[Less of Lena]

I'm attempting to add some variety to my "deliberate" daily activities and thought tai chi might be a pleasant change. I recently added a couple of yoga dvds and I like that.

I bought one tai chi dvd already but was somewhat underwhelmed by it. While the instructor was quite nice to look at (hubba hubba!), the dvd itself was difficult to follow. The camera angles shifted far too frequently. Their desire to make an artsy video (shots of breaking waves, closeups of his flexing pecs) took away from what should have been their primary objective: making an instructional video.

He also said I shouldn't worry about doing it perfectly and that I should do my own thing. Well, if I don't know what his thing is, I can't adapt it to make it my thing! I spent a lot of time just sort of swaying about. Not very productive.

By the way, I know many folks say you shouldn't do videos at all and should do a class with a live instructor instead, but I don't do well with classes, so that's out. I really do much better solo, in the privacy of my own home, where I can control the temp and lighting and have my nice, clean shower nearby and ready the moment I'm done.

I tried searching here for tai chi and tai chi dvds, but came up empty. Has anyone done tai chi with a dvd? Do you have one you can recommend for a beginner?

[fikustrees]

I have tried several Tai Chi DVDs and I can tell you that I haven't found any that clicked with me. I really didn't like the one with Jayne Story and the one with David Carridene (from Kill Bill) was good but not great. You should check out the ones on collage video http://www.collagevideo.com/ they have a screening process where only truly instructive videos are supposed to pass. They also have clips! The website Videofitness.com also has a review section for every video under the sun so certainly check that out! I have found both the websites to be more helpful than Amazon in my quest for fitness videos!

I am the same way with prefering videos to live classes! I think it is silly when people say that you need the experiance of a teacher because that isn't what EVERYONE needs. People are so different!