Current sign-ups
- MW 10:30–11:30a, We Gather, 284 Main St Ste 300, Wilton, ME 04294, Feb 3–Apr 2, 2025, $60 cash payable at first class. Minimum 6, maximum 15. Contact me to sign up.
- TR 4–5p, Cascade Brook School gymnasium, 162 Learning Lane, Farmington, ME 04938, Feb 4–Apr 17, 2025, $70 payable through website. Minimum 6, maximum 20.
- No class on Veterans’ Day; no class if school is canceled.
About me
- Certified to teach in October 2015 with instructor Nate Hribar via Brookline Tai Chi.
- Training videos feature instructor Dan Kleiman of Brookline Tai Chi.
- Taught at University of Maine at Farmington, 2015–23 (with a Covid break in 2020).
- Studied wu-style tai chi with Dan Kleiman and Catherine Chenowith until 2014.
About the class
This hour-long evidence-based class, which, when created, was affiliated with Tufts, uses modified wu-style tai chi to create a form targeted to the 60+ population. The class is suitable for anybody ambulatory, including people in chairs—the class begins seated and transfers to standing. Under-60s of course may take the class, but they may find it slow. This class particularly helps with balance.
Structure
- Class meets twice a week, and each week, we add a new move to a tai chi form we are creating.
- Class begins seated with a warm-up. We learn the week’s move seated, then perform it standing. We then run the entire form learned so far.
- Each move has two class periods devoted to it. We do not progress until basic mastery.
- The base foundational move is Tai Chi Walking.
- Each move is performed right, then left. Each move begins with Hold the Ball.
- The form uses modified versions of the following wu-style tai chi moves: Commencement, Roll the Ball, Parting Wild Horse’s Mane, Single Whip, Cloud Hands, Grasp Sparow’s Tail (v1 and v2), Repulse the Monkey, Brush Knee Twist Step, and Fair Lady at the Shuttles.
Benefits
- Improvements in strength, balance, and propioception.
- Social engagement.
- Improvements in midfulness (tai chi is known as the moving meditation).
- Has an extensive evidence base for a multitude of benefits, particularly balance.