Post 4- Tai Chi Qi-Gong

On Wednesday I participated in a Tai Chi class and I learned about all the different schools of Tai Chi. There are many different kinds of schools (styles) of Tai Chi and they each have different forms (series of movements that are choreographed into one piece). Sandy, my Tai Chi instructor, told us that there are four or five primary forms that each have similar movements in them, but that in each form the movements are put in a different order. We have no actually started a Tai Chi form but instead we are working on a series of movement called “the three treasures.” “The three treasures” are technically Qi-Gong and not Tai Chi. Qi-Gong just refers to the practice of concentrated breath in coordination with physical movement. The practice of Qi-Gong prepares you for the Tai Chi forms. Sandy refers to Tai Chi and Qi-Gong as “meditation in movement.” She told me that the monks in ancient China who invented Tai Chi Qi-Gong did so because their bodies were tired of sitting all day. The monks wanted to fuse their meditation with movement and thus they invented the deliberate practice of Tai Chi Qi-Gong. Ezgi did not participate because she pulled her hamstring last week however, Dr. Mike, an alternative medicine doctor who specializes in acupressure and acupuncture, tried to health her leg with acupressure. Acupressure seems really painful since the specialist doing the acupressure pushes very hard on different pressure points in the body. Ezgi had a couple bruises and too our disappointment it did not seem to help her leg at all.