What can you tell me about Ta'i Chi exercises?

[Radio_Lady]

I found a book called Ta'i Chi for Seniors published in 2004. It looks pretty fascinating. Anyone doing (or did) these exercises have any advice?

I don't expect to do this on Day One, but this is kind of a neat picture.

[u4ic]

1. Haven't done it in a few years

but I loved it. Tougher than it looks. Very relaxing, as you must concentrate on your breath and movements.

The slower the movement, the more accomplished you are. I highly recommend it. (and am going to find my video tape and start back, something I've been meaning to do for a while)

[Radio_Lady]

3. There's a place I'm going to check out tomorrow. They just opened

and someone said they want $500 for a run of courses.

Maybe they have something less expensive. The place is really convenient -- less and 1/2 mile away, and I could even walk there on good days.

I might try to contact the author of this book, who lives in Pennsylvania. Perhaps he is still active and may be able to guide me to a Western source.

Thank you for your comments.

[ForrestGump]

2. Tai chi is one of the best exercises,

forms of moving mediation, and martial arts out there. if you want any or all of the above, it fills the role. Enhances your lfie and increases longevity...especially good for seniors, in so many ways.

It's perfect.

I wrote a bit about it here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=5442899#5444963

My advice: go for it. :D

[Radio_Lady]

4. ForrestGump, I appreciate your reply.

I'm going to check out that thread right now....

ON EDIT: With your permission, I am pulling it out of archive and placing your comments in this thread to consider tomorrow. I hope I haven't broken any DU rules here.

Good night and good luck from Radio_Lady in Oregon

&&&&&&
Tai chi could be good

It may not look it, but it really is the ultimate martial art...the catch here being that it takes far longer to get there than is the case through more obviously physical 'external' styles. And the further catch is that most tai chi is taught as exercise (it's a very good one...much like yoga) or for other reasons more than it is taught as a martial art. There're several traditional tai chi styles and all involve learning weapons as well as empty-hand stuff and sparring. The REAL catch here is that most tai chi teachers probably don't even know -- or, at least, are not qualified enough -- to teach the martial aspects. It tends to be easier to find qualified teachers of tai chi as a martial art in larger cities, especially on the coasts, but you never know where these people are living...there may well be one near you. Tai chi is far easier on the body, arguably far better FOR the body at any age, and it's worthy of its name ('tai chi,' which is also what the yin-yang symbol is known as, means 'Grand Ultimate').

I have done some tai chi -- not a lot, but some -- and I can testify to its effectiveness. I am and have long been primarily keen on the very external (exerting, flashy, kung-fu movie kinda thing) approach to Chinese martial arts, and I took to sparring pretty naturally and am a quick study who also happens to be 6' 5" and over 200 lbs, and so perhaps you can imagine my surprise when all I'd heard of tai chi (that I thought surely must be at least part hyperbole) was proven true the first time I went up against a practitioner.

My initiation was with one of my old kung fu teachers, in another country, who'd in recent years begun to really get into tai chi...he was an advanced student of his teacher, but not one of the upper-echelon types yet. He's a Chinese dude, maybe 6' but pretty slender and also a good 15-20 years older than me, and he wiped the floor with me (I was 33 when I visited him). He'd have me attack, and make sure I really was coming in with a real attack at near full speed that would connect and do damage, and then he -- literally -- threw me across the room. Over and over. And over.

His studio is very big (I helped him in its construction, years before) and when he deflected my attack and helped me on my way I'd travel a good ten to 20 feet and only stop by crashing into a wall. I couldn't touch him, and he didn't even seem like he was responding at all to my onslaught, though something sure as hell was sending me flying. I could feel him yield and then, within a fraction of that same fraction of a second, turn my force against me and effortlessly send me flying like I was shot from a cannon. Go up against a good tai chi person and you won't touch them because they're never there. It was cool beyond belief.

And when I began studying it as an adjunct to the Fukien white crane and Northern Shaolin kung fu other teachers were training me in, I got to see more of its power. It looks slow and wimpy when its practiced as a form, but it's anything but, in practice. I was always naturally good at sparring and my most recent teacher really honed me well, He was an excellent fighter and even managed to fight effectively while still showing pure elements of the traditional styles he'd learned, rather than just adopting the fairly generic jeet-kune-do-like kickboxing style that's so common. So when I sparred against him I often acquitted myself quite well and gave him a real run for his money, sometimes getting him a few good ones (a good teacher isn't afraid to be bested by his or her students...in fact, they should WANT to be, in some ways), but then he'd smile and go all tai chi on me and it was always over then.

