World Tai Chi and Qigong Day - 2005

You are invited to join Sifu Tom Gohring for World Tai Chi and Qigong Day. Over 60 countries from all over the world practice Tai Chi and Qigong at 10am in their time zone so that there is a continuous unbroken flow of Chi flowing around the world.

When: Saturday, April 30th - - Exactly 10am
Where: Festival Beach at Town Lake, Austin
What: There will be many other schools so wear your Black School T-shirt, comfortable pants and shoes and look for others dressed the same. We will form our own group led my Sifu and start practicing at Exactly 10am.

COMING FROM: NORTH AUSTIN
1) Take I - 35 South
2) Take Exit 233- toward TOWN LAKE/RIVERSIDE DR ..
3) After you exit, move to the far Right lane.
4) Stay straight on the access road and the Holiday Inn will be coming up on your right)
5) You will see a sign that says "Town Lake-->" that points to a road on the right. Take this road. 6) Follow this road (slowly) as it curves to the left and you go under the bridge
7) Make an immediate RIGHT TURN onto FESTIVAL BEACH RD.  

COMING FROM: SOUTH AUSTIN
1. I-35 North
2. Take Exit 233B-C toward TOWN LAKE/HOLLY ST.
4. Turn RIGHT onto FLORES ST. (0.05 miles)
5. Turn RIGHT onto WALLER ST. (0.08 miles)
6. Turn LEFT onto FESTIVAL BEACH RD. (0.27 miles) 

Map:

Tom Gohring's School of Tai Chi and Chinese Kung Fu
6611 Airport Blvd., Austin, TX 78752 • 512-422-4245 • www.taichitom.com

Pics from Event:

Tom Gohring's School of Tai Ch

Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Austinites spread positive energy

More than 100 people help transfer chi around the globe at Town Lake

Transferring energy - chi - from east to west, people around the world gathered Saturday at 10 a.m. and motioned in unison. The chi began its travel in New Zealand and circled around the world to Hawaii as part of the celebration of the eighth annual World Tai Chi Day, which maintains the theory that chi is traveling around the world.

Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art, originated more than 20 generations ago with Buddhist and Taoist monks. According to Stan Rossi, a sifu, or Tai Chi master, the flow of energy throughout the body and the practice of slow, controlled, expansive movements improves mental and physical health.

World Tai Chi Day was observed in Austin at Festival Beach on Town Lake where more than 100 people participated. Three strikes to a gong on a picnic table marked the start of the form. Participants gathered the chi from the east, and after a 25 minute form, the group sent energy further west.

Rossi notified around 50 different martial arts schools in the area to pass "unseen, intrinsic life-force chi." He said the rain kept some people from coming out. For the past two years they were "plagued by the rainy weather," but both years the rain stopped before the form was scheduled and began again when it was over.

Inclement weather did not stop Tai Chi student Donna Minshew from arriving early. Practicing "religiously" for eight years, she said rain is a part of nature, and she practices outside year-round.

Minshew said she read articles in health magazines about the benefits of Tai Chi that interested her. But it was not until she watched her grandmother suffer from cancer that she began practicing it. She said she believes Tai Chi can prevent illness.

"Working in a preschool, it's easy to get sick from one of the kids," Minshew said. "While my co-workers are out being sick, I have only taken one sick day in seven years."

Minshew said she also believes that Tai Chi helped her body after she gave birth to her first son. Both of Minshew's children are enrolled in Shuai Chiao, another form of martial arts.

"Anyone can do it, and I believe it is something everyone should do to help their life," Minshew said.

Other benefits of Tai Chi, according to Rossi, include improved concentration, mental clarity, posture, reduction of everyday stress and increased balance and strength.

"It is a healing art and it uses the internal life force to travel through the meridians," Rossi said. "It improves the free flow of the life force and strengthens all of the body."

Breast cancer survivor Marie Carmel said she believes in the medicinal power of Tai Chi and has practiced for the last 10 years. Diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago, Carmel underwent various medical treatments, yet her illness reoccurred several times over the years. Once the cancer spread to her liver, she was told she had two years to live.

"For 1,000 days I put all my emotional and physical strength into practicing [Tai Chi]," Carmel said. "I tell people I am practicing Tai Chi because it is using my life force to strengthen and heal my body and mind."

Carmel said she credits her "perfectly good health" in some part to advancements in medicine but said she believes the combination of Tai Chi and acupuncture removed her cancer entirely.

"Concentration on motion and breathing patterns are important in Tai Chi," Rossi said. "Focusing on your entire body simultaneously with your breath and maintaining a straight posture between heaven and earth, you harmonize your inner and outer self."

i and Qigong

T'ai Chi - mind, body and soul

Tai chi is a form of moving meditation by doing sequences of movements with slow soft and graceful transitions between them © Leah-Anne Thompson

Discover the health benefits of T'ai Chi.

Exercise isn't simply about getting in shape. Keeping fit has positive mental health benefits too. And one of the most effective methods of getting our mind and body in harmony and working efficiently is the ancient Chinese art of T'ai Chi.

Dating back at least 700 years, T'ai Chi is a martial art which was devised from the movements of animals and birds and which is performed slowly and gracefully, using smooth and even movements.

It has been described as a combination of moving yoga and meditation, and can be practised by all age groups, and fitness levels. In fact many of the Tai Chi movements can even be adapted to wheelchair users. Although, to be on the safe side, you should check with your doctor if you are in any doubt before starting any programme of physical exercise.

Many gyms, local leisure centres and alternative therapy clinics now hold classes, just look in your local Yellow Pages for details of classes near you. No special clothing is required, any clothing you can move freely in is suitable, and T'ai Chi classes are generally made up of a mix of men and women as it is thought to be beneficial to have a mix of Yin (female) and Yang (male) energy within a class.

The Chinese believe there exists something called Chi, a vital force that animates the body. One of the main goals of T'ai Chi is to increase the Chi in your body, enhancing health and vitality. Chi is said to move through your body in patterns that are closely related to the nervous and blood system, and so is closely connected to the Chinese practice of acupuncture and other oriental healing arts.

Another aim of T'ai Chi is to promote a calm and tranquil mind that allows you to focus only on the execution of the moves. And these moves will not only tone your body, they will also help improve your balance and alignment, making you better at standing, walking and running, by correcting poor posture or movement patterns which can cause tension and even injury.

As well as the physical benefits, the meditative nature of the exercises is calming and relaxing, which is invaluable in the high stress hectic world which many of us inhabit.

Although many of the exercises and movements are solitary and non-contact, there are two-person exercises called 'push-hands' which foster the idea of being sensitive to and responsive of another person's 'chi' or vital energy. It is also an opportunity to use some of the martial aspects of Tai Chi in a kind of slow-tempo combat.

So, what are you waiting for? Take the oriental route to and fit and healthy body and mind.

6611 Airport Blvd. • Austin, TX • 78752 • 512-422-4245 • www.taichitom.com