Taoist Tai Chi: The journey begins with January open houses

The new year brings new opportunity to boost health and wellbeing by embarking on the Taoist Tai Chi path, beginning with the open houses planned for January. There will be three open houses with the presentation beginning Jan. 5 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., followed by the third on Saturday Jan. 10 at 10:30 a.m.

With three open houses accommodating many schedules, the goal is to make it accessible to everyone that may be interested in experiencing the art. Taoist Tai Chi arts will be of interest to anyone of any age and any ability and the benefits of beginning are many.

The open house will begin with a little bit of history about the organization. “We talk about how we are currently organized worldwide and how Canada is organized, how this branch is organized. It’s pretty brief, just touching on things, who we are and what we do and that we are a registered charity,” said Grant Dillman, Stratford branch leader.

There among the curious onlookers will be seasoned participants who have been practicing anywhere from four months to 40 years to demonstrate a demo set, which is a shortened version of the typical 108 moves that comprise Taoist Tai Chi practice.

“We are also going to demonstrate and practice with the visitors the first two foundations and a couple of moves just so they have a flavour of what it is. There is no expectation of anybody, it is an opportunity to try for themselves,” said Dillman.

The open houses will be attractive to anyone curious about learning more. It is referred to as a path because there is always opportunity to learn more.

The path begins in a friendly environment recognizing that everyone is different and comes with their own challenges. The gentle methodical movements of the set are not meant to bring pain, rather alleviate it. Balance improves with time, as does flexibility and memory of the moves. This is a non-competitive art form, unlike other forms of martial arts. This transformational path takes time, practice and community.

“There are no belts, or stars, we just do what we can. There’s no expectation that you will know it, or remember it, but you can do it because you’re working with a group,” said Dillman. “We have these sessions so that we can share what we know and people can see what we do and learn from it.”

Going forward with the journey, there will be three introductory sessions to choose from beginning the following week: Monday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. or 7 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 17 at 10:30 a.m.

Start your journey to better health and wellbeing by coming to the open house. Registration will be available at the open house. The Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism, Stratford Branch is located at 670 Ontario St., Stratford.