Tai Chi. The least thought-of martial art.
I was drawn to Tai Chi at first because of the slow movements. I knew that it was a lot of mental co-ordination going in, but I wanted it because it wasn’t all push-ups and crunches, AND I could do it through my local parks and rec. I didn’t have to join a gym/dojo to learn this form.
I started back in the summer of 2016, and was instantly addicted to it.
I’m not sure why… it’s definitely not for everyone. But the flow of the movements, the names of the movements, figuring it out, just clicked with me. I went home and just walked around the house in the “tai chi form” for probably a good couple hours.
I quite enjoy the warm-up portion, and actually since I was remiss and didn’t practice at all over the holidays, I almost feel like I’m back at the beginning. Especially now with my more-pregnant body, the warm up is good since I’m really not doing much exercise at all right now (until prenatal yoga starts). Plus, I can’t remember enough to jump into the more advanced class at the moment. Ugh, memory! You suck!
It’s interesting though, because it’s through parks and rec, how many people just don’t stick with it. In the summer, there were about 6 of us, by the end of the class it was just me. In the fall session, more people started, roughly 9, and by the end of that one it was down to 2. And the winter session just started and there are 11 of us. It’ll be interesting to see how many are there until the end of March. Sometimes along the way there are drop-ins, but they never return either.
The class after us (the more advanced one) definitely is full of regulars. They show up every week like clockwork. I’m definitely not at that point yet, as they are learning sword/fan/partner movements. They just started a new one this session, and it looks super interesting too!
There are tons of references for tai chi out there, but some of the ones that I’ve been using (also sent to me by my teacher) are:
Art Baner doing 5-Step Tai Chi (Video)
Sam Masich Guide to 5-Step Tai Chi
I’ve got a couple goals, but for right now it’s just to keep moving this pregnant body of mine! And to practise more at home again. What do you think of tai chi, or martial arts in general?
J x
