MEMPHIS—A world relay of every hour in every time zone across 60 countries and all 50 of the United States marked the 10th anniversary of World Tai Chi Qigong Day on April 26, 2008. Milan Vigil, a Tai Chi and Martial Arts instructor and lecturer at Rhodes College, announced the beginning of the event in Memphis, Tennessee to a group of about 20 people.
The World Tai Chi and Qigong day aims to send a positive wave of energy around the world and draw attention to the benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong. The first event was held in Kansas City, Missouri in 1998 on the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in midtown Kansas City, where the Kansas City Tai Chi Club held a mass Tai Chi exhibition and teach-in involving nearly two-hundred people, according to worldtaichiday.org.
Retired after being a middle school teacher for 30 years, Mr. John Richardson has been a Tai Chi instructor at Tai Chi for Health for about two years. "The average age of my students are 90 years old," said Richardson. He was talking about a joint project by Dr. Veronica Engle, professor of University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and Tai Chi For Health to evaluate the health effect of Tai Chi for senior citizens.
The project started in November 2007 and will finish in May 2008. Richardson teaches in a senior center in Bartlett city three days a week. Another instructor from Tai Chi for Health, Ms. Rene Nickel, teaches in two other senior centers in Germantown and Collierville. "My students age from 67 to 92." Ms. Nickel said.
"It is statistically significant," Richardson said, "they (the student seniors) can reach out further."
"This means they can have a wider range of motion, better balance and their joints are more flexible." said Rene Nickel.
Lecturer and Tai Chi instructor at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, Milan Vigil teaches day classes two or three times a week and weekly night classes. "Tai Chi classes have no credit for the Rhodes students, but they fulfill their PE class requirement." Mr. Vigil said. Vigil teaches Yang Style Tai Chi Quan.
Alex Tong is a freshman at Rhodes College and he has registered for Tai Chi for two semesters and is going to join the third class next semester. "It makes you more focused, and (gives you) an inner peace," said Alex Tong. "I went to a violin competition recently. Practicing Tai Chi gave me a sense of peace during the competition." Tong's family came from Hong Kong.
Susan Wang is a senior at Rhodes College. "(Tai Chi) is interesting," she said. She has signed up for Tai Chi for one semester so far. A Bio-Chemistry major, she also likes singing and calligraphy. "These are inter-related. Practicing Tai Chi improves the breath; both singing and calligraphy need it."
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