learn Tai Chi

We are working on the moving form now. It is called the “short form” but it certainly seems like a lot from a beginner’s perspective. My instructor has been feeding me bite-sized chunks to practice on my own. Clearly I need to develop more strength, especially in my knees. I’m enjoying the adventure and I’m gradually incorporating the principles into everyday activities.

For the past two lessons, we have been practicing Chi Kung. It is a form of meditative movement and breathing. There are 14 positions, and I’m doing okay with the first five. I just need a lot more practice with the full cycle. The DVD is coming in handy for practice at home.

My instructor says I’m making very good progress and I’m ahead of schedule. Today we worked on “Push,” so I now have the four basic movements plus “Five-Star Stepping.” My homework for the next week is to integrate them into a moving routine, which we practiced today. It combines all of the elements I’ve learned so far, and it feels good, even if I’m still aching a bit from using muscles I’ve been neglecting. I’m really glad I’m doing this.

I was pretty good about practicing the past week. Today my instructor commented on how improved my form was as I demonstrated Ward Off and Roll Over. After review, we worked on the third basic Chen movement, Press, and also Five-Star Stepping, two variations. I think I will enjoy practicing more, now that I have more movements to work on.

Yesterday I attended my fist Tai Chi lesson. It was a good start. We started with breathing and some basics about physiology, then practiced the basic stance and a couple of simple movements, the primary one being Ward Off. I noticed immediately how weak some of my leg muscles have become. It’s going to hurt a little in the beginning weeks. What I liked most about it was the pace. Not too much, not too little. I could feel it when I was in balance and out of balance. It’s very clear that doing Tai Chi will affect other aspects of my life, as I had hoped. Just being more aware of the mind-body connection is good. I’m looking forward to pacticing at home till my next private lesson, which will be every Thursday at 4:30pm. The single step that begins this journey has been taken.

I met with the instructors at noon today. I had a good feeling about them. They only give private lessons in the Chen style. They do not accept everyone who applies. Only srerious students. We talked about Yang long and short forms, too, pros and cons. I like it that they focus on the internal arts, including meditation, both seated and standing. They will send me a proposal for study in the next day or so. If it looks right, I’ll start in mid-June, a half-hour a week of personal instruction augmented by five or more 30-minute practice sessions on my own between lessons.

I’ve scheduled a meeting with a potential instructor on Tuesday, May 16, at noon. I’m hopeful there will be a connection. I’d like to start lessons in June after returning from vacation.

I just received an email regarding Tai Chi study from the instructor I contacted two weeks ago. Looks like it might just be private tutorials twice a month and DVDs to practice with between sessions; four months for $100 a month. Is that good? I was kinda looking for a group, but I do not want to put this off much longer.

I’ve had many opportunities to watch people do this in the park. I’d really like to give it a try. I know that breathing is a very important part of the movement, and that intrigues me. Compared to Yoga or Aikido, this interests me most. It’s just that classes are harder to find. I need to talk to some of my contacts at the local Asian Chamber of Commerce for some recommendations. But like everything else, without a deadline or a trigger, procrastination takes over.