Easy Tai Chi

[SiliconValley]

Hey All,

 

A neighbor, who is about 75, wants to meditate and thinks Tai Chi is the best option for she thinks it will help her meditate and also help improve health. She is not too keen on going out some place to learn and I get a hint that she cannot afford to pay a lot either. She found out from someone about DVDs sold by one Dr. Keith Jeffrey that he calls Easy Tai Chi. Easy Tai Chi, from what I get from his website, seems to be a few movements picked from the actual form (I don't know on what basis) and hence have my reservations. It does not seem to be clear if what he teaches as Tai Chi will really confer the benefits of Tai chi or are simply a few gentle exercises. Would greatly appreciate if someone shares experience with this DVD set. I hate to see this lady invest time, money and efforts on something dubious.

 

I did print Bill Bodhri's article on how Chi Kung etc. was not really needed as Emptiness Meditation really takes care of the Chi Phenomenon as well. She was not too sure about it for she thinks Emptiness Meditation helps probably mentally or spiritually but not physically (as in improving physical health). While I disagree with her as they seem inter-connected, I also see her point for the need for some physical activity. Any thoughts?

Edited December 6, 2008 by SiliconValley

[Sloppy Zhang]

Can't speak specifically for the DVD's, but in simplified Tai Chi in general... you know, eh, it's a good idea and it works. It is a martial art and I would prefer that people would recognize it as such, but its characteristically slow movements and (for some styles) simple postures encourage gentle movement, create a sense of balance, and give the person the good feeling that they are doing something good for their bodies. It helps people learn to relax, to breathe, maybe get outside and enjoy some sunshine.

 

It's not as rigorous as martial arts taiji training. It's not as intense as super qigong. But it gets the breath going, the blood flowing, and an older person moving out and about when otherwise they may not be moving. I mean it's gotta be rough for an older person to sit on the couch saying, "I need to exercise..." go find an exercise program and see this ripped man or woman doing these intense exercise routines... or even for a beginner lesson, see this guy who can easily bench a car going around with a 5 lb dumbell going "feel the burn!" seems like a ridiculous joke and an insult... yeah, something easy to get them moving is good.

 

Again, that's speaking in general, not about the specific DVD's, of which I don't know.

[exorcist_1699]

" Emptiness " is where the qi comes from , so of course , it benefits health

Edited December 6, 2008 by exorcist_1699

[Starjumper]

I have no experience with that form, and normally I would say don't try to learn it from a DVD because there is no feedback, but in this case it could be a good thing. I looked at the site and listened to part of the spiel, and I agree that for her it can be good to just learn a small number of movements deeply rather than a lot of movements with no depth, which I see too much of. As it says in the talk, each movement contains the essence and can teach the rules of tai chi.

 

I learned the double long Yang form of Grandmaster Tchoung Ta Tchen, which is almost twice as long as the standard Yang long form because it includes the mirror image (has both left and right sides) of the standard form. It is very long, but when I practiced on my own, after going on to different things, I only practiced section one. Later when I showed my teacher he was impressed with my progress, he verified that section one is all you really need to learn tai chi and the rest is just variations. Plus, like sloppy said, some movement can be really good for someone older like her, and if she focuses on it, without thinking about her shopping list instead, it can be a good door into meditation. For someone her age it may well be impossible to get into sitting meditation cold turkey if she never did it before.

[SiliconValley]

Thank you All

[exorcist_1699]

Thinking that qi comes from our abdomen or other places in our body definitely is a mistake ; In that case, it can't have the healing power against so many diseases that many people experienced ; The qi arises form our dantian is just a small part of it , like a iceberg above water we see ...

[Ya Mu]

Hey All,

 

A neighbor, who is about 75, wants to meditate and thinks Tai Chi is the best option for she thinks it will help her meditate and also help improve health. She is not too keen on going out some place to learn and I get a hint that she cannot afford to pay a lot either. She found out from someone about DVDs sold by one Dr. Keith Jeffrey that he calls Easy Tai Chi. Easy Tai Chi, from what I get from his website, seems to be a few movements picked from the actual form (I don't know on what basis) and hence have my reservations. It does not seem to be clear if what he teaches as Tai Chi will really confer the benefits of Tai chi or are simply a few gentle exercises. Would greatly appreciate if someone shares experience with this DVD set. I hate to see this lady invest time, money and efforts on something dubious.

 

I did print Bill Bodhri's article on how Chi Kung etc. was not really needed as Emptiness Meditation really takes care of the Chi Phenomenon as well. She was not too sure about it for she thinks Emptiness Meditation helps probably mentally or spiritually but not physically (as in improving physical health). While I disagree with her as they seem inter-connected, I also see her point for the need for some physical activity. Any thoughts?

 

Since she is not interested in martial art (at least I gather she isn't) a simplified version is probably a good thing for her. You may want to check out Grandmaster Jianye Jiang's simplified forms (be careful, he has over 300 dvd's and many of them are complex). I don't remember the name of it but he has one simplified dvd that would be easy to learn. www.jiangtaichi.com

Edited December 6, 2008 by Ya Mu