Tai Chi Chaun
by Michael J. Roberts

April 2002

T'ai Chi Ch'uan is a recreation, which can be of great benefit to stroke survivors and their caregivers. It has certainly been that for me. I found returning to practice after a period of several years without being part of a class, renewed my self-confidence and rekindled my enthusiasm for life.

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My 1999 stroke left me with so many deficits that I often feared I would never feel good again. It took several months of unrelenting work before I could walk again and this was tedious and tenuous at best. Many of the things that physical therapists had been saying to me sounded familiar. They would remind me again and again to relax and pay attention to my alignment without the whole process ever jelling; without ease of movement ever returning to me.

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'Relaxing and Paying Attention’ seem to be opposite injunctions and it is in balancing these two instructions that the art of Tai Chi is attained.

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When I began studying Tai Chi, 26 years ago, there was little information available in the United States particularly in Wisconsin where I live. There were few books and even fewer teachers. A hippie character doing some Tai Chi in the movie "Easy Rider" was good for a couple lines of comment in Black Belt magazine.

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I have taken university outreach and YMCA classes in Tai Chi. There are more of these classes available now and others at health clubs and senior centers and through community recreation programs.

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Tai Chi Magazine is a good source of information and is available in many bookstores. Tai Chi Magazine has a web site and sells almost any book or video on the subject you’ll ever need.

	"T'AI CHI Magazine was started in 1977 as a 4-page newsletter by Marvin Smalheiser, who has practiced T'ai Chi since the 1960s. Click on the magazine picture to access the webpage.
It has evolved into an 88-page magazine circulated all over the world. It is available by subscription and at independent and chain stores throughout the U.S. and Canada."

A video, which I recommend, is "Tai Chi with Tricia Yu". Tricia was my first teacher and has a very thoughtful and well-rounded approach to teaching.

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It is best to find a teacher first and ask them what instructional materials they recommend since there are several different styles of Tai Chi and a variety of books and videos available now.

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It is best to study materials specific to the style you are learning. Tai Chi has been described as shadow boxing and appears to be a balletic series of movements. When you learn more about it, however, you discover that there is always more to learn about it.

Things have changed a lot since that time. Most people have some idea what I’m talking about when I say "Tai Chi" now. They may have seen the recent television commercials for an arthritis medication which features a group of older people doing Tai Chi together or they may have seen the PBS series "Healing and the Mind" which has a similar video clip of group practice in China.

Michael J. Roberts doing T'ai Chi Ch'uan at East Rock in New Haven, Connecticut eighteen months after his stroke.

Copyright © April 2002

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