Tai Chi Adventures: Part #2 - Sun Style
Welcome to part 2. I was on the look out for local Tai Chi classes because the Chen style class moved to Didsbury. Unfortunately I couldn't find any l...ocal classes, that was until my Auntie told me about the one she used to go to at Eccles Fit City. So I went and checked it out.
I joked alot in part 1 about the old stereotype of 'old ladies in a bingo hall' and this Tai Chi at Eccles was pretty much that in a sports hall. Here they follow Sun style (see here for more info - http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-style_t'ai_chi_ch'uan ) and follows a program called 'Tai Chi for Arthritis' created by Dr Paul Lam.
As you can see from the 'Tai Chi for arthritis form' here - https://youtu.be/BuXRX68S8us it was worlds apart from the Chen stuff I did prior to this which was more technical and combat based. Here everything was simplified, with movements named 'leisurely tying the coat' and 'crashing waves', the kicks being replaced with toe taps and every movement being soley small steps.
Clearly this was what my GP had in mind when suggesting Tai Chi to me and it was perfect for my health issues (especially the Tai Chi for Oesteoprosis form they did later on), but from a fitness stand point, I wasn't getting sweaty or exhausted and I felt like I was getting lazy because I was finding this far too easy, probably due to the fact that it was designed more for an elderly old man with a zimmer frame rather than a young lad with a neck/spine injury.
I did mention my health issues to the instructors at the time and one of them turned round and said "can I show you something that'll be great for that?" and I said "go ahead", so she started doing Tai Chi movements by herself which ended with her palms resting on the back of my neck and I kid you not, her hands felt like a heat pad. I had no idea what just happened because we didn't cover much about Chi energy at the previous place (see here for info about Chi http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi ), but this was an eye opener for me and my first real introduction to the health benefits of Chi energy.
Whilst at times this style felt too slow and boring, it had it's fun moments and they did some unique stuff at times such as Tai Chi movements using a soft tennis ball and a variation Qigong exercise called 'Chi walks'. My health was starting to improve doing this thanks to the breathing exercises, plus the slow movements which was stopping my neck from locking up and going stiff (a common problem I had back then).
Eventually alot of the instructors left, the remaining ones focused on the same routines every week and my schedule suddenly started getting far too busy, so after 3 years doing this, I gave it up to focus on my course and voluntary work... this was a big mistake on my part though.
You see whilst this style was great as a form of physiotherapy, it was more suited for the elderly and unfortunately doing 3 years of this didn't improve my stamina and I felt like an old man at times, so ofcourse outside of Tai Chi I was getting exhausted too easily because the reality is that College courses, Voluntary work and life in general doesn't always run at a slow pace - ie: The reception desk at C.A.B involved alot of running back and forth, but without the stamina to back it up, I was always going to reinjure my neck/spine the moment I found myself in a situation where the pace quickend and I had to 'rush around'.
At this point it was clear that Tai Chi was doing me some good, but I needed something fast paced like Chen style, but also slow paced like Sun style. My original solution was to go back to Eccles Fit City and do the Tai Chi there whilst also using their gym too (The Chen classes were too far you see), but after discovering that the Eccles classes where on a hiatus (they are back on now), I went back to google to look for 'Tai Chi in Salford' and I spotted something that is a combination of the two styles...
...find out what that is in the final part tomorrow, even though you've probably guessed already. Until then, thanks for reading.
#tai chi exercises
#tai chi master
#tai chi online ...
#tai chi youtube
#taoist tai chi
#tai chi classes
#tai chi centre
#tai chi form
#tai chi chen
#yang tai chi
#Li tai chi
#Lee tai chi
Welcome to part 2. I was on the look out for local Tai Chi classes because the Chen style class moved to Didsbury. Unfortunately I couldn't find any l...ocal classes, that was until my Auntie told me about the one she used to go to at Eccles Fit City. So I went and checked it out.
I joked alot in part 1 about the old stereotype of 'old ladies in a bingo hall' and this Tai Chi at Eccles was pretty much that in a sports hall. Here they follow Sun style (see here for more info - http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-style_t'ai_chi_ch'uan ) and follows a program called 'Tai Chi for Arthritis' created by Dr Paul Lam.
As you can see from the 'Tai Chi for arthritis form' here - https://youtu.be/BuXRX68S8us it was worlds apart from the Chen stuff I did prior to this which was more technical and combat based. Here everything was simplified, with movements named 'leisurely tying the coat' and 'crashing waves', the kicks being replaced with toe taps and every movement being soley small steps.
Clearly this was what my GP had in mind when suggesting Tai Chi to me and it was perfect for my health issues (especially the Tai Chi for Oesteoprosis form they did later on), but from a fitness stand point, I wasn't getting sweaty or exhausted and I felt like I was getting lazy because I was finding this far too easy, probably due to the fact that it was designed more for an elderly old man with a zimmer frame rather than a young lad with a neck/spine injury.
I did mention my health issues to the instructors at the time and one of them turned round and said "can I show you something that'll be great for that?" and I said "go ahead", so she started doing Tai Chi movements by herself which ended with her palms resting on the back of my neck and I kid you not, her hands felt like a heat pad. I had no idea what just happened because we didn't cover much about Chi energy at the previous place (see here for info about Chi http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi ), but this was an eye opener for me and my first real introduction to the health benefits of Chi energy.
Whilst at times this style felt too slow and boring, it had it's fun moments and they did some unique stuff at times such as Tai Chi movements using a soft tennis ball and a variation Qigong exercise called 'Chi walks'. My health was starting to improve doing this thanks to the breathing exercises, plus the slow movements which was stopping my neck from locking up and going stiff (a common problem I had back then).
Eventually alot of the instructors left, the remaining ones focused on the same routines every week and my schedule suddenly started getting far too busy, so after 3 years doing this, I gave it up to focus on my course and voluntary work... this was a big mistake on my part though.
You see whilst this style was great as a form of physiotherapy, it was more suited for the elderly and unfortunately doing 3 years of this didn't improve my stamina and I felt like an old man at times, so ofcourse outside of Tai Chi I was getting exhausted too easily because the reality is that College courses, Voluntary work and life in general doesn't always run at a slow pace - ie: The reception desk at C.A.B involved alot of running back and forth, but without the stamina to back it up, I was always going to reinjure my neck/spine the moment I found myself in a situation where the pace quickend and I had to 'rush around'.
At this point it was clear that Tai Chi was doing me some good, but I needed something fast paced like Chen style, but also slow paced like Sun style. My original solution was to go back to Eccles Fit City and do the Tai Chi there whilst also using their gym too (The Chen classes were too far you see), but after discovering that the Eccles classes where on a hiatus (they are back on now), I went back to google to look for 'Tai Chi in Salford' and I spotted something that is a combination of the two styles...
...find out what that is in the final part tomorrow, even though you've probably guessed already. Until then, thanks for reading.
#tai chi exercises
#tai chi master
#tai chi online ...
#tai chi youtube
#taoist tai chi
#tai chi classes
#tai chi centre
#tai chi form
#tai chi chen
#yang tai chi
#Li tai chi
#Lee tai chi