Village residents move gently in smooth motions, releasing tension and creating a healthier mind, body and soul through the ancient art of tai chi.
Karin Kauchak, instructor for the Taoist Tai Chi Society of the USA, has been practicing for 17 years, and now brings her knowledge to residents of Tellico Village through one of the club’s gathering places at 362 E. Tennessee Ave., Oak Ridge.
She began participating in the activity with the idea that it would be much like dancing, and the art seemed so simple and gentle that she had to get involved after watching people perform, she said.
“In our society we have beginning instructors who teach new people, and then we’ve got what we call continuing instructors or continuing instructors in training,” Kauchak said. “We don’t call ourselves masters.”
While the classes Kauchak teaches for Village residents take place at the Wellness Center, they are considered part of a different organization, the Taoist Tai Chi Society.
“We are an international tai chi organization, but a nonprofit group,” Kauchak said. “Some of our instructors are volunteers. That’s how nonprofit we are.”
The majority of those who participate in the lessons given by Kauchak are in need of assistance physically or mentally. Tai chi clears the mind, hindering the advancement of memory loss, and heals the body physically through teaching balance, she said. Kauchak said many people who practice tai chi in the Village do so for fall prevention. As part of the practice, the body flows slowly through 108 repetitive moves.
“It’s a healing exercise,” Kauchak said. “It’s not a hard art. It’s what they call a soft art, a healing art. It’s for maintaining and restoring health.”
She said that tai chi is “gentle,” and the practice uses both sides of the brain. Participants like Gail Eades and Charlie Miersch joined after seeing a listing in the news and hearing about how beneficial tai chi was for friends.
Eades has been practicing the art for nine years, and Miersch began four years ago.
“They call it an internal art because it works well — you heard Karin talking a lot about the spine and muscles and our organs — so it’s for our bodies,” Eades said. “It’s for our minds because it’s a mental challenge, and then it’s for our spirit too. So it’s three parts.”
Tai chi is most well-known for being taught to hundreds of people in town squares in China, Miersch said. While the art may be done with a single person, it is primarily thought of as a group exercise.
“In a group, you get this fantastic energy,” Kauchak said. “It’s a different type of tai chi set in a group.”
Tai chi is indeed a form of exercise; it just does not involve harsh or rapid movements, which is why Village residents seem to enjoy it so much, Eades said.
Rex Marsee, who has practiced for 5 1/2 years, said tai chi is “exceptionally good for more mature people.”
Age is no limit for the martial art, and while the class is taught in the Village, anyone is welcome to join the organization. In fact, Eades said that a member who resides in Kingston recently turned 100 years old, and she only began practicing about three years ago. Not only is there no age limit, but tai chi is practiced around the world. Eades and Miersch have practiced the art across the United States and even outside of the nation in places like Vancouver, Canada.
“I’m focused on what I’m doing, and therefore not focused on anything else,” Miersch said. “So it’s useful.”
According to members, tai chi is not something that may be mastered. It is a continuous learning experience. Kauchak compared practicing the art to peeling an onion.
“Layer by layer, you’re trying to get to the core of the movement, and you can’t just learn it in one weekend,” Kauchak said. “I wonder about these tai chi courses where people get certified in one weekend, and they can instruct. It takes a while to understand it, and so you’re peeling the layers away. Some people have more layers peeled than others.”
