[niafabo]

Okay I tried Tai Chi for the first time ever tonight because I was too sore to do strength training and I must say it was an eye opening amazing experience. I have no idea why the practice has not caught on in the states. I want so bad to take a class now because I want to learn proper form and flow. I don't have a gym membership or anything so I think I may just take a course at the community college next semester not sure what I can do until then other than practice with videos. Any fellow Tai Chi fans out there? If so do you have any advice for a newbie?

[WeightLoss11]

A few weeks ago I went to a Tai Chi class at my gym (the Y), it's held twice a week, and I loved it! Wasn't sure what to expect but loved the slow, controlled movements. Especially the arm movements, so graceful! I always feel like the biggest klutz when it comes to any dance movements (no sense of rythym, uncoordinated & two left feet!), feel like the worst one in Zumba or any other "dance" exercise classes I've tried. (I'm also the worst dancer in my family & usually the worst one on ay dance floor.) And since I'm in my mid-50s, not sure how much I can improve these dance skills at my age!

But w/ Tai Chi, always felt like I could do the movements & keep up with the others, even though many of them had been taking the class for months. Unlike some other exercise classes I've tried, such as zumba & cardio funk, where the majority of the participants are very young, mainly in their 20s & everything starts so fast, at top speed with no introductory instruction for beginners, w/ this Tai Chi class, the instructor always explains all the movements, demonstrates them first & then we repeat them. (it's an hour-long class and he waits till the last 15 minutes to do the more advanced moves.) I think it also helped that the instructor didn't have us facing the mirrors, our sides were to the mirrors, so I didn't feel self-conscious at all.

Surprised me how much strength, control & balance it took to do these slow movements. The instructor also spoke a lot about body alignment & non-Western "philosophy', the yin and the yang, etc. -- it's almost like getting a college course while taking an exercise class! (Actually, while I liked this at first, after the first 2 classes, seems like he started overdoing it a little & repeats himself too much -- too much talk, not enough action! Maybe he needs to remember that concept of "balance"!)

So what I like about Tai Chi--
-- takes strength, control and balance, all things I'm working on
-- slow, graceful movements, almost feels like ballet to me
-- very relaxing, soothing music, feels like meditation
-- I think it has improved my tennis! You have to maintain lots of balance while running all over the court, changing direction & smacking at the ball. If you're body's not in alignment, you risk a lot of injury. The first time I played tennis after Tai Chi, I really felt how beneficial this class was for my tennis! Today (Saturday) I have Tai Chi class at 2pm, then playing tennis at 5pm -- great combo!

To NiaFabo: too bad you don't have easy access to Tai Chi classes on a regular basis. (Hey, even though you're in Florida now, does your user name have anything to do w/ Niagara or Niagara Falls? I grew up in Niagara Falls, NY so just wondering.) Guess I'm lucky that the YMCA just down the street from me here in Charlotte NC is one of the largest Ys in the whole country so it offers a great variety of classes. And to anyone else reading this, hope I've convinced you to give Tai Chi a try.