I attend my first tai chi session in Great River Park in East Hartford, where the Connecticut River glistens in the sunlight.
The slow-moving martial art of tai chi is well-known for its capacity to fortify the body and the mind. Additionally, it’s not like any exercise class I’ve ever attended.
On a recent weekend, my instructor, Malee Khow, started the class with a series of slow, beautiful exercises that call for balance and control.
She starts yelling motions. The delicate grace of a flower in the breeze is used to illustrate shun shun tui zhou, or push the boat downstream.
We also experience other forms, such as tui chuang wang yue, which translates to “push the window open to look at the moon,” and peng niao zhan chi, which is also known as a roc spreading its wings. Lao Wen Fu Ran, which translates as “the god of longevity strokes his beard,” is an unusual movement.
At first glance, the dance appears to be very easy, yet maintaining a stance while controlling the limbs’ sluggish flow requires a significant amount of energy. It differs from Pilates and yoga.
Khow devotes a lot of attention to the dantien.
She claims that Dantien is the core of your body and that it possesses the chi and energy.
I feel beneath my navel. According to Khow, that is where the dantien is, therefore I try to perceive it by breathing in and out. I just feel my belly and think kind, nonjudgmental thoughts to it for the time being.
Khow claims that dancing is really lovely and that you can use [tai chi] for exercise as well as self-defense.
It is undoubtedly lovely when Khow moves. Me? I feel a little unsteady as I fumble to go smoothly from one motion to the next. Beside me, East Hartford resident Dan Thompson is also making his first foray into tai chi.
Thompson, 70, describes Khow as having a body similar to that of a dancer. She is skilled at what she does. as well as decades of experience. This is a goal to aim toward. I’ll be practicing flawless tai chi when I’m ninety.
Wendy Kwalwasser from Hartford is also present.
“I’m 75 years old today,” she says.
She frequently attends these Riverfront Recapture sessions.
According to Kwalwasser, this location along the river is really breathtaking. I try to visit as frequently as I can.
