Standing with feet parallel and shoulder-width apart, knees bent slightly, head lifted and spine straight, the exercise begins.

Relax and let your body flow - the instructor says.
"All movement should come from the waist. When your arms move, your body should move with them," said Matt Liebman, one of the instructors who will be teaching tai chi through the Ames Park and Recreation Department at the city's Community Center this semester.

As Liebman and his instruction partner, Gina McAndrews, both teachers of agronomy at Iowa State University, demonstrated a short workout, they talked about the age-old exercise that has again become popular over the last few years. Although still students of tai chi themselves, they are qualified to teach the beginning and intermediate sessions.

Slowly, gracefully, with precision and swaying bodies the two went through the set of Chinese forms. This system of low-intensity, low-impact movements eventually pays off with increased strength and muscle tone, enhanced range of motion and improved coordination.
"Tai chi is a combination of meditation, exercise and self defense," said McAndrews, who has been practicing the art since 1995. "It can help you with balance, maintain more flexibility and adapts to each person as they practice to reach their own goals."

Liebman said the exercise format is done as one continuous and slow motion. He said many people find that in addition to exercise, tai chi offers "quality of life" benefits with improved concentration, an increased sense of well-being, decreased feelings of stress, more energy and better posture and circulation.

He said the class period begins by actually focusing on the tai chi, eliminating exertion, using consistent movement and speed and practicing the forms. When he can, Liebman, who has studied karate and other martial arts, said he may spend as much as three hours a day practicing tai chi.

Both Liebman and McAndrews said the hardest part is training the body to relax and let it flow with the movements. They said it is hard to remember all the movements at first. But it is much like learning to read - first you have to learn the alphabet. The object is to achieve coordinated, fluid, whole-body movement.

"It takes time, passion and patience," McAndrews said. "It is not a quick fix. You get out of it what you put in."

"And it requires a certain amount of motivation," Liebman said. "I ask that (those taking the class) make a commitment for 100 days."

How does tai chi compare to other exercises? Sifu (instructor) Jose Mendoza of the Chinese Martial Arts Academy in West Des Moines [Iowa], said tai chi is a safe and effective life-long method of exercise and relaxation for almost everyone, young or old, athletic or not.

"What I tell my students is there are many other sports, but the nice thing about tai chi is that it harmonizes body and mind," he said. "The movements are soft and relaxed, communicating with the body and muscles, and this accomplishes many things."

Mendoza said it is good for circulation and deep breathing, as well as the meditative aspect. He said the slow movements, which can be done at various speeds, give a cardio-vascular effect using the whole body with much the same effect as doing aerobics. He said martial arts are an ideal form of training, but no matter what format is used for training, there is always a mental aspect.

Tai chi is the soft internal form of martial arts, said Mendoza who teaches Shaolin boxing, Lama Kung Fu, praying mantis, weaponry, contemporary Wu Shu and tai chi. Mendoza said the martial art of Tai Chi Chuan originated in China and can be traced back about 2,000 years. Most tai chi, as it is practiced in the West today, is more like a moving form of yoga and meditation. It is primarily used for relaxation and health benefits. In China, tens of thousands go to local parks and do tai chi early each morning.

The Chinese characters for Tai Chi Chuan can be translated as the "Supreme Ultimate Fist," Mendoza said. The movements used in Tai Chi are derived from the martial arts and, perhaps even more basic than that, from the natural movements of animals and birds. The emphasis in Tai Chi is on being able to channel potentially destructive energy (in the form of a kick or a punch) away from one in a manner that will dissipate the energy or send it in a direction where it is no longer a danger.

It has been said that whoever practices tai chi diligently, twice a day over a period of years, will attain the pliability of a child, the health of a lumberjack and the peace of mind of a sage. Mendoza said that is true.

"In Chinese philosophy and medicine there exists the concept of chi, a vital force that animates the body," Mendoza said. "One of the aims of tai chi is to foster the circulation of chi within the body, the belief being that by doing so the health and vitality of the person are enhanced."
Master Yong Chin Pak, the ISU instructor of martial arts, said tai chi is very good for the elderly. He highly recommends it.

"Young people are hot blooded and they like the harder martial arts, but for the elderly, the movements of tai chi are very smooth and slow," he said. "There are good health benefits. The problem in Ames is we have not had good continuity for a program."

Ken Sills agrees that the continuity has not been available, and hopes the program through the parks and recreation department will provide that. Sills, a teacher of tae kwon do at Ames Racquet and Fitness Club, took a beginning tai chi class a few years ago at the Octagon Center for the Arts.

Sills still uses the basic knowledge of tai chi that he learned at the Octagon in the mornings to "gather himself together." He said tai chi is an excellent martial art that people of any age can do, even if they have physical limitations.

" There are a variety of martial arts, and any of those are going to be good for you because they help you to focus mentally, and physically it helps with flexibility, balance and discipline," he said. "Even though it looks easy, there is a challenge to it - especially if you are doing (the form) Needle at the Bottom of the Sea. You have to reach way down in a low stance. For me, it is a different kind of (martial art), but excellent."

Class openings for both beginning and intermediate tai chi are still available at the Ames Community Center. Call 239-5360 [Located in Ames Iowa in mid-Iowa] for more information on class schedules.

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