h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have been practising Tai Chi for nearly two years. I took it up on a whim, I suppose: I wanted to know what this oriental form of exercise was really like. So I joined a beginners class organised by my local branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A). We meet in a dance studio in a building in the middle of town. It’s a bit scruffy, as it’s scheduled for redevelopment, but provides a view of the South Downs. All the members of my group are senior citizens, but our tutor is a young black man with dreadlocks.
At first, I thought Tai Chi amounted to little. We started with the first level: a sequence of repeated moves with interesting names like ‘Waving Hands Through Clouds,” “Tiger Approaches” and “Elephant’s Trunk”. None of these movements was difficult, but it took a while to learn the sequence. I thought I was getting more useful exercise by cycling to the studio. It wasn’t until the third level, where the ‘preparation posture’ involved standing on one foot and turning round, that I realised how poor my balance was.
The papers we were given make some sweeping claims for Tai Chi, like “Tai Chi practice opens the channels of energy within the body and promotes vitality and inner health, cleansing the body of toxins and balancing the emotions through breathing exercises with sitting, standing and moving meditations.” I found it easy to be cynical about this. However, I think Tai Chi improves balance and co-ordination, concentration and memory. I also find that when I go through one of these sequences in our dance studio, to the sound of some vaguely oriental music, I feel a welcome calm. As you have to focus on the movements of your body, to complete the sequence correctly, I think it might offer some of the benefits of meditation.

Balance, stance and movement, what's there to be cynical about?
As with any form of kata, learning the basics concentrates the mind and exercises the body.
Keep it up!

Do you practise one of these martial arts, FWR?

Once upon a time, loved it and will forever be in its debt for being the place I met my beautiful wife.

I bet that would make a nice short story, FWR.
Oh wait.

yup!

A87883771

So martial arts led to marital arts.

heheh, I like it. Martial arts, marital arts.