Health, Wealth and Happiness

After a couple more classes I found myself noticing patterns in the movement and actually improving.  This is because Tai Chi is very uniformed, synchronized, disciplined, and methodical.  It starts out slow and increases in speed, intensity and the manner in which it perturbs the body.  In many ways, I found that it is very similar to yoga, in that it emphasizes balance, alignment and places a fundamental emphasis on breathing.  I was also able to talk to more of the participants in the class and found that they contrasted my first impressions.  More often than not with cultures, the way they gain power is by being able to dictate who can belong and participate in the culture and who cannot.  However, the power and popularity with the Tai Chi culture seems to be its very inviting and undiscriminating nature.  Upon learning that I was conducting an ethnography on Tai Chi, the instructor and the participants were eager and excited to share their knowledge, anecdotes and experiences.  With each passing class, the instructor would give me more and more information about the history of Tai Chi which I found very useful in my fieldwork in being able to unravel why this form of exercise is so popular, and why it is such among a specific group of people.  Further, the Tai Chi vets were among some of the most down to Earth and Zen people I had ever met.

The first set performed in a Tai Chi Chuan class to start
the flow of energy.

When asking more of the participants why they participate in this culture, I generally received the same answer from most people – Health, Wealth and Happiness.  Longevity was also a big one.  Though something I had noticed after taking a couple of classes was that not everyone came to every class.  Moreover, the people that did not come to every class tended to be the ones who were newer to practicing Tai Chi and were there to complete their physical activity requirements.  There also was a group of people who was there everyday, and they tended to be the Tai Chi vets who seemed more immersed in the culture and therefore must practice it for more than “Health, wealth and happiness.”  Because if not, they would not show up at 7 am every morning, come rain, come shine, come winter blizzard (as was the case in mid-December) to a mall of all places, in Canada to practice Tai Chi.  

That doesn’t happen.

A couple of classes in, I still found the movements difficult to follow.  I have gained so much more respect for the people that practiced this on a regular basis!  While it caters to individuals of all skill levels and movement capability levels, it does require one to actively control their movements while remaining limber and flexible.  There were also some sets that seemed to involve shadow boxing which I found very interesting but out of place in the Tai Chi setting.  I was looking forward to learning more about this in the classes to come.