Advantages: Relaxing, improves health, fitness and well-being
Disadvantages: None

...I started learning the Chinese Martial Art of Tai Chi with Peter Warr in Milton Keynes in late 1997, and decided a year later to train to become a qualified Coach. I was bitten by the bug! There are five main styles of Tai Chi - Li (or Lee), Chen, Sun, Wu and Yang, of which Yang style is my "speciality". For each style there are a series of routines, or Forms, to be learned. Primarily used in the West as a means of relaxing and destressing, Tai Chi also encourages correct posture alignment, diaphragm breathing, spatial and visual awareness, flexibility, balance and co-ordination. The benefits themselves are too numerous to mention here, but I have taught people with health problems, ie: replacement hip, weak backs and knees, stress, arthritis and diabetes, who have all reported an improvement in their well-being after practising... Read review

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Advantages: Stronger muscles, better balance and teaches discipline
Disadvantages: Needs time and patience

..., it seems strange at first but after closer inspection, each movement in the Form has a martial application. So, to put it in simpler terms, if a part of one movement is to extend your arm outwards, that could signify a punch in real life. Preferably, your instructor should teach you the martial application after learning each movement. Unfortunately, many practitioners of Tai Chi are not aware that it is a Martial Art and just practise it as a dance. When this is done, they lose many of the benefits (to be explained later on) of the Martial Art. There are 5 different styles of Tai Chi, they are the Chen Style, Yang Style, Sun Style, Lee Style and finally the Wu Style. The Chen Style is the original style and it is the toughest and most violent. It involves more kicks and punches then any of the other styles. On the other hand... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to learn and understand.
Disadvantages: None...

...I found this dvd to be very informative and with over 7 hours of material on two dvds contains a lot of information regarding Tai Chi. The dvds are also filmed live so the infomation is easily undertood with no voice overs. Both Yang and Chen style Tai Chi are covered with a dvd specifically for each style and there is also a basic Qi Gong style covered. On both of the dvds, there is a section for basic training which covers the basic hand and feet movements as well as basic footwork for that particular style of Tai Chi. There is then a section for all of the applications for the Tai Chi style which shows Master Wong demonstrating the techniques on a student wearing full body so that the techniques can be performed with proper force. The dvd then has a section that shows the full form presented at full speed and the form... Read review

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Advantages: Gentle, suitable for any age group and fitness level
Disadvantages: none

...~~ TAI CHI FOR DIABETES ~~ About 6 weeks ago now, I was feeling very poorly, so I went to the doctors, where I was told that I had diabetes, I should not really have been surprised as it has been in my family for 4 generations, I am obese, I smoke (well did, I have given up in the last couple of weeks), and well, I am over 40, so it all leads to Type 2 diabetes. Even through I knew the chances were high, I still cried, and well, I just did not want to be diabetic. Whilst I was waiting for my first appointments with the diabetic clinic, I scoured the internet for information on diabetes. I needed exercise, but my breathing was very laboured and I could not walk far, (my poor dog Chloe is over weight due to lack of exercise, because I cannot take her), without going dizzy. So, whilst searching on Ciao I saw this DVD Tai Chi... Read review

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Advantages: Stress reduction, fitness building,well-being,perspective changing qualities.
Disadvantages: It can often be hard to find a centre nearby and it is expensive sometimes especially if you have a private tutorial.

...Tai Chi Chaun , roughly translates into English as ' grand ultimate fist' and once you have tried the exercises you will see how inappropriate a title this is. The truth of the matter is that Tai Chi is often called ’moving meditation’ and that it really is what that reference provides. The art itself was founded in China around 914 BCE and was reportedly created by a monk who's name is held in the Shaolin temple and is only released to the highest of all monks that visit there. The exercises were invented to teach a group of Buddhist monks who had been quite lethargic and were in his view ‘not appropriately fit for the guarding of the temple’. The monk devised a set of 35 exercises to be practiced at extremely low speed every morning to build up the monks both physically and mentally. After... Read review

