Sometimes when my back is sore, my muscles cramped from a cold draft or I'm simply stiff from a long drive, I fondly recall my T'ai Chi classes.
We studied back when we were in the States in 2002 and a few years subsequently on our return. Clare was never quite so taken with it.
The accusation that, like other non-contact martial arts, T'ai Chi is more a form of dance is hard to dismiss. To make it work as a martial art you surely would have to practice most days, most of the day, for years. Will never happen.
Some classes seemed to be a front for a Taoist sect; others an ego-trip for a cult-leader guru: all seemed entirely too reverential. And to perform the full exercise you need a fair amount of space - more than the average-sized living room.
Still, I miss it.
