Resources for participants of the MetroWest YMCA’s Moving for Better Balance class are listed below. Please note that more resources will be added as we continue on with the class.
Handouts
Tai Chi Handout – Improving Balance (PDF)
List of Movements (PDF)
Wu Chi Position with Diagram (PDF)
T’ai Chi Walking (PDF)
Videos
Standard Movements
A Suggestion About How To Use The Video
This video is here for you to use however you wish. However, if you are intending to use the videos as a tool to learn the movements better, I would suggest that you might get more out of it by focusing on one move at a time. Work with that one move and keep practicing that one move until you gain a certain level of comfort with it. You will gain more from practicing a single move repeatedly than you will if you try to go through all the moves at once. Even after you have gained some confidence with a move, you may find it helpful to continue repeating the move for awhile. The number of times to practice a move is subjective, but don’t be afraid to repeat it many many times (15, 20, 30, 50 , or even 100 or more). Ultimately it is up to you to decide how much to work on a move before moving on. However, the more you repeat a single move, the more you will get the feeling of the flow of the movement and the more you will be able to explore the subtleties of the movement.
Once you have become comfortable with the move, then you can move on to the next movement and do the same thing. After you have worked through a few moves, Then you will find it easier to put them together and figure out how to “assemble” them into a string of moves.
Mini-Routine
The Mini-Routine in this video is shown just to one side. This can also be practices on the mirrored side as we do in class.