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Ramona R.
Posted on Monday, February 28, 2005 - 06:43:   

This is a nice forum here, congrats.
Can anybody tell me what is the recommended age to start practicing taichi?
I mean the forms not the martial stuff...
Thanks,
Ramona.
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Shmuel Halevi
Posted on Tuesday, March 01, 2005 - 10:30:   

I can't really answer that with an established answer. In my experience, children below the age of 11-12 find it difficult to master the coordination and balance needed for a proper performance of the Taichi hand-form. I have a son age 12 who has tried learning with me the form in the age of 11 and couldn't persist. On the other hand, at the age of 12, he has mastered the form in 3 months of diligent endeavour - and in his own initiative.
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almost anonymous
Posted on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 02:56:   

My teachers say the minimum age is 6.

However, it isn't like the old days in China where parents would pay for several years tuition in advance and kids learned all day every day by military discipline, they had no choice. Nowadays the kid has to want to do it, and as Shmuel says, most of them don't have the attention span to stay interested in something that moves so slow. Curiously, the martial aspect is about the only thing in my experience that keeps a kid training.

-A.A.
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Shmuel Halevi
Posted on Monday, March 07, 2005 - 12:56:   

Yes, I agree A.A. The martial aspect is much more suitable for teenagers. Its dynamic nature as well as its outbursting force and athletic emphasis is much more fitting to a youngster than the meditative, slow and calm nature of the Taichi forms. Moreover, Kungfu, Karate, Judo and the like are emphasizing the outer work and appearance whereas Taichi is mostly concerned with the inner aspect of the combat as well as one's general health and balance. Teenagers are inclined to external manifestations (i.e., appearance, physical power etc.) whereas adults are more interested with their inner world - health, meditation, spirituality etc. This is nature.
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almost anonymous
Posted on Thursday, March 10, 2005 - 16:21:   

Yeah, I call it the "Ninja Turtle Syndrome" ;-)
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Shmuel Halevi
Posted on Thursday, April 07, 2005 - 22:16:   

In continuation to this subject, here is a link to a short movie of Tai Chi performed by my 12 years old son. The movie shows only the first movements of the Wudang Tai Chi hand form. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.acumedico.com/taichi.wmv

The best way to view it is to either download the file (right-click of your mouse, etc.), or copy the link and paste it on the "address bar" of your browser.
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Shmuel Halevi
Posted on Saturday, December 09, 2006 - 08:51:   

For Gloria, Joe and Phil. Here's the whole video clip on the web. It has been tagged under the topics of Education and Health/fitness. Hope you like it. BTW, Oran is now 14 years old and is performing the form much much better. On this clip, he has been practicing Tai Cho only for 3 months. Looking backward, it seems that learning and practicing Tai Chi in the past two years, has boosted both his growth and personality very dramatically. Cheers, Shmuel.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4655014017897570466&q=tai+chi+halevi
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Richard Trolough
Username: Ric

Registered: 03-2008
Posted on Saturday, August 07, 2010 - 12:06:   

Hi Shmuel, a pity this taichi forum has been "deserted" for such a long time, plenty of interesting stuff here. I am very interested in the children taichi video but the link you provided is either broken or unreachable.. Can you post another link to this video please?
Shalom and be well,
Richard.
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Shmuel Halevi
Username: Admin

Posted on Monday, August 09, 2010 - 19:14:   

Hi Ric, here is a link where you can see the entire video. You need however a fast connection for that.

http://www.acumedico.com/video/

Hope this works for you.
BTW, my boy on the show is now 18 years old. This video was taken 6 years ago...

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