Learning to relax
Stiff joints or poor blood circulation may be reason to seek help from a doctor, but for practitioners of Tai Chi, the Chinese "soft" martial art, traditional Western medicine isn't the only way to try to solve one's health problems.
Joanna Grabarek, an instructor at the Taoist Tai Chi Society in Poland, said practicing the art has an unlimited number of health advantages.
"For instance, it regulates the blood circulation, improves the functioning of the lungs, teaches us how to walk and how to hold ourselves well," she said.
Grabarek, who has been practicing Taoist Tai Chi for about two years, led a group of 16 new students last Tuesday through the first few moves of the art's 108-step sequence. The club, which meets in a rented gymnasium on ulica Paska in Zoliborz, charges zl. 54 for three months of training. During the two-hour class, Grabarek introduced the basic tenets of Tai Chi.
"Let's behave as one group and make all movements at the same time ... now concentrate on our joints... try to relax ... and remember ... the joints cannot be blocked," Grabarek said.
The Taoist Tai Chi Society was founded by Master Moy Lin-Shin, who studied Tai Chi in China and Hong Kong before emigrating to Canada in 1970. Grabarek said that Moy Lin-Shin synthesized the knowledge of several Tai Chi masters, Taoist meditation and traditional Chinese medicine into a form known as Taoist Tai Chi.
"The master (Moy Lin-Shin) started to practice Tai Chi because he had lung disease," Grabarek said. He later recovered, she added.
When Moy Lin-Shin emigrated to Canada, Grabarek said, he realized that the "white race" was extremely stressed out. That is why he created the 108-move sequence, a "special one for the white race," to improve their health.
How then, did Tai Chi make it here? "Tai Chi was brought to Poland 11 years ago by a Canadian, who came to Lodz to study at the film school," said Jacek Zieminski, an instructor and member of Poland's Tai Chi organization.
The group, which follows the same rules in 40 countries around the world, operates as a non-profit organization run by volunteers. In Poland, 10 cities have Tai Chi clubs totaling about 1,200 students. Warsaw has some 400 people at five levels of ability practicing the art.
According to Zieminski, the interest in Warsaw's Tai Chi organization has been especially dynamic in the past 18 months, but he's unable to explain why.
"Perhaps our association is becoming more mature or the interest in Tai-Chi is growing," he said. "Every three, four months another 10 groups start."
Tai Chi, Zieminski continued, appeals to people of all age groups, but the older students tend to be more patient and progress further in the art. "Proportionally a larger number of older people shift to the more advanced groups," he said.
The oldest student in the class on ulica Paska was Wojciech Zacharski, 65, who said he fell in love with Tai Chi a year ago. Although he has heart disease, Tai Chi is not dangerous for him.
"It is wonderful. It's a kind of connection between gymnastics and ballet," Zacharski said. He said that he enjoys practicing Tai Chi so much that he's unable to resist attending three different groups each week. "Tai Chi has about 20 forms, so you can study (Tai Chi) your whole life."
