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Queens Chronicle: Tai Chi is winning over converts to exercise
Tai Chi Is Winning Over Converts To Exercise
By Lisa Biagiotti, Chronicle Contributor
11/01/2007
(Lisa Biagiotti) Dino Blanche leads a Tai Chi class, at Linden Park in Corona, for PTA members of PS 16, which is also located in Corona.
At the Cardiac Health Center in Fresh Meadows, Harold Normich’s eyes trace every movement of his body as his reading glasses dangle from side to side. He has been practicing Tai Chi for three years – nine times a week, an hour at a time.
“The doctors have taken me off most of my medications,” said Normich, a 75-year-old veteran who suffers from chest pain and has had two knee replacements. “I weighed 237 pounds when I started. I haven’t felt this good since my late 40s, early 50s.” He now weighs 177 pounds.
Tai Chi appears to be growing in popularity for young and old, thin and overweight, and sufferers of disease or abuse. Various ethnic and age groups find the practice appealing.
“The gamut of interest runs from children to college students,” said Dino Blanche, a 47-year-old, African-American Tai Chi instructor in Elmhurst. “As people’s health conditions are growing troublesome, with obesity and diabetes, it’s not just for the elderly.”
Research and studies have shown the health benefits of Tai Chi, ranging from reduced blood pressure and heart problems, improved functionality for chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis and osteoarthritis, to general stress management.
“Three or four years ago we took a close look at complimentary cardiac care,” said Dr. John Nicholson, medical director of the Cardiac Health Center. “But we wanted to make sure that everything we did in a parallel program was evidence based. Tai Chi and yoga were definitely evidence based and important for people in cardiac rehabilitation.”
This ancient Chinese martial art combines moving meditation, exercise and self-defense. In the various styles of Tai Chi, practitioners repeat sequences of circular movements while focusing on breathing.
To engage imagination and jog memory, some instructors describe movements with poetic, metaphorical animal movements, while others, like Blanche, use descriptions like “squeeze a lemon in a cup.”
Tai Chi was founded on the Taoist belief that good health results from balanced chi (life energy).
“Your body is the number one depository for anything. If your body is strong and your heart is soft, you are ready to face any problem,” said Grandmaster Wang Rengang, 42, who runs a martial arts studio, International Dachengdao Inc., in Elmhurst.
Wang, of northern China, said that Tai Chi isn’t only physical exercise, but should be practiced to cope with stress and mental well-being. He is scheduled to teach Tai Chi to emotionally disturbed children at a local treatment center.
According to Blanche, who has been teaching Tai Chi since 1995, interest is on the rise among battered and abused women in post-traumatic, stressful situations.
“Instead of taking a pill, you can take a moment to practice breathing and movement,” Blanche said. “The first line of self-defense is that you can calm yourself down.”
He currently teaches Tai Chi to the PS 16 PTA at Linden Park in Corona on Wednesday mornings and recently presented a workshop to public school teachers on how Tai Chi and stress management methods could help students perform better on tests.
“Children have a means to relax themselves, and Tai Chi can help deal with building confidence,” Blanche said. “I envision Tai Chi to be in every public school.”
He has been practicing martial arts since 1971 and teaches his two children, ages 7 and 13, the practice.
There are several opportunities to practice Tai Chi cheaply or no cost — at health centers, Buddhist temples, senior citizen centers, parks and libraries. At the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing, approximately 150 local residents gather at 8 a.m. every day to do Tai Chi, according to Marketing Manager Scott Stefan.
On Saturday mornings, Wang instructs a free Tai Chi class for about 35 practitioners at the Elmhurst Library, where free classes have been offered for over 15 years, primarily due to the neighborhood’s 40 percent Asian population.
Jean Suchanek, who was born in Korea and lives in Middle Village, sat outside the Elmhurst Library reading about the free Tai Chi program.
“I bought the CD roms, but they didn’t help me, so I gave up,” said Suchanek, 59. “When you get older, it is easy to accumulate (weight). Instead of watching CNBC on Saturday mornings, my husband and I can come here and do Tai Chi.”
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