung stances.

The body learns the moves, slowly one move at a time and through repetition the form comes together without thought. This is the great strength of Tai Chi, that it is one move at a time, over time, a lifetime to learn but the rest of our lives to learn it. As we learn the sequence of each particular section, we then learn to perform each set with the movements completed as a group and then we learn to complete the class as a group with co-ordinated breathing. The goal to reach for is the whole group to begin and end together, many people becoming one group, but each one getting their own individual benefit.

It was through this discipline that the particular lady was able to fit straight into the group as if she had never been away. in fact as soon as she rejoined us, she had not been away, she became one of us again.

I believe that Tai Chi is one of the few exercise regimes which can improve by staying the same. As a fitness professional I understand that many classes, particularly cardio vascular based sessions have to be changed regularly to keep them fresh. I have also seen that after a cardio session the members rush away to change, their bodies still in rush mode. It can be seen that most of the members of a Tai Chi class take the time to talk to each other and seem in no rush to get on with the next part of their day before accepting the benefits of the class they have just taken part in.

To learn more about our particular class follow www.balancehealth-fitness.co.uk and www.warwick-personal-trainer.com