Returned to Bombay after a longish break of nearly two months.
Delighted to find that our Tai Chi class at Saraswati Vidyalaya (Chembur) has grown to include several young-old and young folk.
A real pleasure!
Interest in this wonderful meditative healing once-martial art is steadily spreading. The youngest new member is is a septuagenarian!
Of course, these meditatively slow movements can, on change of pace and intent, become actively martial.
With the Chembur Festival just round the corner, we look forward to having many more join us!
February 5th 2016, at the Chembur Festival, was another milestone in the history of Flowing Wheel.
It wasn’t only about Tai Chi this year but physical functional fitness as well.
With Natarajan (Mani) acting as MC, his masterful theatre trained voice holding the attention of the audience, our group gave a medley performance, focusing the attention of the audience on the range that Flowing Wheel has to offer.
Soft, slow meditative routines of Tai Chi Forms, which benefit all the organs of the body and help co-ordinate breath and movement, were followed by exercises known as the Eight Jewels or Brocades, each one of which benefits one specific organ or muscle group.
The same slow routine performed at a much faster pace, demonstrated the martial aspect of the healing Tai Chi. Rupak played aggressor and Rakesh defended himself.
Tabata, a Hi Intensity fitness routine which alternates speed movement of twenty-seconds with active rest for ten seconds, was interesting for its novelty and the promise of melting away excess fat and physical toning.
Sharang, the youngest member, demonstrated a variety of push-ups which looked easy when he did them but the exotic names promised they would be quite a challenge. The normal push-up, the wide one followed by the Diamond, the Spider-man and the mountain climbing push-ups went down very well.
Live testimony came from Kannan. A member of the audience wanted to know if kidney troubles could be helped. He assured her with his own experience of healing, stating how his own kidneys might have collapsed if it had not been for regular Tai Chi.
Audience response suggested that the Saraswati Vidyalaya classes are going to swell.
Look forward to that!