Tai Chi
Tai Chi classes are based at Petersham Community Hall, Briar Gate in Long Eaton
Tai Chi & Qigong
For our friends from Petersham Hall we’re offering free Tai Chi and Qigong exercise meet-ups via Zoom during the enforced isolation, due to the Coronavirus outbreak. These sessions are bespoke to this group of individuals who have been working with Chris in these groups.
For all: Also a series of videos available on YouTube with demonstrations of the Tai Chi / Qigong sequences and clips with practice tips. Check our Facebook page, info below and emails for further details.
What is Tai Chi and Qigong? How can they help me to stay physically and mentally healthy during isolation?
Tai Chi
A gentle yet powerful form of mind and body exercise which is beneficial for mental and physical health. It can be performed standing or seated and doesn’t need much space to do! The movements are linked together in a sequence and are performed slowly. Many of our class attendees say how practicing tai chi helps them to be more mindful and cope with their worries and stresses.
The two styles of tai chi which we’ll be practicing are:
Yang: This is a graceful and flowing form of tai chi which has some twisting movements. We advise that you don’t attempt this style if you have a knee injury or musculoskeletal condition such as Osteoarthritis. Also if you have severe difficulty with your balance as some sequences involve standing on one leg. Sun style tai chi is much more suitable in this instance for people with musculoskeletal conditions, such as osteoarthritis.
Sun: The stances are more upright and contained with smaller movements in Sun style tai chi. There’s no twisting movements and when the body turns it’s with the weight off the standing leg. We’ll be practicing Dr Lam’s Tai Chi for Arthritis program. This program has been proven to improve balance and prevent falls. Also improving joint mobility, muscle strength and sense of wellbeing.
You might have seen the doctors and nurses practicing Qigong with Coronavirus patients in the hospitals in China during early media coverage of the outbreak. Qigong is similar to Tai Chi and believed to help boost vitality to help strengthen the immune system. The aim being to enhance health and prevent illness rather than treating disease. The slow and gentle movements are similar to Tai Chi, except they’re performed in a standing or seated position, without walking around.
Our intention is to help you to stay mentally and physically healthy during this period of isolation. We do however advise that taking part in these practices are entirely at your own risk under these current circumstances.
We’ll be adding more content to our social media to help with your Tai Chi and Qigong practice during the coming weeks.
Tai Chi: Yang 8
Yang 16
Tai Chi is good for everyone. It has been shown to prevent falls, improve mobility and balance and reduce pain in arthritis. We offer Tai Chi classes for complete beginners as well as those with experience.
Our Tai Chi classes have a maximum of 15 students and are led by Chris, our holistic Physiotherapist. The classes have been designed to be taught in a step-wise manner, breaking down the tai chi movements into smaller steps, whilst learning the sequence.
You’ll learn one or two new movements each week as we build the routine, practising what we’ve learnt before.
Fees
The cost of a course of classes is £60 for a 12 week term. The cost is then £5 for each class on a pay as you go basis, which we ask you to pre-book to ensure your place in that class.
New students
To join one of our classes, please contact us. We offer taster sessions throughout the year.
To join one of our classes, please contact us. We offer taster sessions throughout the year.
Tai Chi Class Timetable
Monday
No classes
Tuesday
Arthritis Part 2: 09:00 – 10:00 (Chris)
Wednesday
No classes
Thursday
Yang 8 10:00 – 11:00 (Chris)
Yang 16 11:15 – 12:15 (Chris)
Sun 73 12:30 – 13:30 (Chris)
Friday
No classes
Where are the classes?
Classes are based at Petersham Community Hall, Briar Gate in Long Eaton
The roots of Tai Chi
The roots of tai chi were established thousands of years ago in China, from which it has evolved into 4 main styles (Chen, Yang, Sun and Wu). Each style has distinct characteristics and set sequences of movements, which are familiar to tai chi practitioners throughout the world.
Each style has distinct characteristics and set sequences of movements, which are familiar to tai chi practitioners throughout the world.
Is Tai Chi good for me?
Tai chi is good for every body and shown to have many health benefits in clinical research studies. Founder of the Tai Chi for Health Institute, Dr Paul Lam, found that practicing tai chi helped his arthritis symptoms. He has since developed several tai
He has since developed several tai chi for health programs to make the benefits of tai chi accessible for all.
Although the programme has been shown in research to be beneficial for its use within Arthritis, the programme is also beneficial for anyone.
Classes are based at Petersham Community Hall, Briar Gate in Long Eaton
Your Tai Chi Instructor, Chris Davenport
The classes are instructed by our holistic physiotherapist, Chris Davenport. He is certified by the Tai Chi for Health Institute to instruct their tai chi programs. Each class includes warm-up and cool down exercises.
The tai chi movements are taught in small steps, making them easy to learn. You will learn just one or two new tai chi movements at each class during the first term.
Which class should I join?
Class sizes are limited to 15 participants and previous tai chi experience isn’t necessary. You just need to wear clothing that you can move around in easily and gym shoes.
Each new term runs for a course of 12 weeks, to ensure attendees have a consistent period of time to learn the tai chi movements. Once attendees have learnt the movements; we offer a second term on a pay as you go basis, to help with practice and integrating tai chi principles.
The Yang style classes have movements which involve standing on one leg. This is good to challenge balance however; you might prefer to join the Tai Chi for Arthritis class if you’re unsteady when standing on one leg.
Tai Chi for Arthritis (Part 1)
This class is based on the Sun style of tai chi. This class is beneficial for people who might not be able to do other types of exercise, due to their arthritis symptoms.
The Tai Chi for Arthritis program has been shown in research studies to help prevent falls, improve mobility, balance and reduce pain in people who have arthritis.
Tai Chi for Arthritis (Part 2)
Once attendees are confident with the movements taught in the first part of the Tai Chi for Arthritis program and are becoming familiar with the tai chi principles, they can learn more advanced movements in this part 2 class, which follows on from the first part of the program.
Yang Style
Yang style is a graceful and flowing style of tai chi, which is suitable for most people. We do advise however, that people with knee pain consider the tai chi for arthritis program as an alternative. This is due to some of the movements involving turning on the foot, which can increase strain at the knee when learning the movements.
Classes have been designed to be taught in a step-wise manner, breaking down the tai chi movements into smaller steps, whilst learning the sequence.
FAQs
The cost of a course of classes is £60 for a 12 week term.
When the 12 weeks is up, the cost is £5 for each class on a pay as you go basis, which we ask you to pre-book to ensure your place in that class.
To join one of our classes, please contact us. We offer taster sessions throughout the year
Classes are held at Petersham Community Hall, Briar Gate in Long Eaton.
Our Tai Chi classes:
Monday
No classes
Tuesday
Arthritis Part 2: 09:00 – 10:00 (Chris)
Wednesday
No classes
Thursday
Yang 8 10:00 – 11:00 (Chris)
Yang 16 11:15 – 12:15 (Chris)
Sun 73 12:30 – 13:30 (Chris)
Friday
No classes
Classes last an hour.
You just need to wear clothing that you can move around in easily and gym shoes.
The classes have been designed to be taught in a step-wise manner, breaking down the tai chi movements into smaller steps, whilst learning the sequence. You’ll learn one or two new movements each week as we build the routine, practicing what we’ve learnt before.
Tai Chi Reviews
The whole experience is welcoming and informative. By understanding why I am being asked to do the exercises to get me walking again enabled me to proactively work with the physio to get me going again. The Tai Chi is fabulous. It helps me focus and gently build up my muscles reducing the risk of trips and falls. There has been an amazing improvement from day one
