Taoist Tai Chi Grows In Sharbot Lake

Jeff Green | Sep 11, 2013

They line up in three rows, taking up most of the room in the Oso Hall, to begin their 108-move set. Those who have been doing Tai Chi for five months, as well as the instructor, Dennis Dong from Kingston, who has been doing it for 27 years and has done it every day of many of them, do the same moves.

“A lot of Tai Chi is letting go,” said Dong during the tea break at the weekly Sharbot Lake class on Monday, as the class gathered to recount their experience with Taoist Tai Chi.

Some touted its health benefits, particularly in relation to back pain and other age-related ailments, while others talked about the mood-altering effects of the practice. “I always feel good after the classes,” said one woman, “no matter how I feel coming in.”

“I used to think Tai Chi was for wusses,” said one man, who started doing Tai Chi eight years ago to encourage his wife to exercise but hasn’t stopped, “and I still think that, but after eight years I realize that I must be a wuss myself."

Many others said that at this point they think they “are lifers”.

One of the attractive features of classes sponsored by the Tai Chi Society is that the moves are the same all around the world, so people who are travelling can join a group no matter where they are and will be able to fit right in.

Although there are enrolment fees for the classes, the money does not go to the instructors, who are all volunteers. “I volunteer to teach because I want to meet people, to help others, and because of what Tai Chi has done for me,” said Dennis Dong, who is now coming up from Kingston to teach in Sharbot Lake.