For Spring 2012 we meet
Thursdays, 12:10-12:50. Wear
comfortable clothes, good for moving around. All ages and backgrounds welcome. Once our weather reports are good, we can meet outside.
Feb. 16: Regency Room, UC
Other dates & locations
to follow.
Many people in the class are
interested in tai chi for the
health benefits (the link is to an article in the May 2009 Harvard Women’s
Health Watch newsletter). The Mayo
Clinic also
summarizes the evidence about tai chi. Most say more research is a good idea, for example this recent NEJM report on tai chi and fibromyalgia. This study reports improvement
in older patients with depression.
There are many forms, or sets
of postures, in tai chi. In our
brief time each week we will be focusing on “The 16 form,” a creation of my
teacher. Here is a list of the 16 postures,
with and here is a list
with little pictures to help you visualize each posture.
If you travel around the
world you will most likely see the standard (sometimes called simplified) Tai
Chi 24 form. Here is a list of the 24 postures. Almost all of the video links below are
about the 24 form.
VIDEO CLIPS OF THE FORM:
·
Here is the form
filmed from behind, easier for following along. The front
view of the same person is here.
·
This gem
from Youtube is billed as a world champion—learn
a lot by comparing her to the others.
·
Here is the form
gracefully and athletically performed. (Note: this person is a Cirque du
Soleil level athlete, and no one in our class bends that low or kicks that
high. But it is something to
see.)
·
Here is what a group can look like.
For people who want an audio clip
of the form, to guide them through the 24 postures, ask Sid.
Courtesy of Michael P. Garofalo, here is a detailed
description of the 24 form, along with figure drawings for each
posture.
Here are “Ten Important Points for Tai
Chi.” The list is also
referred to at the “Ten Essentials.” Beginning
and advanced students should refer to this often.
The
“ten important points” link is excerpted from a very good book: Douglas Wile, compiler and translator, T’ai-chi Touchstones:
Yang Family Secret Transmissions (NY: Sweet Ch’i
Press, 1983), ISBN = 0-912059-01-x.
Another
very good book, with the Ten Essentials, tai chi classics, and detailed
descriptions of each posture in the long form, is Fu Zhongwen,
Mastering Yang
Style Taijiquan, translated by Louis Swaim (Berkeley: Blue Snake Books, 2006), ISBN-13 =
978-1-58394-152-2.
An
interesting book is Wolf Lowenthal, There Are No
Secrets: Professor Cheng Man-Ch’ing and his Tai Chi Chuan (Berkeley: North
Atlantic Books, 1991), ISBN 1-55643-112-0.
For
those who want a DVD to support their learning the Standard Form, the best I
have seen is Simplified
Tai Chi Chuan With Applications, from Master Liang, Shou-Yu.
People interested in some
other tai chi practices are invited to check out the Tai Chi Qigong Wellness Center, in
Tacoma. They have a
Facebook page, too. For people who want a more intensive class in the standard
24 form, take a look at my evening Monday class. The objective is to have you know the standard form, and
many details of Tai Chi movement, over ten weeks. We also offer classes in the Yang style long form. The ‘advanced’ class also does a Yang
style sword form, Bagua, and some push hands, among
other things.
And, for those interested,
here are links to some amazing
and weird tai chi things.
Thank you,
Sid Olufs
last updated March, 2011.
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