Thinking about getting into an exercise routine to help me quit smoking and help with my hypoglycemia which is starting to get noticeable and I was thinking about this martial art. Figure if seniors can do it it'd be about my level being out of shape as I am. I used to do some very casual martial arts and sparing when I was part of a club in college so I'm not totally a novice.

What do you think, if you do it what's it like?

  • PointAndClique [they/them]
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    edit-2
    1 year ago

    I've done it before for a semester at uni. It was worthwhile. Our instructor used to compete in martial arts at the provincial level, and treated Tai Chi as a martial art too.

    We spent the first ten on warmup e.g. run around the gym a few times, or sprints, then do standing and ground stretches. We'd then learn the routine for the day (40 mins) then finish off going through full routines we'd learnt for the final ten minutes.

    I guess given his background he taught it as such. I didn't really break a sweat, but it was a light workout all the same, probably similar to going for an easy to moderate bushwalk for an hour.

    I found it useful to be aware of my posture and how your centre of gravity shifts between poses, the stretches also helped me limber up and I finally learnt how to squat properly. I didn't really get to the stage where I felt the movement of qi, but I at least understood it better as a concept.