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Tai Chi is a superb 'discipline' for your coming elder years; and come they will, before you know it. It also serves as a balancing compliment to Yoga by giving you 'space and time' to attend to your sense of dynamic balance and perhaps watch the void. Balance is such a serious issue, especially as you age; old age and a declining sense of balance creep up on everyone as they age. Balance, like flexibility, decline so gradually (yet inexorably) that folks fail to notice it before it's too late. It this going to happen to you?
What ever your physical problem may be today, be assured it will only get worse. We all seem to notice age related physical decline in other people, but oddly we have difficulty realizing, in a timely manner, that the same fate awaits us. Tai Chi, probably more than any other activity, is a moving meditation, which carries with it the benefits of sitting meditation… plus it offers us the opportunity to become more body-aware in movement.
Learning Tai Chi
Video's of Tai Chi seem to be filmed 'as is', and not as a 'mirror image'. The Ching Ma Cheng book recommended here shows the movements in mirror image and describes what to do in detail. I personally feel the 'mirror image' version is easier to grasp. We are thinking about making a 'mirror image' DVD of the Tai Chi routine which would accompany Mr. Cheng's book. Nevertheless, Terrence Dunn's DVD is excellent learning tool. You can always turn down the volume, put the player on slow-mo and just imitate what you see. Repeat a few movements as best you can until you have a general sense of where the feet (especially) and hands go, and then 'chew off' a few more moments. Of course you'll be doing it 'backwards'. This isn't a problem for you will want to learn to do it on the 'other side' anyway, after you learn it on the first side. Doing Tai Chi on both sides is more in line with Yoga. Apparently Tai Chi is often taught the same way as a martial art's kata, i.e., only one side.
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