T'ai Chi

 

 

T’ai Chi, which originated in China as a martial art, is a mind-body practice acknowledged by CAM (complementary and alternative medicine). Tai chi is sometimes referred to as "moving meditation"—the practitioners move their bodies slowly, gently, and with awareness, while breathing deeply. The roots of Tai chi’ are found in martial arts and the movements are at the heart of attack and defense. The slow and fluid movements of tai chi require concentration, control, co-ordination and balance. This combination of mental and physical activity works to harmonize the mind, body and spirit and promotes feelings of wellbeing. This makes tai chi an excellent choice for people who are bored by the repetitive nature of many other exercise systems. Tai chi exercises make an ideal complement to other sports such as golf, or other martial arts training as a warm up or warm down technique. 

 

Tai Chi dates back to the 1600’s and is rooted in the internal martial arts. (Internal Martial Arts are defined as those who are non-aggressive and use principals of energy flow and softness vs. strength and hardness). The movements of Tai Chi originate from 5 key Family lineages each who had an idea of efficient and powerful movement. Each style has a meditative, fluid quality and choreography that is likened to “shadow boxing”. It should be noted that even though Tai Chi comes to us from the martial arts, most modern Tai Chi has evolved into more of a health and philosophical framework than a martial framework.

 

T’ai Chi Class Beginner to Multi-Level T’ai chi class includes gentle preparation exercises to warm up, strengthen and tone the body, standing meditation to calm down, activate energy and improve posture and a simple, clear movement and meditation sequence that conveys the most basic elements of body/mind coordination. Class lasts 1 hour.