Testimonials

Colette Caruana

I started Taiji during the summer course mainly because my mother wanted someone to go with her to the lessons but also out of curiosity, and I was immediately struck by how claming it is. In the end my mother stopped while I have continued!
 
I am quite an active person as I dance, so I did not find the exercise stressful in the least. Rather I found it relaxing, although still a little difficult because many of the positions go against everything I have ever trained my body to do in dancing. That being said, the whole aim of Taiji is that the movements and positions are as natural and logical as possible, so anyone worried about finding difficulty in the movements need not worry too much. In fact when I was in China a few years ago I was impressed to see many elderly people doing taiji and stretching as if they were still a child!
 
One of the amazing things about Taiji is that, even though all the movements are so slow and calm, when you are really doing it properly it can be a real workout! Another fascinating thing is that every single thing you do has a purpose and an application; there is always something new to learn! (Also, now I have learned to punch properly, which is always an added bonus!)
 
As I am a student with a lot of extra curricular activities, finding time to relax is always hard but I found that Tai Chi is really good for that purpose! Between the peace of being outside and the slowness of the movements I find my mind completely clearing of all other things and just concentrating on the co-ordination of all the actions, which has one of the most amazing calming effects. I always find myself looking forward to that little bit of peace when I can forget everything else and just relax.

12th April, 2009

Elise Billiard

When I started taiji classes I quickly understood that if I did not commit myself to exercize at least 3 times a week I would not be able to progress and as a consequence I would quickly get bored. Taiji is not very demanding, not like classic dance for instance, or at least it seems so, because Taiji looks simple and easy, as much as the circus trapeze artists’ graceful jumps. Taiji does not require from you to be a great athlete but it requires commitment. To stand up and make hands movements on the roof of your house, or to complete the 74 form on the beach in the morning is very simple to do and soon it becomes addictive.

Doing a Taiji form always helps me to calm down when I have bad feelings, and gives me the concentration and the serenity to work efficiently when I am stressed. After repeating Taiji exercises for some months, you will want to find even just 10 minutes in your day to forget all about your worries and to concentrate on the movements of your body. And there is
always room to improve!

To conclude I won’t tell you how much I love taiji because I encounter another way of thinking, another way of looking at truth for instance, but I will tell you my experience as a young mother. I know that Taiji and maybe especially Chen style is a martial art, and surely the mother of all martial arts, but for me it was mostly a precious help to live my pregnancy and to give birth to my wonderful baby. I tried to keep up exercising as much as I could almost every morning during my pregnancy, even with a big 8 months belly. This time I was not really trying to
improve my movements, but it helped me to keep fit even at the point when you have difficulty to walk. Taiji moves are made to increase the blood flow and to bend smoothly your joints so that after ten minutes I felt always a bit tired but also relaxed and less stiff. I am convinced that Taiji influenced my happy pregnancy but I believe also that it made the delivery a lot easier. When most of my friends took at least 12 hours to give birth, I had my baby after only 4 hours of labour!

Every one has his specific reason to like Taiji.