OT -- Tai Chi [Chu'an]

[Guest guest]

Folks,

To change the direction of some of the discussions a bit, may I tell

you about one of the things that DW and I have been doing for the

past 14 months? We have been taking Tai Chi lessons on Saturday

afternoons at the local county recreation center. I have just

returned from a two-hour practice of Tai Chi 2 (intermediate) and Tai

Chi 3 (advanced). I try to take both classes (we only have to

register and pay for one) to get even more practice. Tai Chi is like

a choreographed meditative movement. For examples of three styles of

Tai Chi (and there are more variations), you may download the demos

(Windows Media Player required to view) from the Princeton University

Tai Chi Club Web Site:

http://www.princeton.edu/~taichi/demo.html

The style that I have been studying is the Yang style as modified by

Professor Cheng Man-Ching (deceased) who brought it to the U.S. from

Taiwan. You can see him performing the first third of the 37

postures that we have learned on the video at:

http://www.princeton.edu/~taichi/yang.html

We take it for several reasons. The primary one is to learn a

technique to keep our muscles toned and to maintain our agility as we

get older (we are in our 60's). Another is to have something to do

in common. And yet another, at least for me, is to help me move more

gracefully and less like a bloated klutz after significant weight

loss. I recall that in the 80's when I had lost a lot of weight with

OptiFast, our program counselor taught us how to walk as " normies, "

rather than go on waddling the way we had as " fatties. " When your

limb diameters and your abdomens become smaller, you will be able to

move more straightforwardly than when your girth restricted the way

that you could move. So, for me at least, Tai Chi is a way to help

me get back to moving more like a " normie. "

It is amazing how the practice can give you back some confidence in

your stance and movement. I was out on our sloping porch roof

cleaning the skylights last autumn, and, without really thinking

about it, I found myself moving with a semi-crouched Tai Chi stance

that gave me confidence and stability and erased any fear of being

exposed on that slanted roof. I also find that the sacroiliac joint

pains that I sometimes experience seem to disappear after doing a few

sets of the Tai Chi " form " (sequence of the 37 postures).

So, if you are looking for light exercise that is " good for you, " you

could do a heck of a lot worse than to search out possibilities in

your community for learning Tai Chi. You can start by Googling it.

Best of luck,

Steve