# Tai Chi



## zuludog (Aug 28, 2021)

What is Tai Chi?
Well, as you might know already, it is Chinese for  'frightening the ducks in the park'

No, seriously, it is a Chinese martial art, but it is gentler and nowhere near as aggressive as things like judo or karate, it is slower and concentrates more on the movements and exercises than any contact
There is a certain amount of stuff about life force, expanding your mind & energy levels etc, but if you want you can ignore that and just treat it as an exercise

There are a series of standard movements or exercises that you do in a sequence called a Form; that's why you sometimes hear of people 'doing their Form'.
A Form of about 6 or 8 movements is a start; 18 is a good standard to aim for; and experts do Forms of 24, 32, or even more

Search for it on YouTube, there are loads of videos. Some of them are a bit slow and slightly disjointed as they are instructional, but some of them show a longer, uninterrupted Form of 18 or more movements, and that's quite graceful, and you realise 'Oh yes, that's how it works'.

I used to do a lot of hiking & backpacking, but not so much now as my legs are not as strong as they were
I live on my own, and especially during The Lockdown I've been staying in a lot

So I joined a local Tai Chi group/class, and was pleasantly surprised
Although it doesn't look very strenuous, at the end of the session I definitely felt as though I'd done some exercise, and though I don't go in for all the deep meaningful Zen stuff, I realised that after a few weeks I felt livelier and more motivated

So if you want some exercise but not too violent or strenuous, I can recommend Tai Chi; Search around for classes/sessions
Classes are usually held in places like sports centres and church halls but sometimes they do indeed have them in a park!


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## Inka (Aug 28, 2021)

I love Tai Chi and Qi Gong   Not only is it good exercise, I found it helped me significantly when I was under a lot of stress.


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## rosalindb (Aug 28, 2021)

I find Tai Chi and Qi Gong so relaxing.  When I first started it I was surprised that I ached a bit, but it sure helped me sleep better.


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## helli (Aug 28, 2021)

My 80 year old mother does Tai chi twice a week, including working out how to attend classes via Zoom during lock down. She loves the exercise and social aspect. I love to see her core strength (she is still very upright compared to her non-tai chiing friends), balance and health.


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## rosalindb (Aug 28, 2021)

helli said:


> My 80 year old mother does Tai chi twice a week, including working out how to attend classes via Zoom during lock down. She loves the exercise and social aspect. I love to see her core strength (she is still very upright compared to her non-tai chiing friends), balance and health.


Good for your mum, it will certainly help her keep supple and help her get out of the house


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## Steve/Ch (Aug 28, 2021)

Hi everyone, i tried Tai chi, very relaxing and a lot is to do with balance as you move very slowly, i struggled with that part but stuck with it and had some fun, ended up on my but once, felt a right twit, not been back since pandemic


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