Podcast Episode 40: Tai Chi

Hi, my name is Charles and welcome to my podcast Today, I'm going to talk about Tai Chi from my experience What it is, what it can do for you, and who can do it Firstly, my circuitous journey into Tai Chi started with Aikido. My school allowed me to attend external classes on a Saturday and then at university I found the same style of Aikido so I continued for a further three years, but after graduation and getting a job at a local research park, I felt that going back to Fulham was a bit too far, so I found an instructor of Tai Chi more locally. He had to leave the country soon and told me before he left about his teacher. So instead of going to Fulham for Aikido, I ended up travelling even further to North London and began studying Tai Chi with Rose Lee in 1989. This was weekly classes and then coupled with my own daily practice. Then in 2004, a while after she died, I decided Tai Chi was too good to leave and needed to be continued, so I started teaching first in health clubs and then into the wider community. This is where I became associated with the local Falls team, and then I expanded further into care homes, where I teach mostly now. The most frequently asked question for me is, what does Tai Chi mean? Tai means greatest or ultimate. Qi has a myriad of meanings, and in this context could mean breath or movement. In fact my teacher and one of her students looked up words with Qi in them, and after finding 500 they stopped. I think what she was alluding to is that Qi is not mystical or magical, but natural. Everyone has it and everyone uses it. one could say Tai Chi means the ultimate exercise. For me, I would define Tai Chi as movement with awareness whilst maintaining correct posture. Physically, it is a sequence of movements engaging the mind and body, and is also a low impact exercise for health and fitness. It's a whole body exercise and linking the breathing with the movements helps focus and harmonize the mind and body. Another frequently asked question is what can it do for me? Well any benefits come from regular practice so it can help instill self-discipline. As I said it focuses the mind so can improve concentration. Actually a lot of people have said it allows them time out in their busy day from all their worries and stresses, because when you practice Tai Chi you have to focus on what you're doing now and what is next in the sequence. You really can't think of anything else. I think also you can develop your balance, coordination, flexibility and joint mobility through the slow sequence of movements. What I find is it gives me a general level of fitness. All this allows you to relax more and so losing all unnecessary tension in your mind and body helps you feel better so you gain a sense of well-being. Physiologically I feel the relaxed fluid movements help improve blood circulation and muscle action. It's like a coat hook really on which you can hang anything, games, sports, dancing, drawing, painting and so on. Tai Chi is for everyone. All ages and all abilities can learn Tai Chi. We all have different starting points, but we can all benefit. I have developed a seated practice which also emphasises leg health. This I mainly teach for residents in care homes, allowing anyone who wants to join in to do so, and the feedback is very positive. Thank you for listening.