Age

How old are you?
That is an easy question to answer. But it is just a number. Consider instead your age relative to the people around you or people you see in your everyday life. Do you look old for your age? Are you flexible? Strong? Supple? Do you get out of breath? Are you happy?

How old is your body?
People start tai chi most weeks of the year. We see a lot of new starters. Over the years the physical condition of the intake has changed. It has worsened. Quite often young people start class with poor physical health; raised, tense shoulders, stooping, poor balance, stiff joints, tense muscles, poor motor skills and limited flexibility. These are appalling health conditions for a 20 year old. The individual may well be 20 but their body is not. Their body is old.

How should a young person move?
This is an interesting question. There should be a sense of ease. No struggling, grunting or groaning, no pain in the back or the knees. The body responds instantly to the dictates of the mind. A young person is spontaneous and free.

How does an older person move?
Their steps are often very heavy and their legs are locked and immobile. There is a sense of clumsiness. People frequently walk in an agitated manner; over-striding and erratic. The lower back is inflexible and the sacroiliac does not move correctly. The back is stooped, the neck stiff and the hands are tight.

Animal kingdom
Have you ever seen a tense cat? Or a pumped-up cat with big bulging biceps and tiny legs? It isn't likely. Animals only get stiff when they're really old and about to die. Muscles work better when they aren't tense. Humans become tense because they sit too much, exercise badly and exert unnecessarily.

Ideal form of exercise
According to the book The Blue Zones it is important to think of exercise in terms of what you can reasonably do long-term. The ideal form of exercise is moderate enough that you can do it for the rest of your life. It needs to be joint-friendly, provide a gentle workout and be sustainable. This sounds rather like tai chi, doesn't it?

Tai chi
Tai chi re-trains the body to move like it is supposed to move. Like an animal would. No tension, no impediments. Free, spontaneous, comfortable movement. Sure, not all tai chi classes do this. Everyone has their own agenda. But trained correctly, tai chi was designed to restore the body to its natural, healthy state.

You get to choose
How well you do and how far you can rejuvenate your body is down to you. It is your responsibility. The more you put into the training the more you will get out of it.