Improve your mind and body. Lift your spirit with Taoist Tai Chi, a gentle set of movements that promote health and well-being for people of all ages and in all health conditions.
Tai chi originates from an ancient Chinese art and system of holistic health practices which involve the movement of the spine and all parts of the body. The Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi Society teaches a set of 108 moves, a sequence of slow and graceful movements designed to help the body regain natural health by strengthening and relaxing both body and mind.
The beginner level helps the student develop body awareness and a healthy physical posture by gently moving the body in ways that optimize muscular relaxation, body alignment, co-ordination and balance. Beginners also learn the benefits of practicing together as a group, to let go of self-consciousness, to work at their own level of physical ability, to trust the group to guide and support them, and to have fun.
Continued practice of tai chi will increase circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids, increase overall strength, mobility of joints and elasticity of muscles and tendons, improve breathing and cardiovascular fitness, enhance concentration and relaxation, reduce tension and stress, and generally improve a wide range of health problems such as poor circulation, high blood pressure, arthritis, back pain, digestive disorders just to name a few.
The style taught by the Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi Society can be practiced by people of any age or in any state of health. It is a self-regulated form of exercise that lends itself to the needs of all participants. It is non-combative and non-competitive and is practiced for its health improving abilities.
Master Moy Lin-Shin, the founder of the society, was heir to the practices and tradition of the Taoist internal arts. His teachings combine an extensive knowledge of the Taoist classics with training he received from respected teachers in China and Hong Kong.
As a youth, Master Moy was afflicted with serious health problems. He recovered his health through his study of tai chi and other internal Taoist arts. He understood the great potential to improve health and alleviate suffering with the practice of these disciplines and vowed to make the Taoist internal arts available to all who wished to learn them. To do so, Master Moy developed the Taoist tai chi internal art of health, an art that brings together the many insights he learned about the workings of human physiology, internal circulation and spiritual training. He immigrated to Canada in 1970 and formed the Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi Society, a registered charity through which he devoted the remainder of his life to helping others and making Taoist tai chi available to all.
The Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi Society has since become an international society with members in more than 500 locations in 27 countries. Taoist tai chi is taught by members who have experienced the benefits of tai chi and wish to perpetuate Master Moy’s legacy by becoming accredited instructors teaching as volunteers without monetary gain.
More information about the Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi Society can be found at www.taoist.org.
A beginner class starts Feb. 5 and runs from 9-11 a.m. at St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church. The first class is always an open house and anyone curious about tai chi is welcome try it out, ask questions and join the group for tea. For class information, contact Lin Martin at creston@taoist.org or 250-866-5744.
—TAOIST TAI CHI