I'm thinking about getting started in Tai Chi...

My 16 yr old son that has Asperger's - we're looking at entering him in this class to give him an area of "control" and a kind of meditation.

I'm planning on taking the class with him 1. so I can keep an eye on him, and 2. so I can get in shape.

but I've got to admit I'm really worried about getting started again. It's been over 20 yrs and almost 100 lbs since I've been involved in any sort of martial arts.

Any tips?

I took Tai Chi for a number of years. I'm sure you will find it rewarding. Don't let the first few classes discourage you. Tai Chi is more about co-ordination and control than force. Like anything it takes practice. I found a lot of students became frustrated because their moves weren't perfect the first time out or they became directionally lost (for lack of a better term) during a movement. Each time you see the instructor perform the move you learn something new. Repetition is key. Have fun Michelle !

Great advise M.E.!

I think the last statement sums it up for me. Have fun Michelle! The other thing to make sure you don't get caught in the trap of doing is comparing yourself to anyone else in the class.

As your teacher should tell you, perform to what is comfortable with your body. Tai Chi is about understanding your body and each of us are individuals.

I also think it's a great thing you're doing for your son! If there's anything we can help here, please let us know. Take your time finding the right school, one that is willing to work with you and that you feel in comfort with the teacher. Make sure they understand the situation too, so they know how to treat your son. There's a few articles up on the site to help find schools:
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I say just jump right into it. Since you have had the background your body will get used to it faster than you realize. Just make sure you can make it a routine.

I'm dyyyyyyyyying!!!!

We just had our first class tonight. ow ow ow ow ow

We started off with "simple" stretches and movements - these things are not natural! I used to dance way back when, and my body keeps wanting to go in the opposite directio of wht the teacher says.

I hear my bathtub with lots of epsom salts calling.....

I know what you mean,I had a similar experiance, I did some stomach crunches, and I was like a baby!

Tai Chi is a very good routine for the entire body. Just stick with it, Michelle - you'll be fine and will love the results.

Hehe just keep at it and dont get discouraged! Everything is really hard at the start but once you do it long enough you'll get better!

You were doing Tai chi and your body hurt? Hm. You may be tensing too much. I use to dance too and the two actually should compliment one another in terms of movement. Don't stop, but definitely pay attention to your body, you may not be moving as "oppositely" as you think you are.

One of the unique things about Tai Chi is that it is very much a statement of what our bodies are and each person's mechanics are slightly different.

DH and I ordered a tai chi DVD and last night we tried it out. I had no experience with tai chi and DH had done some classes about 15 years ago.

So while I found my left/right dyslexia to be a problem, I just 'went with it' and followed along as best I could. I know it will fall into place as I keep it up. DH looked good doing it!

I didn't find it tiring at all - very relaxing movements. It felt good when I got a movement correctly done - i felt graceful. But for a large part I was lost ('what IS he doing???').

This was the Tai Chi Beginning Practice DVD with David-Dorian Ross. Nice setting in the aspens in Colorado.

This is off post and I apologize but couldn't resist...Jill, you have trouble telling your right hand from your left? Join the club! I have never been able to figure out which hand is which, so that all of my friends know that if I am giving directions they have to watch which hand I wave, not listen to my words!

I found out that it is all my Mother's fault! (Don't you love it when you can blame your mother?) Children learn right from left during a narrow window of opportunity when they are around 4, and if they don't learn it then, they never will! I am living proof of that.

Sorry...back to Tai Chi!

OMG. YES! Left and right may as well not exist in my mind. Yet I have a good sense of Port and Starboard.

I think being slightly dyslexic does not help. Also I am left handed, but not for everything. arg.

Jilly, I feel for you. I have the same issue with my left and right. Someone told me the whole "make an L" with your hand trick and I went and flipped my hand over and said, "Okay, now the other one is an L. I'm confused."

It's even harder when you're doing it to a DVD and trying to follow along. I think for me the key in Tai Chi is just make sure whatever you do on one side, you balance it out somewhere along the line and do it with the other side (regardless of if it's right or left or front or back).

