I wandered into my first Taoist Tai Chi class in the fall of 1996 when I went to a UU church on the wrong night looking for a Zen meditation group. I had heard of tai chi and had seen it done near calm waters in exotic movies. So it was also on my list of Things To Do With My Tattered Life.
Just coming off a bad guru experience, I badly needed spirituality sans insanity. In addition, the first pings and pangs of arthritis had escalated to real pain requiring two extra strength Bufferin a day. The Taoist Tai Chi group was welcoming and the gentle stretches felt really good.
Long story short, I dabbled in Zen for a bit, never returned to the guru, and fell in love with Taoist Tai Chi. The extra energy was the first change I noticed. The sense of being in a moving meditation came next, bringing a sense of harmony and calm. Then the arthritis pain decreased to just one achy-on-rainy-days shoulder. I felt less clunky.
Since then, it's just gotten better and better. But my story is pretty tame. The stories of the people I met in Taoist Tai Chi are much more striking.
Margie Butler, my teacher and president of the Illinois chapter of Taoist Tai Chi/USA, once had so much trouble with her feet and ankles that she could only walk down steps backwards, holding on to both railings. After doing Taoist Tai Chi for a few years she was able to travel to Italy and climb the 468 stairs to the top of a cathedral in Florence.
Richard Partridge, now president of the California chapter, was in a deep depression and had serious health problems after being diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1991. By the time I interviewed him in 1997, he had been practicing Taoist Tai Chi and teaching it...primarily to other HIV positive men and women...for several years and credits it with lifting his depression, keeping his T-cell count over 700 and giving him energy and hope.
When we ran into each other at a national workshop in April, Richard was brimming with health, joy and stories about how Taoist Tai Chi has helped him and his students.
Taoist Tai Chi focuses on the stretches and moves most beneficial for health. The International Taoist Tai Chi Society has 450 chapters all over the world. Taoist monk Master Moy Lin-shin brought Taoist Tai Chi to Canada in 1970 and it quickly spread to the U.S. The Illinois chapter started eight years ago in Palatine, and in the fall we will teach classes in Chicago for the first time.
Beginner classes will be taught upstairs at Ann Sather Restaurant, 929 W. Belmont, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. starting Sept. 10, 2001.
Margie and I will be there, and we hope to invite Richard to Chicago for a special class. Please join us!
We are a nonprofit organization. The contribution is $40 a month; $20 for seniors. It is tax deductible and you can attend as many classes as you wish. For more information, call 847: 991-4966, or visit jump.to/taichi or www.taoist.org .
TAI CHI EVENTS
Beginner classes in Taoist Tai Chi, a form that uses movements and stretches particularly good for health and energy, will be offered in the city of Chicago for the first time starting in September, with a demonstration and pre-registration set for August.
The classes will be taught by fully accredited teachers of the International Taoist Tai Chi Society, which has 450 chapters in more than two dozen countries and is the largest volunteer Tai Chi organization in the world. Taoist Tai Chi was brought to Canada by Taoist monk Master Moy Lin-shin in 1970 and quickly spread to the U.S. "We are very pleased to be able to bring Taoist Tai Chi to Chicago after having taught in the northwest suburbs for the past eight years," said Margie Butler, president of the Illinois chapter and lead teacher for the class. "We have seen the benefits Taoist Tai Chi can bring to all people, young and old, and especially those struggling with chronic diseases, including HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's or severe arthritis."
Tai chi is an ancient Chinese exercise of slow, stretching movements. It is an enjoyable and energizing stress-buster for people of all ages and states of health.
Taoist Tai Chi improves one's physical, spiritual and psychological well-being. It has been shown to improve the circulation, boost the immune system, lower blood pressure, strengthen bones and muscles and lubricate joints. According to Eastern teachings, Taoist Tai Chi allows the chi to flow more freely.
In accord with its mission to improve health, The Taoist Tai Chi Society operates a Health Recovery Center just north of Toronto. It was there that Richard Partridge, who learned he was HIV positive in 1991, was asked by Master Moy to take the Tai Chi that was helping him deal with his illness and offer it to the HIV community in the U.S.
Partridge founded the California chapter of the Taoist Tai Chi Society in 1997 and started teaching Taoist Tai Chi at Shanti Project. He has since expanded that class to a comprehensive health recovery class open to people with a variety of illnesses.
Partridge credits the practice of Taoist Tai Chi with helping him keep his T-cells about 700, freeing him of a debilitating depression and allowing his body to make the best use of the antiviral medication he has been on for more than seven years.
"Some of my students have reported their neuropathy has eased and their feet feel better after doing Taoist Tai Chi," Partridge said. "As for myself, I have gone from being a very depressed person to being a very healthy person, with a positive outlook, planning years into the future rather than just to the next doctor's visit."
The beginner classes in Chicago will be a mixed class taught on a level that is accessible to people of all ages and states of health.
Classes begin: Monday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m., Upstairs at Ann Sather Restaurant, 929 W. Belmont Ave.
For more information: Taoist Tai Chi Society USA-Illinois 847-991-4966; jump.to/taichi, www.taoist.org
