Discovering Tai Chi

When I was in the third grade, we had a text book reader that traveled us, through stories, all over
the country. I was captivated. I wanted to travel and at that point, I hadn’t been further than my
grandmother’s house an hour away. In the seventh grade in my social studies class, we again studied
cultures and societies in lands far away. I imagined what the people were like. What sights would I
see? I wanted to know if they liked television and my favorite cartoon show, Rocky and Bullwinkle.  
Did the teenagers wear Beatle Boots? What music did they listen to?

I never lost that sense of curiosity about cultures and lands near and far. As a young adult, I
continued a more sophisticated study of cultures—Native American and the lands where Buddhism
flourished. They seemed to be on to something about the concept of balance.  Walk the “beauty
path,” the Indian texts advised. Seek harmony and peace, the Buddhists said. I watched the television
show Kung Fu starring David Carradine as “Grasshopper.” The show’s writing provided me with
wisdom of the ages. Eventually, in college, as an older student, literature became yet another portal
through which I studied other lands and people.

An unspoken dream began with curiosity of others, coupled with a desire to find within my own realm,
peace and balance. But as I got older, it was clear that the body hadn’t been balanced very well. I ate
too much. I didn’t exercise enough. My youth was no longer there to protect me from the excesses. I
tried everything in the exercise realm: walking, running, weight training, aerobics, belly-dancing,
hiking. The diets, well, truthfully, I never did believe in dieting. I tried the Atkins diet once, and I quickly
lost seven pounds. But it was not my intention to stay carb free until I’d lost 50, and from what I’d
studied about the diet, that’s not what the proponents suggested either. Carbs come back in for
health reasons. People in this country, ever looking for the bullet to weight loss, took it too far. Didn’t
read the book, didn’t pay attention. Didn’t balance anything, and it passed out of favor. I tried the
South Beach diet for two days. It probably is easier to practice, but once again my lack of balance in
food likes did me in. So I had to devise my own. Cut back on portions, increase fresh foods, while at
the same time slacking off on the “bad” carbs. Exercise.

But how? What was I likely to stick with?

Yoga was always appealing. I did practice yoga consistently for two years, but I have fibromyalgia and
all that extreme muscle stretching wasn’t helping—I stayed in pain. I did learn the value of breath, of
timing, of gentle stretching, of improving balance and joint flexibility.

I’d heard of Tai Chi Juan through the years, and particularly from my readings of Asian culture. No
classes existed anywhere in my area, until a local martial arts practitioner began offering classes to
the public. I paid my fee and went exactly twice. Time constraints and scheduling meant I couldn’t
keep up, but I was enchanted with the possibility of what Tai Chi could do for my health.

Then in 2005, I discovered my local YMCA was offering tai chi classes. This class actually is based on
the Sun form and is supported in conjunction with the arthritis foundation. Dr. Paul Lam developed it
to promote healthy practices among people with arthritis, but, the ad said, anyone could benefit from
the practice. I signed up, paid my fee, and now I have finally found the form of movement and fitness
practice that I know I’ll stick with for the rest of my life.

Once you discover it, you go through a stage where you lament that you came to it late, but it doesn’t
matter what age you are when you start. And it doesn’t have to be the arthritis form—any of the forms
will provide the same healthy benefits. The point, as in Buddhism, is not to study it so much as just do
it.

I realize I’m rearranging my schedule and my life around my practice. Finally, good health is a priority.
From wherever we start, whatever happens to us, we can begin to feel better, more peaceful and
balanced—not only physically, as this practice promotes, but mentally. There is a strong meditative
component to Tai Chi as there is to yoga and other forms of Asian exercise and practice.

Next article: The practice begins.