CHEN STYLE TAIJIQUAN PRACTICAL METHOD TESTIMONIAL
JAN GOULD and ROSS McLACHLAN, October 2018, Phoenix
The following is the testimonial of two retired septuagenarians (70s) who discovered Tai Chi at a crucial time in their lives. You might say that Tai Chi was their life saver.
TIMING
Five years ago, Jan was recuperating from a fractured left ankle. Ross was recovering muscle/core strength to support six bulging and deteriorating lower vertebrae from the affects of osteoarthritis and inflamed sciatica. Even though Jan was given a clean bill of health from her orthopedic specialist, she knew that her ankle would never be the same again. Likewise, Ross’ 45 minute daily exercise/stretching routine provided freedom from pain (without medication) and mobility, it was obvious that decades of muscle skeletal bad habits and 10 years of arthritis called for more aggressive action. Jan was taking a weekly Yin Yoga and Senior Silver Sneakers exercise classes, but she too realized that it was time to move to something more challenging.
REMEDY
Ping Wei had been talking to both of us about the benefits of Practical Method Tai Chi and we realized that this may lead us to a healthier quality of life that we both desired. Doing nothing was not an option.
Our training began slowly due primarily to our health issues. As our strength improved, so did the rapidity of Tai Chi skills. As we like to say “we taught Ping how to teach Tai Chi to seniors.” What we mean by this statement is that working with us helped Ping to develop a system of warm-up exercises followed by interspersing fundamentals with various similar styled movements, and then putting them together in the form. It also became obvious to us that our strength was improving, our balance was steadier, and that we were learning to live in the moment and totally concentrating on the activity at hand.
MOTIVATION AND RESULTS
With improvement came a desire for more classes each week and above all, an even healthier life. After five years, we agree that all the benefits that Ping had told us about had become a reality, but with a realization that they we were a work in progress. We are now using our bodies the way they were designed to work. As we go about our daily lives, it never ceases to amaze us the bad muscle skeletal movements, habits, and resulting consequences people accept as the course of normal life. We stress that we started together, struggled together; motivated each other, and most importantly, we never gave up. We were consistent and persistent.
After steady practice, multiple classes (4-5) each week, the results were not instantaneous, but cumulative and well worth it. As we both testify: “we are stronger, more flexible, more focused all due to the Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method program and our instructor, Ping Wei. We have come a long way and the path forward will be a life-long endeavor.”
