Week 2 of Tai Chi

Week 2 of T'ai Chi brought a full class of 8 students. One of the returning students was absent the first week and has never taken t'ai chi before. The returning students are all very engaged and in order to keep them motivated, I decided to do the second week lesson and encourage the first timer to jump in at that point and hope she can catch on. I have found that when you miss the first class it is almost impossible to catch up as the first class spends a lot of time familiarizing the class with the "eastern" movements. I offered to come back on Saturday after the morning yoga class but the student couldn't make it. So....I'm hoping she'll stick with it.

New T'ai Chi Class

Yesterday afternoon I started teaching another 10 week session of T'ai Chi 24 forms. There are 8 students in all but 4 did not or could not join us. The four who did come were very interested and made very good progress. The group ranges in age from 18 to 70. I have taught t'ai chi for nearly 20 years and have practiced for almost 30 years. After all these years the instruction has gotten easier as I have a better idea of where students are going to get stuck and when they begin thinking that they can't accomplish the learning. It's always difficult when people miss classes as it's almost impossible to catch up. With half the class missing we may have to start over. I'm thinking of giving the class the option of going an extra week.

On forgeting

Gosh, today I totally forgot about my Wednesday t'ai chi class. It's the second class in the intro to t'ai chi 6 week program. Hmmm....so why did I forget it? I guess I was distracted and didn't check my calendar first thing this morning. So everyone stayed a little longer to make up the time and I cut out the Qi Gong part of the session that I do with the class just to get them warmed up.

The T'ai Chi 10 form or 8 form

To learn and practice t'ai chi and qi gong properly takes patience, practice and the desire to learn. The traditional introductory t'ai chi practice is the "simplified 24-form. When I was in CT, I taught t'ai chi mostly through my church and the folks who signed up had patience, did practice and had a desire to learn. Since coming to California, I have been teaching t'ai chi at a fitness center. Folks are more used to a drop in style of class. I've found that few of the students can really learn much t'ai chi this way. They can participate in the qi gong part of the class but because there is little continuity and no practicing, very little progress is made.

I started teaching the 10-form at the end of 2008 and have had pretty good success. This form was created in 1999 and approved by the Chinese Wushu Federation. It is a good introduction to the practice and appreciation of Tai Chi. We meet for 6 weeks and I can teach qi gong exercises, a new set of forms each week and basic principles of the two practices.

Today I started a new class with 9 students. They are all very committed to learning the 10 form and it looks like they are going to practice. Yay!
The 10-form consists of the following postures:

1. Opening form
2. Lifting the wave
3. Tiger mouth
4. Part the horse's mane
5. Wave hands like clouds
6. Golden rooster stands on one leg
7. Kick with heel
8. Grab the bird's tail
9. Embrace the tiger
10. Closing form

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.

New T'ai Chi Students

I suddenly have a number of new people trying out my t'ai chi chuan class. I've tried to simplify the practice to get people more comfortable and interested in coming back and then once they get better at it they can actually practice at home.

A couple of weeks ago I took potstickers to the Sunday spin class as a thank you to the instructor. The class is at noon and it's not a fitness center sponsored class. It's just something the instructor does to pass the time on Sunday afternoon and a couple of us join her. She loves Chinese food, and she loves potstickers. As I've said Ihave scheduled a potsticker making party for September. One of the people on the list is the wife of a guy who was at the gym. He said he didn't want to make them but he was "sure" his wife would want to do it. Well, I'm never sure when a spouse speaks for their spouse what the real story is. So today I stopped by and met the wife, and she knew exactly what I was talking about, and said, yes, she was interested. They'd obviously spoken. After talking a bit she also said she was interested in taking the t'ai chi class as well. One of her neighbors was visiting at the time, and she said she was interested in taking the t'ai chi class. So I may have a half dozen new students! Wouldn't that be nice.