What is Zoom?
Zoom has become the most popular video conferencing app people have chosen to use for online classes. You will need a laptop, tablet, or smartphone and an internet connection, and some space for your training.
What to expect in a class
Each class lasts an hour, we do twenty minutes of warming up, deep breathing, and Qigong or Taoist Yoga. Then we do twenty minutes of Tai Chi dance which is a dynamic and flowing sequence of slow dance-like movements. For the remainder of the class, we will be learning the Tai Chi form which is another set of movement sequences, calmer and more meditative. We finish with the Qi cutoff which is an exercise we do at the end of the class for storing energy.
When are the classes?
The classes are each day at 19:00 (BST) for one hour.
Please note all class times are in BST or London Time – Universal Time plus one hour (UTC+1)
You can do once a week, or every day if you wish, and if you miss a class or have an extended leave of absence you can come back and pick up right where you left off it’s no problem. You can stick with one-time slot, or mix it up and do one class one day and a different one the next. The classes also include access to videos you can use to supplement your training. Have a look at this chart to determine the local time of the classes for you, look at the bottom axis and add the number corresponding to your country to the times above.
Confused about time zones? Me too. You can visit Timeanddate.com where they have all kinds of tools to help you convert our class times to your local time zone.
The health benefits
Why do some people never get colds and flu and some others are always sick, whenever there’s something going around they get it?
The answer is Qi, this is the Chinese word for life-force or vitality, it is your internal energy store, some people run with a battery at 100%, others may run their store down and so they are always depleted and when a virus attacks they are weak and succumb to the symptoms. Qi energy has been studied in China for thousands of years.
Preventative medicine is mentioned in the Yellow Emperor’s classic the Nei Ching written in 2600 BC where it says :
“There’s no point sharpening your knife on the way into battle”
and
“When you’re thirsty don’t start digging a well”.
The key to strong health and the ability to fight off diseases like the coronavirus is to take steps before you get infected. Tai Chi works on three levels, boosting the intake of Lung Qi by maximizing deep breathing and increasing lung capacity, it also works on accessing the inherited energy of the body or Jing, a store of fuel you can tap into all throughout your life, and it also works on absorbing natural energies that are all around us and naturally flow through the body without us even realizing it.
All this sounds amazing but you will really be able to feel the effects for yourself by doing the exercises, some people can feel it right away, for some people whose life force has become depleted by bad diet, stress or ill health it could take longer. This is not some kooky therapy cooked up by hippies in the sixties, it has a sound empirical history in one of the world’s most ancient and advanced cultures dating back thousands of years when we Westerners were still living in mud huts, and it’s based on the natural philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine or Taoism.
Start now
Do you want to get sick or do you want to be strong and healthy? why waste any more time, start now and book a course with us today, it’s free, what do you have to lose?
Train once a week or every day
We have beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level classes for you every day during the lockdown. The classes are £9 per week or £32 if you book for 4 weeks. We also have a scholarship program you can join to help someone who can’t afford to pay for the classes. You can train once a week or every day, each class will be for one hour.
Lockdown Tai Chi
The Zoom lessons also include access to online 360° video content so you can practice at home any time you wish. Sign up now on the Lockdown Tai Chi website.
