10/09/2012

A New Step in a Different Direction

Tonight I tried out some Tai Chi.

I am taking a break from Aikido but don't want to go totally to seed. Plus one of my frustrations was that after almost 6 years of Aikido I still could never seem to relax when I should. And as I understand it, Tai Chi is to be practice from start to finish in a relaxed state. I was a little surprised there wasn't more Tai Chi around town to choose from and there are 3 places so far I am checking out.

Tonight I took the first class of the beginner series at Taoist Tai Chi in Dallas. It is a non profit org and the teachers are all volunteers getting no pay. There is a larger organization behind it that has some sort of certification process. They explicitly state they are for the health aspects NOT any martial aspect. The vibe of the place is nice, very low key and meet at a church and I am well within the average of the group and maybe at the younger end of the spectrum. Most Aikido dojos are non-profit so this was reassuring in that you felt confident you were not entering into some sort of money making scam.

I had to do a lot of Googling to find some Tai Chi online forum that criticize the organization. Nothing shocking, basically they thought it wasn't REAL Tai Chi. So I will give the 4 once a week class a try.

The first class was good, and with only learning the first few steps it was still amazingly difficult.

Tomorrow I visit and observe Lee's White Leopard Kung Fu. Review to come afterwards.

No comments: