What is Tai Chi?

Tai Chi is a gentle yet very powerful system of movement and meditation, which can be practiced by anyone of any age or level of fitness.

Tai Chi Meditation brings about a more relaxed, peaceful and focused state of mind.

Tai Chi Exercises teach us how to move and hold ourselves effortlessly whilst increasing core stability, improving balance and coordination and restoring our natural vitality and vigour.

Tai Chi as a martial art helps us to understand and deal effectively with energy of all kinds not just the energy of a punch or a kick. Whilst on a deeper level it offers profound insights into the relationship between self and other.

The name Tai Chi means ‘Movement with awareness’. A person practicing Tai Chi is learning to let go of unhelpful postural and movement habits to make way for new less effortful but more effective ways of moving through life.

To do this we must first begin to notice some of the deep unconscious holding patterns we burden ourselves with. Holding the breath, clenching the buttocks or hunching the shoulders are some of the more common examples. Movement done with excessive force or too much muscle tension is very much like trying to move a car with the breaks on, it limits freedom and wastes tremendous amounts of energy. More importantly, tension blocks chi flow, the body’s natural healing energy, which in turn can lead to pain, sickness and even death. The movements of Tai Chi are practiced in a slow relaxed fashion gradually reprogramming muscle memory and opening blocked energy pathways. Tai Chi is a complete system, which if practiced diligently is capable of improving every aspect of what it is to be human.