About six years ago I began to study tai chi. When I began, I had already been studying karate for several years, but my instructor encouraged me to add tai chi to enhance my martial arts abilities even further. It seemed interesting to me from the very beginning, but I was totally unprepared for what I have received. What I have learned is far beyond anything I ever expected.
Tai chi is a martial art that takes you through a series of very slow movements. You have probably seen people do it on TV commercials to advertise arthritis medicine. It seems rather strange and exotic for people who have never been around it. And because it is so slow and easy going, it seems like it would be very easy to do. But I assure you, it is actually a very powerful and practical form of exercise.
When I first started practicing these moves it was quite awkward. It is amazing the amount of strength and balance it takes. But as I practiced over the next several months and years, I began to notice a number of things begin to happen in my body. I began to develop greater leg strength. My balance improved. I gained better posture. I began to be able to control and conserve energy. I gained more powerful breath support and control. I also saw my ability to concentrate become stronger.
If you did a deep examination of tai-chi training, these things should really be expected because of the nature of the exercise. But there is one other thing that has happened in my experience that, even to this day, I continue to marvel about. No matter how far I seem to progress, there seems to be further to go. I make a major advance and think I am mastering the art and, behold, a whole new level unfolds before me. This has happened so many times that I have come to believe that there is no limit to the amount of progress I can make. As I have discussed this with my instructor, he has assured me that this is so.
Now, this is a significant realization, and is particularly helpful with an activity like tai-chi, where the movements are so slow. In our fast-paced society, slow is very difficult. In fact, many people who start tai-chi don