New students for the t'ai chi class

This article appeared in the our neighborhood's newsletter this month and has generated a number of new T'ai Chi students in my class. We are learning the 16 form at the moment. Fortunately there are a couple of more advanced students in the class who are wonderful about helping out the newer students.

Here is the article from the newsletter:

What is Tai Chi?

The graceful images of people gliding through dance-like poses as they practice tai chi (TIE-chee) are mesmerizing. Simply watching them can be relaxing. Tai chi is
often described as "meditation in motion" because it promotes serenity through gentle movements — connecting the mind and body.
Tai chi, sometimes called tai chi chuan, is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise, stretching and breathing. To do tai chi, you first learn a series of postures or movements and then combine them in a slow, graceful manner
with focused breathing driving the pace of the exercise. Each posture flows into the next without pausing. If practiced regularly, tai chi can help you reduce stress and enjoy other health benefits. It was developed in China over 2000 years ago.
Anyone, regardless of age or physical ability, can learn and practice tai chi. It doesn't take physical prowess but, rather, tai chi emphasizes technique over strength.
Despite its ancient history, tai chi has been studied scientifically only in recent years. According to the Mayo Clinic, “research is suggesting that tai chi may offer numerous other benefits beyond stress reduction, including:
• Reducing anxiety and depression
• Improving balance and coordination
• Reducing the number of falls
• Improving sleep quality, such as staying asleep longer at
night and feeling more alert during the day
• Slowing bone loss in women after menopause
• Lowering blood pressure
• Improving cardiovascular fitness
• Relieving chronic pain
• Improving everyday physical functioning ”
Tai chi has more than 100 possible movements and forms or positions. They are typically grouped into sets e.g. the 10- form or the 24-form or 48-form. It generally takes a commitment of a block of time to learn a set of forms and learn to
incorporate the breathing into the forms. You can start with the 10-form to get acclimated and then move up to the most popular form practiced worldwide – the 24 form. The intensity of tai chi varies somewhat depending on the form or style
practiced. Most forms are gentle and suitable for everyone. And they all include
rhythmic patterns of movement that are coordinated with breathing.
At the Cypress Ridge Fitness Center, the 10-form, 16-form and 24- form classes are taught on Tuesday mornings from 10:30 to 11:30. A number of our members have completed both the 10-form and the 24-form. Although drop-ins are welcome to learn “the pose of the day”, tai chi is best learned by attending a complete course for one of the sets so one can apply the learning and practice properly. You don’t have to be a fitness club member to take the class. For nonmembers, a 6-week class to learn the 10-form costs $60 and a 10-week class to take the 24-form costs $100.