-[ Experiences ]-
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I've been running pretty seriously for over 35 years and have run many marathons and other road races of various distances. Through the years I've developed many aches and pains related to running that have eventually healed. I know the difference between aches from fatigue and chronic ailments related to mis-alignment.
Over the last 5 years I have had stiffness and pain in my lower back and the region above and around my left hip. This chronic pain eventually continued down to the inner part of my left knee. I've gone to the doctor a few times but they have found nothing, and suggested I see a specialist, which I have been reluctant to do for many reasons.
Recently I had a major reduction in pain and some big gains in mobility for my hip and knee, I attribute this pain free breakthrough to some new learning in my Wu Style Tai Chi class. After studying the basic movements in the 108 Form, I've started to push hands and have begun to see the relationship between correct posture, hip alignment, being single weighted, and most of all the concept of "sitting" by tucking in my pelvis/hip area when I raise my toe in certain positions.
After some initial slight discomfort from practicing these new movements, some magic started to happen. First, my knee pain went away. Then my hip and lower back started to loosen up. It's amazing how much living with chronic pain can affect your disposition, and you really don't realize it until the pain is removed. I'm very happy about these changes and I look forward to more wonderful things as continue on my journey in Wu Style Tai Chi.
Kevin Maloney
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I was introduced to Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan when I was 44 years old. I had had many years of logging, carpentry, and hard style martial arts before seeking a Tai Chi teacher. When I was 39, my Shaolin teacher told me that I had reached an age, which would soon end my martial arts practice unless I switched to Tai Chi. After 5 years of searching, I discovered Wu Style Tai Chi.
At that time, I had many physical problems:
1. Painful nunchuk elbow dent.
2. Left ring finger at an odd angle from a bad Tae Kwon Do block.
3. Life long back pain - only briefly controlled by visits to the chiropractor.
4. Woody Allen posture involving head hung forward.
5. Walk with toes out and knees frequently collapsing inward.
6. Intermittent sciatic nerve pinch that on one occasion resulted in a painful paralysis of my right foot.
I had practiced with several other Tai Chi styles before Wu Style. However, those teaching had no direct supervision from anyone. After learning the basics of the form, little additional correction was available.
Under these conditions, what I was practicing did not produce any improvements for my problems.
Wu Style, as taught by Sifu Genie, has magnificently affected my physical and mental well-being. Every one of my previous problems is now gone, or fully controlled by my ongoing practice. The rewards of Tai Chi come after long hard work, and are well worth it.
Bob Roth
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Tai chi has contributed so much to my health. I have been training for over five and a half years. This past March, I was diagnosed with lung cancer, without any warning symptoms. I had surgery to remove the upper lobe of my right lung; this comprises about forty percent of the lung on that side. My surgeon told me that the remaining lobes usually fill in the space in the chest in about a year's time. When I had my post-operative checkup a month after the surgery, both my doctor and I were amazed to find that the X-ray showed my lung entirely regrown. I told him that I attributed this to my tai chi training and all the breath work we do, and he agreed! Training also helped me feel better throughout the course of chemotherapy which followed. I feel that Sifu and my training partners at the academy were a major part of my getting well again.
- Ellen Schwartz, Sept 13th, 2005 |
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