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Advantages: Benefical to your health for stress relief etc
Disadvantages: Few if any

...I started doing Tai Chi a few weeks ago, my friend started first and she encouraged me to go along as i had always been interested in this sort of thing i agreed. As most people who know anything in the martial arts field Tai Chi is more of a relaxed form, however you could not go as far to say that Tai Chi was a weak form, oh no. As i understand "Chi" as it is known is an energy that flows around our bodies, much like you associate our physical energy, however this "Chi" energy starts to fade after about the age of 5. The Chi is still inside us but as we age it is much harder to "tap" and experience the benefits of active chi. If you have seen those over worked business people practicing strange arm and hand movements in Hyde park on a sunday morning this is probably Tai Chi. The aims of these arm movements are to get... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, relaxing and enjoyable at any level.
Disadvantages: One sometimes feels there is a lot to learn!

...The ancient art of Tai Chi is known throughout the world as a very calm and relaxing form of exercise. Like many of the oriental martial diciplines there are different systems and variations. For example the Yang Style seems to be perhaps the best known generally, although the Lee Family Style covers the whole of Chinese Physical Culture. Tai Chi (Lee Style) includes some very calming breathing exercises, very similar in fact to Yoga, known as Ki Men. It also includes a very long flowing form along with a dance form, silk form and sword form (for the more advanced student!). The classes are very much aimed at a very wide age range, from children to the very old. This is a very welcome change from some of the traditional martial art systems which tend to attract, and possibly distract, certain age groups. The lessons are very... Read review

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Advantages: Great way of relaxing/ meditating
Disadvantages: Takes a long time to learn properly

...OUCH ! You may think that all martial arts are about breaking concrete blocks with you head and Chinese chopping your way through a dozen blokes in the bar who have put your nose out of joint, with insensitive remarks about your flared trousers, and pudding bowl haircut. This is a common misunderstanding of oriental culture. Tai Chi is all about Yin and Yang and the balance of these two forces to promote peace and harmony within ones self. There is very little emphasis on combat forms in this book or in many of the variants of Tai Chi practiced today. The Cheng Man-ch’ing form covered by this book is one of the most popular practiced today, both in China and abroad. It is the one I am learning myself. This is a very gentle form of martial art and the emphasis in on power through softness rather than hardness, fond in the hard... Read review

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Advantages: Cheaper than some, good sounds and some good music
Disadvantages: some really naff noises and lots of synthesisers

...I spent quite some time searching for the perfect music to practise Tai Chi to, because i can't do it in silence and wanted to try and recreate the atmosphere in class. This seemed perfect, specifically written for the practise of Tai Chi and a good price. The music on this disc is described as "flowing, atmospheric and melodic" and I can say that yes it is, but it really doesn't sound authentic. But then it doesn't claim to, I just didn't really think about that when I made my decision. So, what do you actually get for your £7.99? There are five long tracks: "Eternal Chi" lasting 10 mins 20, "Waves from Heaven" lasting 10 mins 29, "Earth" lasting 9 mins 35, "Flow Motion" lasting 19 mins 19 and "The Gentle Energy" lasting 9 mins 10. Track one, Eternal Chi, starts promisingly with the sounds of birds and light recorder music... Read review

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Advantages: well written and observed
Disadvantages: hints of nostalgia

.... Yet in the midst of his crumbling life, he starts to find a small sense of family life. This comes in the shape of George Chang, an elderly Chinese man who practises Tai Chi in the park every morning, despite the taunts from the local yobs. George, whose strong family bonds attracts Alfie, who finds himself drawn to the family restaurant on a regular basis. Could he ever have a family bond that was so strong? And then comes the knock on his door – a young single mother who is a cleaner at the college and who needs Alfie’s help to pass her English Literature A Level so that she can go to college and improve her life. But can Alfie change his life around and find love again? Alfie is a strange character – on one hand trying to live the modern life by scoring as many conquests as he can, but on the other hand he... Read review

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