Good news - I found a local tai chi class. Dh and I are planning to take it next monday (unless my parents come to town for a visit). Looking forward to it!

Great news! If your parents come to town you should take them with you =). Tai Chi is great for people of all ages. Let us know what you think of your class after Monday =).

It's summer time here and almost time for my style's International Conference and getting excited again as I think this year I might actually be able to go! Woot.

Keep practicing the routine a little bit at a time. As you practice, the moves eventually become habitual. It takes a little time for new neural pathways to form. Practice every day at least five to ten minutes. Do what you can remember and keep practicing. Just like dance moves; the Tai Chi moves become part of you. We all hope that you are doing well.

Michelle keep at it, all the moves will come, I have taken Tai Chi and I loved it, it was easier to follow woth a teacher rather than a DVD, I did that too.

I have arthritis and am very stiff all the time, I feel very "fluid" when I am done and I sleep like a baby. It is very slow and my instructor has me addicted to Japanese music. Closing eyes and relaxing.

Mary Caliendo

I want to get back into Tai Chi. It has been at least 20 years since I took classes. I once had a diagram of each of the steps. It was very well illustrated with descriptions and I cannot find it. Does anyone know where I can get another?

You might be thinking of "Tai Chi:The Supreme Ultimate" by T T Liang and Lawrence Galante. There is another one I have but it's in the loft, at the back, under about 200 other books........

"We just had our first class tonight. ow ow ow ow ow"

Don't want to worry you but I still hurt from Tuesday Ninja training - mind you I've only been doing it 15 years or so. We also train on a wooden floor with no mats and there were a few very enthusiastic beginners too which may have something to do with it.

I will check that out, Ian. Thanks. The pages I had were copied from a book and I did not know the title.

My instructor was from China. He was in an exchange program at the college where I worked. We became so attached to him and were very sad when he went back home after one year. His teachings still are with me, not the steps so much, but his own personal comments and motivating phrases.

The only thing I could not do in Tai Chi was that one step where you have to jump and switch the leg you were standing on. The rest of it came fairly easy for me. Of course, I am much older now....hmmm....this will not be easy for me.

Timing, flow, and balance are far more important than 'flashy" techniques. Work on those and everything will come together also remember "If you do not breath correctly you will not move correctly" and vice versa.

Michelle, I love Tai Chi, and I am an old gal who went way past chubby years ago. That said, I have felt tired after class, but I never hurt.

For different information about Tai Chi, check out the website for Center States Tai Chi. This guy, Kim Kanzelberger, is the best teacher of any discipline that I have ever seen.

My son, who has AS, used to take Karate. Now he has found Capoeira. It mixes martial arts, music, and acrobatics. The structure is a natural social setting. Maybe if your son enjoys Tai Chi, he might want to try Capoeira.

On the ADD site, there are some articles in the Improve Symptoms subject about martial arts and ADD.

Stick with it. This can be a wonderful thing for you and your son.

Connie

I just found this thread and I'm glad to see the discussion of tai chi.

I started out with a qigong class and then found a tai chi class at my local YMCA. The gigong are the energy exercises which open the meridians and are very easy to do but you feel so much better after you've dong about a half hour. This is easy to find on CD and do at home.

The tai chi instructor at the Y is wonderful. He is very exacting but we are learning so much.

For whoever said they hurt afterward. Your instructor should be stressing the total relaxing of the muscles while doing the moves. There should be no stress or tension in the body and you should only go as far in any stretch as your body can do. It gets easier with time. It's about flow and not muscle strength and tension.

Our instructor offers a beginner class and a more advanced class so in the beginner one he's always going over basics and no one gets lost in it.

Yes, the breathing is so important. I cannot find my step by step visionary guide. Do you know where I can find one?

PS: I just read back a few posts and saw again your suggestion on Liang's book. I will look that up in Amazon. Thanks, Ian.

Phyllis, a "jump to switch" is dependent upon the style/background of the Tai Chi you practice. There are some that are vigorous than others. You may want to look at a Yang with a 101 Simplified. There's no jumping in that.