I love the aesthetics and challenge of the external Chinese styles, and all the traditional weapons and cool moves, but I know that tai chi is, really, where it's at in the end. At high levels, complete martial systems of any origin tend to converge to look like tai chi. That's handy, too, because tai chi (and some of the related Chinese 'internal' styles) are perfect for people past retirement age who have trained for decades in 'harder' styles and have come to themselves naturally adopt the efficiency and use of the other's momentum and energy that tai chi exemplifies. Like I said, if you study a karate style or ju-jitsu, or some Chinese kung fu style, or whatever from wherever, you'll begin to get an edge in self-defense before too long and maybe after three or so years you'll be at least potentially able to put the odds in your favor in a real fight, whereas in tai chi you might take decades (a lot shorter time if you have extensive martial arts background on the 'external' side, if only because of having trained your mind to problem-solve at sparring speed, improving muscle memory and memory memory, grasping the ideas of biomechanics, and learning how to learn) to reach the same level of pragmatic application but (a) you won't break a sweat dispatching the bad guys and (b) you also won't injure yourself and you won't look outwardly violent in response. And, of course, self-defense really is the least of what martial arts is, or should be, about...the defense angle is a vehicle for far more important things.

If not tai chi (or aikido, a Japanese grappling stlye that has a lot in common with tai chi, or something like white crane kung fu), other styles may be around in your area that are worthwhile. To a very great extent, the teacher's more important than the style. If you dig some up, I'd be happy to have a look at their PR materials and see if I get any red-alerts that might suggest a fly-by-nighter or if I get (such as through the school's lineage) warmer and fuzzier feelings about them.

Martial arts can be incredible stuff, and you might find that, once you start, it becomes an integral part of how you define yourself.

[ForrestGump]

5. No problema...

Here are a few schools in your area that I think you'll find have legitimate lineage (very important, if you're going to really get into tai chi as an exercise and certainly as a martial art...again, the fighting aspect being almost incidental to the martial art's other benefits in terms of health, focus, and self-discipline). They might be worth checking -- whatever you do, don't sign up with a school that requires long-term contracts (unusual in tai chi or any other Chinese martial arts, being primarily a Tae Kwon Do method of ripping people off, but the practice is starting to inevitably spread in this capitalist paradise) and do watch at least a class or two to see how the teacher(s) relates to his or her students and how hands-on is their instruction and explanations of each posture's applications. You've got to have an excellent teacher, with something like this...

http://www.yangfamilytaichi.com/
Center Director: Dave Barrett
24300 Northwest Timber Road
Forest Grove, OR 97116
[phone]
[e-mail]



http://www.ckfa-kungfu.com/taijiquan/index.htm



http://i-chuan.net/



http://www.hevanet.com/rklau/ <-- I can't vouch, first-hand, for any of these schools, but this dude sounds exceptionally promising!



http://www.nwfighting.com/



http://www.taoist.org/branches/usa/oregon/



http://www.taichiproductions.com/
John Shaff
[e-mail]
503-830-1199



"Tai Chi Chuan's many health benefits include increased strength, energy (Chi or Ki), balance,
mobility, flexibility and coordination, along with an improved ability to handle mental and emotional
stress, better concentration and improved posture. Today many doctors recommend Tai Chi to
their patients to help rehabilitate themselves with both physical and mental problems. Many of
the ailments include but are not limited to arthritis, rheumatism, heart disease, cerebral palsy,
fibromyalgia, M.S., A.D.D., ostyroparlysis, anxiety and panic attacks, back and knee injuries,
and cancer too name just a few. In fact many major foundations and organizations
like The Arthritis Foundation recommend Tai Chi as a beneficial aid to help keep patients
in remission."
- Master Dodaro, Chicago Tai Chi Chuan and Shaolin Kenpo

"A new study confirms what has been reported by other researchers since 1996 – Tai Chi, a martial
arts form that enhances balance and body awareness through slow, graceful and precise body
movements, can improve balance, build strength and reduce the risk of falls in the elderly. The new
study published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing reported on a group of fall-prone senior citizens,
with an average age of 78, living in residential care. Twenty nine undertook a 12-week Tai Chi course
three times a week and 30 formed the non-exercise control group. They found that the physical fitness
of the exercise group showed significant improvement, with stronger knee and ankle muscles, improved
mobility and flexibility and better balance."
- Tai Chi Reduces Falls in Older People, Senior Journal, 6/27/05

http://biomed.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/2/187

[Haole Girl]

6. I took some Tai Chi in college

It came back to me over 20 years later, in a crisis situation (long story).

I swear by it. It is much more than a martial art (actually, you have to study it many years before you use it as such)... it is finding balance. I highly recommend it. :)